Experiment 2: Cropping

The cropping edits were quite simple and easy to create as you just needed to select the crop tool and then drag the sides to where you want your image to be cropped to. Cropping is usually used to cancel out other things in the image that don’t need to be there or to create a main focus on something by cropping them into the centre of the image to make them more in focus and so that they stand out.

On the the last edit, I decided to use the elliptical marquee tool to create a circle around the main in the image. I dragged it over him, right clicked, selected layer via copy and then got rid of the background layer. I decided to do this so that I had at least one crop edit different from the others.

Anthropocene overall Evaluation

For this project, I enjoyed learning about what Anthropocene was through the use of images and artist research and think I have been able to capture this in my own images. I managed to do a handful of different photoshoots and though I didn’t get a large sum of photos for each photoshoot I think the ones I chose to be my main images turned out well. For my pollution photoshoot I focused on pieces of rubbish I would find while outside. this photoshoot wasn’t exactly taken in a set time as I just took photos when I found something that would work well. Most of my photos were found on the beach which I found to be a very common environment for pollution to occur. this largely included the waste of plastic scattered along the sand.

Another photoshoot I did was overpopulation. The environment I chose for this photoshoot was mostly St Malo where I was able to capture images of busy streets which included people, cars and buildings. I think some of my photos did well to represent overpopulation, however, I think it would have been improved if I had focussed on this photoshoot a lot more and managed to get more decent looking photos.

My other photoshoot was the photoshoot that was inspired by Michael Marten where he focusses on rising sea levels. This photoshoot was only taken in the environment of beaches as the sea was a necessity to this photoshoot linking to Marten’s work. My photoshoot included many random beaches where the tide was either in or out and then I could come back and a later time where the tide times would be opposite to what is was when I took the first image. I found this photoshoot to be quite challenging as it required some planning to be able to know when the tides would be good to go back and get more photos. I found that my photos had mostly consisted of high tide images so I was limited to which ones I could use that included high and low tide. I liked my final image of this shoot as it also demonstrated using the AI skills to alter the photo and make it into my own.

My final presentation of images was mostly using mount board but arranged in different ways. The pollution photos were included in 3 of my final pieces. with the singular pieces of plastic, I chose to print them all on A5 and then put them all on a large piece of mount board all together to create the arrangement shown on the virtual gallery above. I think this worked well as they are all very similar photos so putting them all together looked right and two photos were landscape so they were able to fit in well underneath the three portrait photos. My other pollution final piece was with the use of AI. i positioned these photos one under the other as one was the original photo and the other was the photo that had been affected by the outcomes of pollution. Both these photos were printed in A4 so that the piece was quite big. I liked this piece as it has a deeper meaning behind such as how the world could eventually turn out if pollution carries on. My third piece was laid out in a different arrangement than the rest as the sizes didn’t match up to what I originally was planning to do. This meant I had to do one landscape beside a portrait and then another landscape. it would have worked better if the portrait was A4 but as they are all A5 it didn’t work as well. however, I do like the images that I produced as they were ordinary photos with the addition of AI to create scattered plastic around to further demonstrate pollution.

The overpopulation photos final piece only included 2 of my photos and I printed them one under the other in A4 and put them both on mount board. this photo was quite basic and i didn’t like it too much. My Michael Marten inspired piece was printed in A5 due to the AI giving it a lack of quality so making it larger would have looked worse. however, I did like this final piece.

Michael Marten (Artist Photo)

My Photo

I think my inspired photo turned out well and I was able to capture the same effect as Marten’s photo. Both images represent the rinsing tides and how a landscape can be completely altered with one simple change such as water. Marten has done well to stay in a very similar position and been carful not to change the angle of both shoots. as well as this, the weather hasn’t changed and it still provides a grey sky. This is a similarity but also a difference when looking at my image.

The similarities are my photo are also kept in the same position as well as the weather being the same. However, the difference is that my take on the image was created using AI so that I added my own ideas into an inspired piece. So both images are the same as the left image but just with the input of the sea using AI. Another difference is I decided to edit mine into black and white rather than keep it in colour like Marten has done. I decided to do this so that the AI would be even more discrete as there was a slight colour different when the artificial sea joined to the actual sea in the original image. I also decided to place both photos in the same format Marten usually does by placing the two images side by side.

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre (Artist photo)

My photo

I found it difficult to find somewhere in jersey which can relate to the artist image so I used the skills of AI to change an image that I had originally taken to be more inspired by Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre.

Both images represent destruction of buildings and landscapes. in Marchand & Meffre’s image, the destruction is visible where the windows are smashed in, leaving empty holes in the building and where the sea wall has crumbled, leaving debris scattered everywhere. In my image, the destruction is visible where the wall has cracks in it and marks down the sides. it also has rubbish scattered on the beach near the building and the air pollution coming from buildings in the background. Both images are examples of destruction of manmade things, however, both images are in similar environments where they are near/surrounded by natural landscapes such as the oceans and the beach.

The artists image does well to create some juxtaposition where the destruction is directly opposite to the sea which creates a contrast of colour and feeling as the sea is bright and the destruction is not. My image doesn’t do that as I decided to put it in black and white and so I am unable to see the colour differences. Another difference is where the photographer is positioned when taking the photo. in Marchand & Meffre’s photo its clear they are alongside the building and capturing the image from that position. However, in my image I decided to take it straight on and include a large portion of background and other surrounding areas as well as the main focus which is the building.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be used in photography in many different ways. it uses the skills of a computer generator to either create images, alter existing images, or even get rid of certain things in an image. It can have a largo effect o photography as it can completely turn the phot into anything the editor wants

Using my own photos, I wanted to experiment using AI by testing what it can do and how much it can change my images

In the future edits

For these two images, I wanted to create images where I could demonstrate what the world could be in years to come. With the affects of pollution, climate change has already taken a large affect and it is only going to get worse. I decided to edit my photos by adding more plastic waste on the beaches and also editing in bad air quality as a result of air pollution. I also decided to edit the buildings to make them look rundown and damaged which could be an affect of weather conditions

I did this by using the rectangular marquee tool and I selected the part of the image that I wanted to change/add to. I then pressed generate and typed into AI whatever I wanted to add e.g. ‘scattered pieces of plastic’ it then takes a bit of time to generate and when its complete it gives you 3 different ideas of scattered pieces of plastic. If what they give isn’t what you want, you can regenerate or you can change the wording of what you originally put until you get something that works well.

Photoshoot 1 related: Waste

Photoshoot 4 related: Tides

This was my inspired piece on Michael Marten where I used AI experimentation to add the sea into my image to demonstrated rising sea levels which is his main focus. I selected the while bottom half of my image and typed ‘sea’ and it gave me a few different versions but this one worked the best.

Photoshoot 1: Pollution favourite images (Waste, fly tipping)

For this photoshoot, I decided to focus on each individual piece of waste on its own and not group them together. I think this worked well because it meant I could capture many angles of the waste and make sure that that was the main aspect of the image. I focussed on places such as beaches or sides of roads. the beaches were the main location in chose as you can find so much as they are large locations and we have loads of beaches on the islands. the main waste product I came across was plastic, this worked well as I wanted to focus on plastic the most, however, discarded drinking cans were also a popular finding. One thing I liked about my image is how in each photo I used a shallow depth of field. I think this worked well as it meant the image fully focuses on the main piece of waste. though the background is blurred it can also be clear to the viewer where the location is. For fly tipping, my pictures mostly consisted of discarded car pieces, however, I did not manage to capture many photos in this topic.

Edits: My original images were taken by phone camera and after I had gathered the images I wanted I first edited them on the photos app by focussing the image on the object by generating portrait mode and it then produced my image by blurring the background. After transporting the images onto my computer I used photoshop to auto edit the levels and curves of the image and then adjusted it if it didn’t work well. I had to crop some of the images as the object was off-centred on some of the images which didn’t look right.

Final piece plan: I am planning to print the top 5 photos out on A5 and put them all together to create one piece. Ima planning to arrange them like they are arranged above however this may change depending on what fits the best

Photoshoot 2: Overpopulation

For this photoshoot I looked at a few different types of overpopulation including people, cars and buildings. the first photo shows a large group of cars in a car park which shows overpopulation quite clearly because of how busy/packed the carpark is. the presence of the cars also destroys the view of the buildings behind which hold historical meanings. This can also be a contribution to pollution since cars do have a part in the cause of air pollution.

Edits: The edits I made to these photos were fairly simple as I put them onto photoshop and edited the levels and curves. The bottom left photo was produced quite dark so that was brightened when I edited it

Final piece plan: I am planning to use the car park photo and the two house landscapes from above. I want to use these to create one piece by putting the car park photo beside the two house ones.

Michael Marten Inspired photoshoot (& AI)

Inspired Photo from Michael Marten

For this photoshoot I needed to photograph the same location twice at different times. the main different of each photo is the tides being out and being in. However, this was one of my creations using the AI generator on photoshop. I chose to use this photograph as my favourite as I think it turned out quite well even though its not real. I also like the original photo itself as well because I think the black and white works well to make the clouds stand out more.

Edits: The main image of the right image was the AI generator by adding the sea to the original photo. I decided to turn both photos to black and white so that I made my own change to Marten’s photographs as he doesn’t use black and white frequently. I also chose to use black and white to further try and hide the AI and to make it look more natural even though its not.

Final Piece plan: I am planning on printing these out on A5 as I think if I went bigger the quality wouldn’t be that good. I want to put them side by side on foam board.

Photoshoot 4: Glass houses

This photoshoot didn’t consist of many photos as I didn’t go to any greenhouses other than this shop. I don’t really like this photoshoot as the main focus was meant to be abandoned green/glasshouses and the one I took a photo of is currently in use as its a shop. However I do like the right photo with the reflections coming off the side of the glasshouse. I could’ve done better to take time with the photographing as you can see in the middle image it is wonky so the photo doesn’t look good. I think I took photos too quick and that limited the quality of images.

Edits: I edited these images on photoshop by changes the levels ands curves and also lowered or heightened the brightness. the left photo was originally more zoomed out but i think the corner is the part of the green house that may link with the theme of abandoned.

Virtual Gallery:

Planning:

Photoshoot 1: Pollution

One photoshoot idea I had was to focus on Pollution and waste. For this photoshoot I am simply going to go to popular places on the island where people would most likely litter and pollute the earth. This could be places such as parks, forests and the town centre.

I decided to do this as Pollution is a big factor of Anthropocene as plastic has become a key factor. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, it ends up littering soils and ocean beds. This can have damaging effects on wildlife, damaging soils and groundwater. It also has a great impact on global warming as extracting and creating these plastics emits vast amounts of greenhouse gases, This is Plastic pollution. There are also many types of pollution so I am going to try and focus on as many as I can:

Water Pollution– ‘harmful substances—often chemicals or microorganisms—contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water’

Noise pollution– ‘ regular, prolonged or sudden exposure to any unpleasant, damaging, or irritating noise above a certain level which will harm people, wildlife, or the environment.’

thermal pollution– ‘the harmful release of heated liquid into a body of water or heat released into the air a waste product of a business’

Mind map of places I want to visit to take these images:

Photoshoot 2: Greenhouses/glasshouses

This second idea I wanted to focus on greenhouses as we have a few greenhouses (out of use) in jersey and so I would have places to go to.

for example, the photo in the bottom left is similar to what I pass on my way to school so therefore I already have a location in mind and there are a row of out of use greenhouses there. If I cannot manage to get many out of use greenhouses I am also going to extend it to in use ones

Photoshoot 3: Overpopulation

For this photoshoot I am planning on photographing populated areas. I could focus on many different factors of overpopulation which can include population of people, buildings, cars, homes etc.

I live near a field where I can stand at the top and have a view of groups of houses so I am going to do a photoshoot there, another place I am thinking of is town as it is a very populated area almost all of the time. Traffic and cars is also something I want to focus on, this could include cars moving on the road or cars that are parking.

Photoshoot 4: Artist inspiration, Michael Marten

for this photoshoot I am going got take photos inspired by Michael Marten on his work on sea changes. This would mean I would have to take photos at different times since I will have to wait for the tide to be at different places. I think this is a good photoshoot idea as there are many beaches I can go to to take photos as we have many in jersey

Michael Marten

Michael Marten was born in London and fell in love with photography as a teenage boy which then lead to him being involved with photography ever since. His first job was caption writer at the Camera Press photo agency. In 1973 he was one of a group who published ‘An Index of Possibilities’ which explores the secret world of sound in everyday objects. Using found sounds, homemade constructions, and cheap toys.

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre

Marchand and Meffre are two French photographers who both have interests in contemporary ruins which brought them together. They began their interests in 2002, exploring Parisian urban remains before their interest took them to Detroit. This resulted in their work The Ruins of Detroit (Steidl, 2010). They currently live and work in Paris. They began having focus on theatres. walking past them and noticing the state they were in they photographed the ruins and documented different abandoned movie theatres in America. In downtown Detroit, the streets are lined with abandoned hotels and swimming pools, ruined movie houses and schools, all evidence of the city’s decline. Both photographers successfully capture what remains of a once-great city – and hint at the wider story of post-industrial America.

This photo stood out to me as a lot of their photos focus on the inside of buildings whereas this one is simply the outside. I think its a good representation as it shows that not just the inside of buildings that became abandoned, also the outside, showing how the city itself had a massive decline. I like the angle the photographers have taken this from as it almost creates a contrast by it being directly opposite the water. the building can bring across a destructive and almost creepy feeling towards the viewer whereas compared to the sea it more represents peace and tranquillity. This could also allow the viewer to think about how they think the building would of looked, being near the sea could interpret a very posh/expensive looking building that may have once been very popular. The colours in the photo are interesting as they create another contrast. The building is full of various grey colours with the addition of the black showing the emptiness inside the building. in contrast, the sea is bright blue and the sun is making the whole side of the image feel a lot brighter.

What is Anthropocene?

Anthropocene simply describes the time where humans had a substantial impact on the earth. The effects of human activities on Earth can be seen for example in biodiversity loss and climate change. Many people would link this with the effects of climate change as the warming of our atmosphere, air and oceans caused by using fossil fuels which are created by humans. However, it is not just this. It also focusses on the effects on the Earth’s geology, landscape, climate, limnology and ecosystems. Carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, ocean acidification, habitat destruction, extinction and widescale natural resource extraction are all signs that we have significantly modified our planet.

An early concept for the Anthropocene was the Noosphere by Vladimir Vernadsky, who in 1938 wrote of “scientific thought as a geological force”

Many people believe Anthropocene came about at different times of the human life. many people think that it began at the start of Britain’s Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century which then started the world’s first fossil fuel economy. However, other people believe it came out far earlier, when humans began to farm. Even more people suggest it dawned in 1950 when nuclear weapons projected radioactive elements into the worlds atmosphere, affecting the nature as well.

Plastic could become a key marker of Anthropocene. The earth is filled with plastic and plastic can be used for many things. since plastic is not biodegradable, it means it ends up littering soils and oceans beds. There is already evidence that suggests that plastic pollution has already made its way into fossil record. as well as this, a 2019 study showed that plastic deposits have been rising since the 1940s. Overall, plastic pollution is a vert large factor that contributes to the problems of the earth and scientists are studying to find out if it is a golden spike and a signifier to Anthropocene.

How and why are photographers exploring Anthropocene?

As photography is known for sharing beauties of the planet and where we live, it is a very popular topic that many people enjoy to observe or even be a part of. Due to it being interesting to many, it can also act as a factor that can project awareness onto others by displaying it in a way people would be drawn to and enjoy. Using photography for a subject such as Anthropocene will have a great impact on the way people view the effects of pollution and climate change as photography has a way of zooming in on small detailed factors as well as the larger picture of things. This may urge people to do things different even if its a small amount everyone collectively does as photography will make people notice the brutal impact we have on our planet.

Robert Adams

“I think if you placed me almost anywhere and gave me a camera you could return the next day to find me photographing. It helps me, more than anything I know, to find home.”

ROBERT ADAMS

Adams was born in 1937 in New Jersey and was then raised in Denver, Colorado, where many of his photographed were taken. Then in 1947 they moved to Madison, Wisconsin for five years, where he contracted polio at age 12 in 1949 in his back, left arm, and hand but was able to recover. Other photos were also taken in California and Oregon as he moved to Southern California in 1956 to attend the University of Redlands where he majored in English literature and went on to achieve a Ph.D. Throughout his childhood, Adams would often accompany his father on walks and hikes through the woods on Sunday afternoons which may be where his love for landscapes was found. In 1963 they moved back to Colorado, and Adams began teaching English at Colorado College and In 1963, Adams bought a 35 mm camera and began to take pictures mostly of nature and architecture.

His interest in photography derived from the work of photographers such as Timothy O’Sullivan, William Henry Jackson, and Carleton Watkins. Their work, together with that of Lewis Hine, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, and Ansel Adams (no relation).

“What I hope to document, though not at the expense of surface detail, is the form that underlies this apparent chaos.”

Adam takes his photos in order to show the changes wrought by humans upon nature. his photos can very often come across as boring and dull but his aim is to show that and show the natural world in a realistic way. the use of using black and white in almost all of his photos also adds to this idea.

In this photo you can see rows and rows of houses. each structure looks almost identical which can make the image come across as boring and repetitive. Without all the buildings, the scenery would most likely be a long stretch on a field creating a very pretty landscape. however, Adams has photographed this to show how that has been ruined by human structures. The use of black and white in the image makes it more unappealing to see the rows of structures. if the image was in colour then it may not carry the same message as people may enjoy looking at it more. Adams has taken this image from a high point above which works really well as you can get a good look at a lot of structures that carry on for miles.

Photoshoot 1:

This photoshoot was done as a class during our lesson time. the location was harve de pas swimming pool and round to La Collette. I think these locations were good as it gave you different variations of building types and sceneries. For example, the reached the modern built apartments which contrasted to the older buildings that stood behind them. I was able to capture a photo where this contrast was shown. further round, you reached the industrial areas where I was able to take photos of Jerseys incinerator and waste buildings. I think thus part of the photoshoot turned out nice as I loved the reflection the clouds had on the windows of the building creating a warm tone to the image and showing the beauty of the sky. overall, in this photoshoot, I think the time of day and weather worked really well. the position of clouds really helped bring across the romanticism theme as in some photos they come across as quite stormy and a darker grey.

My favourite photos from my shoot (colour and black and white)

One thing that I would change next time would be to aim on not getting people in my images. from the ones I didn’t show above, I captured a few good photos but there was presence of other people stood in it which brought the photo down and I chose not to use it. however there were a few photos where having people worked, for example the father and daughter stood on the top by the railings. Another weakness of my shoot was the blurriness of some of the images. I think I should’ve took more time to stop and capture images as you can tell I might’ve been in the middle of moving when taking photos which decreases the quality by a large amount.

The photo above is one of my favourites, though it can look like simple photo of 3 buildings, it is showing the contrast between all 3 styles. the left building is very obviously the newest building out of the three. The modern structured style with the smooth brick work and use of black white and grey makes this building stand out and noticeable by the viewer. The building in the background is the tallest and furthest away. its presence behind the newer building makes it clear to the viewer that it is older and in not as good of a condition. the building on the right may not be clear if its older than the back building or not however the decorations of the exterior could remind someone of an older home.