Edward Burtynsky

I used Edward Burtynsky’s photos of Industrialisation and litter for inspiration when I was doing my photoshoot. He used a birds eye view mainly especially when taking images of industrialisation, so I also experimented with birds eye images.

Litter Images

In this image Burtynsky took an image from birds eye view of lots of litter. I tried to recreate this image, but in a different way, because I did not have access to a big dump site like this, so I used the seaweed to give off the same feel, as they had the same brown colours. However, I only took a photo of one piece of litter, rather than a large amount, that I had found on the beach from a birds eye angle, just like he did. As I didn’t have the resources to take a photo of large amounts of litter, I searched the beach for litter and took individual photos of litter from a birds eye angle, like Burtynsky used.

Industrialisation Images

Edward Burtynsky took images of all different industrialisation sites. In my inspiration image I thought that this industrialisation looked like it has been there a while and was quite old, so I explored some of the older industrialisation sites at La Hougbie.

He also had people in my inspiration shot, so I had Katie stand in front of one of the older industrialisation sites, so that I could also capture a person in my image.

He also took images of newer industrialisation sites, so I did that too, as I wanted a range of images for my contact sheet and was interested in the differences between the newer and older industrialisation sites.

Birds eye view experiments

Edward Burtynsky usually uses a birds eye view for most of his industrialisation images, so I experimented with getting higher up views for my images. Burtynsky often used helicopters, so he could achieve his birds eye view shots, but I obviously didn’t have access to this, so I attempted to to get to higher up places so I could take shots from as high as possible. First, I visited Fort Regent as seen above. I took images of town down below from the top of Fort Regent Hill to achieve these images.

Next, I visited La Hougbie.

I stood on top of the hill where the church is at La Hougbie and I shot my images of the café and cars below to achieve a higher up, almost birds eye view angle.

Analysis

For my industrial images, I like that I have taken the time to explore both new and old industrialisation, so that now my images can present different stories, just like Edward Burtynsky’s. I also found it quite interesting.

I also like how I experimented with getting higher up angles like Burtynsky does, because I think that produced some of my better images.

For my litter photoshoot, I would like to next time try and not capture the shadow of my phone or camera, when taking the photos, but also experimented with taking images of a few pieces of rubbish, instead of just singular shots.

John Divola

John Divola took images of abandoned buildings, especially abandoned buildings on beaches.

As I was exploring Bouley bay’s abandoned hotel and taking images, I wanted to make sure I got a shot of the beach and the building, so my work would be similar to John Divola’s, as he took many picture of abandoned buildings near beaches.

I also wanted to capture the damage of the building and all the rubble, just like John Divola captures in his images, because I really wanted to highlight the impact that it has on the earth.

I also took images of abandoned buildings, which were not near a beach, such as St Saviours Hospital, because there are not many abandoned buildings to choose from in Jersey and because I thought this building would photograph well.

This image of Divola’s above really highlights how damaged these buildings are, so I made sure to capture all the different types of damage I foundl.

Analysis

I am pleased with this photoshoot, as I think I was able to capture just what John Divola captures. I was able to capture the scale of these abandoned buildings, as well as there whereabouts and the damage that they have. I think my images relate to John Divola very well, as they both show the impact that these abandoned building are having.

I really like the pictures of the abandoned hotel next to the beach, because it really helps to present the impact that these buildings will be having on the wild life near by.

Barry Rosenthal

Barry Rosenthal collected litter off the beach and turned it into a piece of art work. I was inspired massively by this, because she was able to make something ugly and bad for the earth look very beautiful.

Rosenthal often colour coordinated her litter for each of her images as well, so I decided to experiment with colour coordinating mine.

Barry Rosenthal also collected all this discarded litter herself, so I also wanted to do this. Katie and I went walking along the beach with a bag and collected all the litter we could find.

We put all our rubbish in a co op for life bag and brought it to the studio, so that we could use a black background and an above shot angle, just like how Rosenthal does.

As you can see here, I used the same sort of angle and the same black background as Barry Rosenthal.

Analysis

I think this photoshoot went well, and that I took inspiration from my artist very well. I am pleased I got the experiment in the studio with this and create something beautiful out of rubbish.

I think my images came out well, as they had good lighting and a good black background from the studio. I also like the images, which I have colour coordinated, like Barry Rosenthal does, because I feel like it creates a harmony in the image.