For the Anthropocene Topic, I believe my outcomes are a unique take on what usually isn’t massively associated to Anthropocene but still proves to be through its deeper meanings and historical context.
By covering the topic of conflict, my images show how the affect of Anthropocene is omni-present in every aspect of life. More specifically , my images go to show how through generations of human impact and change, the element of war leaves scars and resonates within the world and society till this day.
By using foam board I was able to create a 3D effect for this edit I made.
By incorporating some text, I believe this improved the outcome of this edit. Using text allows to create a deeper meaning to the image as what it means can be broken down into ambiguous definitions.
As mentioned before, text helps to add meaning to the work, in this case, It works as an education tool to inform the viewer of what went on within the subjects contents.
Comparison:
My work
Martha Rosler’s work
Taking inspiration from War collages, with their particular artists such as Martha Rosler, as well as different art movements like the soviet Avant Grande, these all helped me visually and conceptually base what I wanted my outcomes for these images to look like.
My aim is to create 2 altered landscapes which can be presented together that feature all of the industrial areas in Jersey.
Contact Sheet
(I took these screenshots after doing some experimentation with my images.)
Editing Process
Edit 1
To create my base image, I merged the following:
This is the result:
I opened this image in photoshop and, although I liked the stream, I felt like it wouldn’t have went with the theme I was going for so I used the Content Aware Fill feature to remove it, as well aa the fence, house and building. This was my result:
As you can see, it is not the best standard, however, this floor won’t be seen when the montage is completed. By removing this stream, it gives me a lot more space and opportunity to be able to make this piece even better.
After this, I added my first layer, the quarry. I cropped this part from a different image and pasted it onto this then used the eraser tool to clean it up a bit. I then aligned it where I would like it and lowered the brightness so the colour was more similar. Once I was satisfied with it, I used AI to merge the quarry into the hill and, at first, it created trees so I then told it to remove them.
Next, I cropped out a pile of waste and a pile of gravel which I took at La Collette and aligned them where I would like them. I then decided here that I think it would look good to make the floor of the entire image gravel so I played around a bit with the generative fill until I was happy with it.
I then cropped some cyclinders from Bellozanne and a pile of granite from St Ouen from photos I took and pasted them into my edit. After doing this, I put them where I would like them and slightly distorted the cylinders so they looked more in place.
One I had done this, I tidied up the parts which I cropped then used Generative fill to create tyre tracks in the floor.
Finally, I added the tower from La Collette behind the hill and flipped it horizontally, changed the perspective and skewed it. To finish off, I increased the brightness and this is my finished product:
In B&W:
Edit 2
I have done this edit during our mock exam and during my first few steps the blog was down, therefore, I couldn’t record my progress. This is what I have done so far:
Within this time, I used an image of the dam and added two buildings from Bellozanne on one side and a random ploughed field from St Peters on the other. For the field, I distorted and warped it to match the slope then used AI to make it blend in at the bottom. Finally, I also used AI to remove the building at the bottom of the dam and the flowers which were on the grass.
In addition, I used AI to replace the grass with a road, however, doing this inspired me to try make it a river.
I have played around with AI and made the sides of the river muddy.
After a bit more playing around with generative fill, here is my result:
“Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), a French photographer who is considered to be one of the fathers of photojournalism and masters of candid photography. He sought to capture the ‘everyday’ in his photographs and took great interest in recording human activity. He wrote,
“For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to ‘give a meaning’ to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”
The Decisive Moment, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s influential publication, is widely considered to be one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century. Pioneering for its emphasis on the photograph itself as a unique narrative form, The Decisive Moment was described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers.” Originally titled Images à la Sauvette (“images on the run”) in the French, the book was published in English with a new title, The Decisive Moment, which unintentionally imposed the motto which would define Cartier-Bresson’s work. The exhibition details how the decisions made by the collaborators in this major project—including Cartier-Bresson, French art publisher Tériade, American publisher Simon & Schuster, and Henri Matisse, who designed the book’s cover—have shaped our understanding of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs.
The Decisive Moment, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s influential publication, is widely considered to be one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century. Pioneering for its emphasis on the photograph itself as a unique narrative form, The Decisive Moment was described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers.” Originally titled Images à la Sauvette (“images on the run”) in the French, the book was published in English with a new title, The Decisive Moment, which unintentionally imposed the motto which would define Cartier-Bresson’s work. The exhibition details how the decisions made by the collaborators in this major project—including Cartier-Bresson, French art publisher Tériade, American publisher Simon & Schuster, and Henri Matisse, who designed the book’s cover—have shaped our understanding of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs.
Here the decisive moment is described:
“If a photograph is to communicate its subject in all its intensity, the relationship of form must be rigorously established. Photography implies the recognition of a rhythm in the world of real things. What the eye does is to find and focus on the particular subject within the mass of reality… In a photograph, composition is the result of a simultaneous coalition, the organic coordination of elements seen by the eye. One does not add composition as though it were an afterthought superimposed on the basic subject material, since it is impossible to separate content from form.”
Image analysis:
This image taken by Cartier-Bresson is composed as a dejected image with a clear subject of a person. I believe that this image is successful as it focuses on a natural, common everyday scene, which draws the viewer in forcing us to question why the photo was taken and which message is the artist trying to get across. From a first glance I can gather that Bresson is presenting a mood of sorrow, which is also inferred through the black and white filter and the use of a puddle also adds to the melancholy. This is because the puddle reflects the man in the foreground’s shadow, which essentially exaggerates his loneliness. Similarly, there is also a man in the background who is also by himself and looks as if he is looking at nothing, implying he is deep within his thoughts. In addition to this, the size of the puddle could also suggest misery as it implies that it has been raining, which we can rightfully associate with sadness. Another effective element in the image is the ladder as it is lying down and not standing up, which shows that there has clearly been a storm, perhaps suggesting people should not be outside.
In addition to this, the way Bresson has taken the photo is practical because a slow shutter speed has been used, giving the image a candid effect. This is an important technique in street photography as it tells us that the subjects behaviours are not changing for the purpose of the image. This helps the outcome look more realistic and believable for the viewer, which makes us feel sympathetic towards the subject. I like how the background is in focus, as we can assume that Bresson’s attention was drawn to the background rather than the foreground.
These photos were taken in st Malo, and the aim of this photoshoot was to get a perspective of what French people look like on a busy day, what they get up too, it also shows us how differently they are dressed. Most of the time you wouldn’t see anyone in Jersey or England wearing this type of style as it is quite European. However, it also gives us an insight of what st Malo looks like in general and how different it can look to where we live and what we see on a regular day. There were flags all around the towns which is something we could see in jersey, but they are places differently and represent different things, but in jersey we do have some string lights around the avenue which lights around the places.
The aim of these photos are very different as some of them have many people scattered around the photo and some tend to have less or no people, I really like have some of these photos turned out, for some of the photos I used different angles to see if I could get a difference in perspective an how different the photo would look to the rest, we have a hip angle which would make the photo look lower, I also tried to put my camera further u to try and get a birds eye view perspective which didn’t turn out too well as I couldn’t really see what I was taking but it was fun to try and experiment with and see what different views people tend to see on a daily whether they were higher up looking out a window and just walking through the town.
These photos were taken in France, st Malo. The aim of this photoshoot was to take candid photos of strangers roaming the streets, it was to captivate what st Malo rally looked like without making it look staged. These pictures are very different to what we would see in our everyday life in Jersey, as we don’t have access to everything. Here we were changing the shutter speed lower and higher when cars and people were walking and some photos turned out better than others, for this photoshoot we tried to get a close up of people to see what they were doing, some of these photos were taken of only buildings with no people in the surroundings. Both those photos give a very different effect and create a sense of humanity, how the world is seen.I turned some of my photos into black and white to show that I have included some of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ideas and his decisive moment. Henri has a theory of the decisive moment which meant that every picture he took had to be perfectly positioned and timed. Henri would always search for the perfect people to take a picture of, as they would most likely be walking or moving slightly making it challenging, therefore Henri would have to change the shutter speed to capture the perfect photograph. All of these photos are candid and not staged which helps to get a perspective of the real world around us, although these photos don’t define the whole world as there is war around us but there are still peaceful places which need to be kept and preserved.
This photo shows the decisive moment as we are capturing a picture that isn’t staged and have the right shutter speed added. Although a lady is walking into the frame making the people less visible due to the umbrella, I really like the way the man is still in focus of the photo and isn’t looking at the camera but still looking in the same direction of me, this gives me a perspective of what the person may be looking at. I really like the way the lady is walking into the photo almost leading us to look at the man, the dimensions in this photo.
I feel the photo looks good in black and white as lighting works well. There aren’t many colours to distract you from the view and it helps to see the details more clearly. The black and white effect makes the photo look nostalgic and adds a saddened look to it almost as if something was going on, but only the people in the photo would realize. This makes the photograph look mysterious. I also really like how the plastic looks in the photo, it gives off a vibe as if it was rain falling, it would make sense if it was rain as the lady in the picture is holding an umbrella.It also looks like the lady is covering the man with her umbrella due to the dimensions of the photograph. The umbrella makes a good prop in the photo as it takes over a big amount of the photo without blocking anyone’s face. The older man’s face is slightly covered by the bottom of the umbrella, but it is still clear to identify who the person is and what he looks like.
Evaluation:
Overall, going to St Malo was quite successful as when going round St Malo I was able to see a big difference from jersey, the people were dressed differently and it was really lively. The was music playing all over the place and there were loads of food stands. As St Malo was so different from jersey I found it quite easy to take pictures as everything was quite unusual to me, my aim was to take some landscape photos around St Malo as the architecture is different, the culture in general creates good images. When taking pictures of people, it wool have been best to take pictures of them not knowing but a lot of the time they would look up at my camera and feel quite disturbed. I do feel that as the cultures are so different, people are doing different things, for example I saw a man sat outside the shops drinking his coffee, he seemed to be a worker at the shop he was sat at, which is something you wouldn’t see in Jersey, I also saw homeless people all over the place sat outside shops with dogs around them, this is definitely something I wouldn’t see in jersey and helps to have a different perspective on life. I do like how most of my images turned out and when I edited them they looked a lot better as I had levelled the lighting. However when taking my images I should have had different view points to show the that view points matter a lot when taking pictures.
One thing I wish I had done would have been going into random shops or shops that attracted my attention and asked the people in the shop to pose with their shop, although this wouldn’t have been a candid image, it would have been very different from other peoples work as we all followed each other and went to the same places, which made out photos very similar. However, when editing my images, I did try and find new ideas to make them more unique and different from everyone else.
For my Final presentation of images from Anthropocene, I covered a variety of examples of how time affects environments of war.
In my images I covered the difference of technology over time, how areas of heavily fortified positions are now tourist attractions and how much they’re environment surrounding them has change.
These edited photos here, aim to show the effects of Anthropocene of war, how despite Technology advances, Battlefields change, the image of war remains the same. In the case of these images that message stands strong as despite the original images being taken over 100 years ago, in comparison to the modern images in only recent years, the actions, jobs and methods still are the same.
These Images aim to show the ideological aspect of Anthropocene. Although time passes from these past periods of conflict, their marks on history remain today with use of these images from their time.
These images show the local effects of Anthropocene, from Jerseys wartime occupation, where these locations where of military value and heavily defended, to now, an industry that thrives of its history through tourism. Areas featured like Elizabeth castle, or Corbiere where chosen by me as I thought, how they both massively changed in environmental purpose and were a clear sign of human impact on the world, so locally to me.
Here is where we went and where I took all my photos. We walked all within the walls and focused on the environment and the historical parts of St Malo. We also spent some time looking at all the people within St Malo enjoying their days and we captured in the moment photographs.
Contact Sheet
Best Images Selection
TheDecisiveMomentCaféStatueArchitectureHistory
Here are what I would believe to be some of my best images, each individual one captures a different moment in time, some are of people and capturing what actions they are doing whilst going about their day however some others are images of the old historical architecture of St Malo which I had managed to nicely capture within my photoshoot.
I think my final images came out well and they have been edited well. However, I prefer the St saviours hospital photos more, because they have better lighting. Next time, I would visit Bouley Bay again, but when its lighter, so that the images come out less dark. However, I did edit the images well, to increase the exposure. This was the lighting in the images before the editing:
I also like have I have sets of images that go together with both the St Saviour’s hospital and Bouley Bay.
Greenhouse
Analysis
I love the images of the smaller greenhouse, because it presents what’s inside the greenhouse very well and has a good composition. It also has good contrast between the green of the grass and the dull dirt on the greenhouse walls and the colour of the greenhouse.
The image at Trinity is a good photo, but it was quite dark when the photos were taken, so if I were to do this again I would visit Trinity again, but when it is lighter, so the lighting is better. However, I edited the image well, so it had more exposure.
The images of the larger greenhouse are very vibrant and there is lots of green colours, which pop and make the image much more eye appealing. These images also have good lighting and composition.
If I were to ever photograph greenhouses again, I would love to experiment with flash lights and different coloured gels more, when the sun is starting to set, because I think the images would turn out very good, but when I tried it this time it was very difficult to make it work, so I will have to be more prepared with a plan and bigger, more powerful flashlight.
Discarded Plastic
Analysis
I liked the discarded plastic photoshoot and thought the rubbish looked good against the black background and really stood out. However, if I were to do this again I’d want to collect more rubbish and place the camera further away so I can make larger patterns with my colour coordinated litter.
The single item images came out well, as it made them stand out lots and be more eye appealing, especially against the black background.
Litter
Analysis
I liked the photoshoot of litter found on the beach, because it really presented how much litter there is in these natural environments, which habitat animals. However, if I were to do this next time I would remember to put a card in my camera, so that the images had better quality. I would also experiment more, so there were no shadows of my phone or camera.
Industrialisation
Analysis
I really liked this industrialisation photoshoot, because it allowed me to explore different places, and it allowed me to explore how industrialisation has changed and developed over time. It also showed me how many built up places there are in Jersey, never mind the rest of the world. It also gave me an idea of how the world is developing and what it is going to be like in the future.
Fly Tipping
Analysis
My images showed fly tipping very well, as there were lots of furniture items that were just discarded. I also enjoyed this photoshoot, because I didn’t think that fly tipping happened that often in Jersey, but this photoshoot really opened my eyes.
Minimalistic Approach
Analysis
I really enjoyed this photoshoot, because these images show how there are smaller pieces of litter, such as cigarettes, which do effect the earth, because there are so many of them, but people do not really notice this, or worry about it, when it does actually have a huge impact and I think this photoshoot presents this. If I were to do this photoshoot again, I would use a camera instead of my phone, so that the quality is better.
For my final photos, I think that they have all worked very well. My work shows the issues around the world, that Anthropocene focus’ on. My photoshoots and edits were done to the best of my ability and came out better then what I had envisioned.
I was only disappointed with one of my photos and that would be the one that was inspired by the Marilyn Monroe collage. I feel that those photos could have had more effort put into them as well as the editing that followed. That photo was definitely rushed and if I spend more time and allowed myself to put a little bit more effort into it it would have came out exactly how id like it too.
My pollution photos, with the rubbish and the plastic bags, I felt really portrayed not only the theme of Anthropocene, but the emotions and issues that are caused by the poor actions we make as the human race. The planning that went into the portrait photos was very in-depth and that really worked to my advantage for this photoshoot.
The photos including the animals worked incredibly too, I felt that it would be good to include animals because sometimes people forget that the issues that are caused by us don’t only effect us but it effects every living thing that is around us as well. So including the animal ( snake ), really helps shed light and share that information so that people could understand, and I could spread awareness on that separate issue that we have caused.
He was a French artist, and considered a master of candid photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography. He was one of the founding member’s of Magnum photos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnum_Photos) but discontinued most of his images and opted to paint instead. “Photography isn’t just about images; it’s about capturing the essence of existence.” Cartier-Bresson was born in Chanteloup, France, and began his career as a journalist and photographer in the 1930s. He served in the French Resistance during World War II, using his photography skills to document the war effort.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Cartier-Bresson became known for his innovative approach to photography, which emphasized capturing the essence of a moment or scene in a single frame. He believed that photography should be a way to reveal the human condition, rather than simply documenting reality. He coined the term “decisive moment” to describe this concept, which refers to the fleeting instant when all the elements of a scene come together to create a powerful and meaningful image.
The decisive moment.
The book Cartier-Bresson penned in 1952, in French, was called Images à la Sauvette (“Images on the Run”). It was quite literally about taking pictures in a dynamic and moving world. He used the term “decisive moment” in his writing, with very specific meaning, but the term was appropriated as the title in the English translation.
For Cartier-Bresson, the decisive moment was not just about capturing a specific event or action, but rather about capturing the essence of the human experience.
Some key characteristics of the decisive moment include:
A sense of tension or drama
A feeling of anticipation or movement
A strong sense of human connection or interaction
A balance of shapes, lines, and textures
A sense of depth or layering
A strong emotional resonance
Timing: The ability to capture the exact moment when something significant was happening.
Composition: The way the elements of the scene were arranged to create a harmonious and balanced composition.
Light: The quality and direction of the light, which could add mood and atmosphere to the image.
Storytelling: The ability to tell a story or convey a sense of narrative through the image.
The decisive moment is not limited to specific subjects or genres, but can be applied to various forms of photography, including street photography, portrait photography, landscape photography, and more.
Examples Mood board –
What is a decisive moment.
A decisive moment generally cannot be re-create. It is a moment in time, it can be planned in a way that the photographer may wait for someone to walk past a specific structured place, where he has set up his camera perfectly. A decisive moment is also sometimes described as a miracle accident, something that wasn’t entirely planned but turned out amazing. An example of the decisive moment would be taking photos of a couple engaging in a romantic gesture, now if you were to ask the couple if you could take the photo it would change the way they act and therefore it wouldn’t end up being the same raw moment it once was. This is the whole point of a decisive moment, a moment before people change their behaviour and how they act, being just natural and just them.
Henri Cartier Bresson viewed photography in a special way
Photography as a way to capture the human experience: Cartier-Bresson believed that photography should be used to capture the essence of human experience, to tell stories about people, and to reveal the human condition.
Photography as a momentary capture: He emphasized the importance of capturing a single moment, often referred to as the “decisive moment,” when all the elements of a scene come together to create a powerful image.
Photography as a means to reveal the unconscious: Cartier-Bresson believed that photography could reveal the unconscious aspects of human behavior, revealing hidden truths and emotions.
Photography as an act of observation: He emphasized the importance of observing and waiting for the right moment, rather than staging or manipulating scenes.
Photography as a form of storytelling: Cartier-Bresson saw photography as a way to tell stories about people, places, and cultures, often using a series of images rather than a single frame.
Photography as an art form: He believed that photography was an art form that required creativity, skill, and intuition, and that it should be judged on its artistic merit rather than technical quality.
Photography as a reflection of reality: Cartier-Bresson believed that photography should reflect reality, but also acknowledged that it is always subjective and influenced by the photographer’s perspective.
Photography as a way to transcend time and space: He believed that photography could capture moments in time and spaces that would otherwise be lost, allowing us to transcend time and space.
Photography as a means to connect with others: Cartier-Bresson saw photography as a way to connect with others, to understand their lives and experiences, and to create empathy and understanding.
Leica rangefinder with a 50mm lens.
Henri Cartier Bresson was known for using a Leica rangefinder with a 50mm lens because, these cameras were compact, reliable and their design was very discrete and more hidden to the naked eye than other cameras of the era. This allowed him to take images without disrupting the moment. He also used the Leica rangefinder because of it’s stealth, quiet shutter which allowed sneaky photos to be taken without drawing attention. This silent tactic was crucial for someone who believed in capturing natural, realistic, authentic, upstaged moments.
