I used colour selection for some of my St Malo images, ones with people involving significant colours or were close to the camera. For each one, I wanted to ensure subtlety was involved as this way, it wouldn’t entirely draw attention away from the purpose or intention behind the photo. As well as this, it meant that there was still a bright pop of colour amongst the grey tones.

I also created this on a selection of hot pink graffiti as this is something that is frequently spotted around St Malo, becoming a part of the small town’s culture.

HOW I DID IT:

To complete this experimentation, I duplicated the layers of the same image to begin. I then made one layer black and white:

After I concealed the black and white layer, I selected the layer which was still in colour and went to colour range:

Here, I could select a variety of different tones and colours found in a specific area. By doing this, I would keep these colours saturated whilst the unselected components remained black and white:

After grabbing each tone of red on the woman’s jacket using the positive eyedropper, I inverted the layers so that the red jacket would pop out:

This was the final result once I rubbed out any imperfections picked up:

BACKGROUND:

Saint-Malo is a historic French port and town situated on the coast on Brittany, France. With its history of piracy and overseas adventures alongside being heavily bombed in 1944 during World War 2, the city is a popular tourist centre with its ferry terminal serving the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey alongside the South of England such as Portsmouth, Poole and Hampshire. The population in 2017 was 46,097, however during the summer tourist season this can increase enormously – up to 300,000.

CONTACT SHEET:

Overall, our shoot consisted of just over 800 images of the town of Saint-Malo to show the city culture and pace of life. I flagged the images which I thought had the best composition, angle and detail. This photoshoot was inspired by the work of Henri-Cartier Bresson, using his concept of the decisive moment in candid street photography. I wanted to focus on photographing relationships with others, such as couples or friendships, with a aesthetically pleasing composition in the background, maintaining shape and balance throughout. I looked for locations filled with French culture, had leading lines such as long alleyways or just fit cohesively with the actions of the people in the backgrounds.

BEST IMAGES:

In this image, I captured an elderly woman conversing with a homeless man, sat around all his belongings. I really liked this image because it represents community and selflessness, checking up on someone instead of following society and idly walking by. The way her head is tilted towards the side shows empathy in the image and I feel that this adds a sense of genuinity that can be pushed towards the viewer.

For this image, I used a slow shutter speed, standing as still as possible and waiting for pedestrians to walk past me. This created a motion blur on just the people instead of making the entire image out of focus, making it a very successful image. I feel that this represents the face pace of which city life acts in, people always moving and doing something.

This image would have to be one of my favourites as the actions of the woman are very unusual and spontaneous. I liked how she was singular, acting in a way that may be judged or frowned upon by those in the background with umbrellas whilst she walks barefoot with her skateboard. Alongside that, I really liked the way the umbrellas look in the background because they add geometry to the image consistently following up the right side of the image to the left.

BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES:

I made my selection of images in black and white also to bring across the nature of Henri-Cartier Bresson’s images as his were usually portrayed in this way. I played around with the different tonal scales of the images as well as pre-sets to make the black richer or more greyscale, depending on the composition, colours and exposure being used at the time:

STRUCTURES:

I also took some images of the architecture based around the city as I feel that this shows the culture of the city and how can appear to be similar to Jersey whereas in reality it is quite different. This included some ancient and abandoned buildings however some were more urbanised:

“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… It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.“

MOOD BOARD:

INTRODUCTION:

Born in Chanteloup, Seine-et-Marne, in 1908, Cartier-Bresson was encapsulated and fascinated by painting, specifically Surrealism. In 1932, after spending a year in the Ivory Coast, Henri Cartier-Bresson discovered his lifelong passion for photography through his camera of choice – the Leica.  He had his first exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1933 later making films with Jean Renoir.

Taken prisoner of war in 1940, he managed to escape on his third attempt in 1943 to then subsequently join an underground organization, assisting prisoners and escapees. In 1945, he photographed the Liberation of Paris with a group of professional journalists, then filmed the documentary Le Retour (The Return). This involved working closely with other artists such as Matisse, Bonnard, and Braque. After traveling for three years in the East, he returned to Europe in order to publish his first book – Images à la Sauvette (published in English as ‘The Decisive Moment’)

From 1968, he began to curtail his photographic activities, preferring to concentrate on drawing and painting. In 2003, with his wife and daughter, he created the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris for the preservation of his work.

Cartier-Bresson received an extraordinary number of prizes, awards, and honorary doctorates. He died at his home in Provence on August 3, 2004, a few weeks short of his 96th birthday.

THE DECISIVE MOMENT:

Henri Cartier-Bresson is now known as a French artist, humanist, filmmaker and a large role-model and master of candid photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography through this technique and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment – an intuitive and spontaneous moment to capture an image that shows unity in comparison to other photographers who tend to look for horror. He approached photography like it was hunting without killing, seeking out the perfect moment.

His images relied heavily on the strong relationship with shape and geometry in a raw way, absent of posing, in order to act as a form of intellectual pleasure. He looked with his heart to make all elements of reality align perfectly, representing what joins us as a society instead of the things that tear us apart. By doing this, he represented the rich diversity of the USA by capturing the expressive snapshots of people from all walks of life. Through this ideology of every aspect of the image being unplanned, Henri Cartier-Bresson used his Leica as if it was an extension of his eye, capturing these wholesome moments as if he was blinking.

ANALYSIS:

This image, ‘Derriere la Gare Saint-Lazare’, is a perfect example of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment of street photography, having all pieces of an image constructed into a singular moment with the absence of posing. Using his 35mm Leica, the shoot into the daylight involves a slow shutter speed in order to create a motion blur in the air of the figure leaping across a puddle. The shadows and reflections created make it clear that this image was shot facing towards the light to ensure they balance towards the foreground, in front of any subjects or objects. Alongside this, these reflections and shadows bring the image to life by making it stand out, looking more 3 dimensional. The image being in black and white makes the image blend together cohesively; bringing attention to the sign in the background indicating that this was located by a railway. As well as this, the black and white creates a greater contrast and tonal range within the image, making it look more dramatic and dynamic. The subject is in one third of the image off to the right, revealing a second in the background further away. The fog placed at the top of the image is looming over the houses in a quiet way, adding a tone of mystery and gloom, working with the grain washed over the image.

I made a virtual gallery for each theme I have explored within the Anthropocene:

INDUSTRIALISATION:

OVERPOPULATION & URBANISATION:

(AI DEPICTIONS)

CONSTRUCTION:

ST SAVIOURS HOSPITAL:

DERELICT GREENHOUSES:

WATER POLLUTION:

The images I’ve selected are the ones I am using for my final prints as I feel that these are the most successful from my five photoshoots.

EVALUATION & CRITIQUE:

Overall, I think that I explored the theme of landscape in a thorough way however I think I was able to really develop and get creative within Anthropocene as I could experiment and investigate different environmental issues within it. I found that my research on the Anthropocene for context really helped me explore different factors contributing to climate change, especially using the work of George Marazakis and Edward Burtynsky to aid my understanding. I feel that my final images that I have produced not only apply to the Anthropocene in a detailed way but I think that they share awareness of issues within the environment that are ignored and looked upon nonchalantly. I chose to keep these images in colour as I find that it depicts these issues in a more realistic and relevant way, making each image tell a story and create a nice composition. My intentions for each photoshoot were successfully shown and correlate with my artist references; my depictions of derelict greenhouses inspired by George Marazakis alongside industrialisation inspired by Bernd and Hilla Becher as well as Joe Deal. Whilst I enjoyed taking images of different aspects of the landscape, I like the way I have been able to use plastic to create an illusion of waves for water pollution as I could represent this in a way that I came up with entirely on my own and could freely experiment with. The next steps I would take if I repeated this theme would be to use black and white tones in some of my images to give my work some variance. As well as this, I would have liked my idea of recreating George Marazakis image of the greenhouse with artificial lighting next to natural lighting to have worked. I attempted to set up a photoshoot in this way using coloured gels however I couldn’t find a suitable location for this around the island so it couldn’t work.

Within the Anthropocene topic, I studying many different artists work to get an in-depth understanding of the different perspectives and opinions on these geographic and environmentally-concerned approaches. This consisted of the work of Ansel Adams, Edward Burtynsky, George Marazakis, Joe Deal and Bernd and Hilla Becher. By studying through their great compilations of research and images of the nature of the Anthropocene, I was enabled to find my own ideas on how to represent this issue. However, my work was especially inspired by the work of George Marazakis in ‘A Cure for Anthropocene’ alongside Bernd and Hilla Becher within their work on Typologies, investigating an industrial environment. Not only did these artists intrigue me, but I really enjoyed the way that they both look at Anthropocene from entirely different perspectives – George Marazakis looking at desolation and decay whilst Bernd and Hilla Becher document the fast paced urbanization stemming from industrialisation.

GEORGE MARAZAKIS:

As one of my first artist references, I came across George Marazakis and selected him specifically based on the nature of this derelict greenhouse. I felt that this was an extremely great representation of how it isn’t just the compacted cities receiving backlash from climate degradation, it’s also these rural areas which are scarce, forgotten about and become consumed by nature warping around the structure, mostly due to society progressing through the years at such a fast rate that the area/ structure is no longer needed yet still leaves a mark and impact on the environment around it, restricting growth and areas for ecosystems to thrive in. I also selected this as one of my main references within my work because I felt that the muted colour scheme showed the death and decay that the world is under, however remains unnoticed and ghostly.

This was my first attempt at the recreation of his image, my initial plan was to use artificial lighting alongside coloured gels to idolise the sunset in George Marazakis image, shining through the greenhouse and outlining the desolation from within – plants twisting and winding alongside the stains from dirt wiped down the windows. However, this didn’t particularly go to plan due to the light not being as great and powerful as the one George Marazkis used.

However:

In light of my initial image not working, I decided to take this idea of derelict greenhouses and move towards taking images of those which had appeared more violent in contrast with George Marazakis image:

Whilst these were relatively different from George Marazakis work, I still feel that there is a correlation between them through the untended growth of weeds, sand and dirt. I also feel this still has a correlational aspect through the areas which involve decay, whether that be through the streaks painted across what is left of the greenhouse or in the dried up patches of dirt smeared across the ground, a likely area where chemicals have been placed and cause the refusal of seeds growing there. If I were to use George Marazkis’ work again within this project, I would have liked to have potentially found an alternative way to recreate his sunset-reflection of the greenhouse if I were able to find an appropriate location which was more similar to his. Alongside this, I would have liked to incorporate some of his other images in areas such as the sand dunes as I feel that these could’ve provided greater representation of how climate degradation impacts rural, countryside locations and not just urban areas. Whilst Marazakis’ image is muted and ominous, mine has reacted in a more violent and aggressive way, however I feel that this may represent the anger many people feel about approaching a point that could result in practical ‘self-extermination’.

From this, I was able to explore the idea of desolation impacting the environment within the Anthropocene through the topic of abandoned structures, forced to be home to an overgrowing population of plants due to them being restricted from growing naturally because of the unused and ignored nature of the structure:

BERND AND HILLA BECHER:

In an early introduction to landscape photography, I looked into Bernd and Hilla Becher’s work on Typologies, documenting the industrialised structures to address the effect of the industry on the economy and the environment. When we moved towards Anthropocene, I wanted to include aspects of their work into my images because through the anonymity and use of dead-pan shooting, I felt that this was a stern message about the fast pace at which society progresses, producing more and more materials by using harmful chemicals and techniques.

I feel that there is a strong correlation between my work with Bechers’ due to the strong industrial tone set throughout. Whilst I didn’t use the deadpan approach like their work, I still feel that this as worked very well due to the angles from a distance, below, and in-line with these industrial structures as it made the natural hit off of the metal in the perfect angle for me to capture it with a glowing effect following along the building. I created virtual copies of them in colour alongside a monochrome format so that not only was this burst of light and colour more visible but they still were established with the black and white aesthetic that Bernd and Hilla Becher used within their typologies. In future if I had ever used Bechers’ typologies again, I would have liked to be able to get some deadpan images of the act of industrialisation because I feel that these would have been a more minimalistic approach to Anthropocene that could have been really powerful. Through this, I then had the ability to represent the dynamic which society progresses and how this constant deconstruction and reconstruction of areas has severe impacts on the planet.

Overall:

Overall, I am really happy with the artists references I chose and the images in which I selected as inspiration as not only did they help me to produce images that followed the Anthropocene in a thoughtful way, but they also enabled me to come up with ideas of my own and develop them – for example, my initial ideology behind using George Marazakis’ image didn’t work how I intended, however this led me onto shooting greenhouses from a contrasting perspective as well as investigating abandoned buildings and structures around the island.

I conducted a small final photoshoot using the studio as a finishing response to water pollution in relation to microplastics and the consequences of plastic ending up in he ocean each day.

I looked through each image however some were very similar. I flagged the ones with the best composition and had the most focus on them. I wanted to use cling film and coloured gels to create an illusion of a beach, small and choppy waves created by plastic to symbolise how the ocean is filled with plastic, so much so that its impossible to see it with the naked eye. I also layered this over other rubbish made from cardboard and foil to give the illusion that this was being carried by the sea waiting to be consumed by an unknowing animal as this is something that happens everyday.

MY EDITS:

For these last two images, I chose to use filters used in roll-up cigarettes as smoking is a general and regular thing that millions of people across the world do multiple times a day, a huge factor towards air pollution that is normalised and thrown on the ground almost anywhere. I felt it was important to show this in the ‘sea’ because it is something that is so disregarded and contributes to waste and pollution in so many different forms.

I used Photoshop to create depictions of the past, the present (my edited image) and the future of the Anthropocene.

CITYSCAPES:

My original image:

I first experimented with my urban cityscape that I took from Fort Regent overlooking the town centre using the Generative Fill tool. This way, I could completely remove, add or change the landscape to show how this could be the future of the island if preventative action isn’t taken.

Then, I used generative fill again to show what this area would of looked like in the past to show the difference between these areas due to human action:

For this, I used Photoshop to arrange the images and then cropped it so that there were no surrounding borders, only a separation between the images.

TRIPTYCH:

For this triptych, I used a black background but kept a slight border at the top and bottom as I feel like the black compliments the images better this way. I created these using photoshop so that I can map out my final presentations.

GREENHOUSE EXPERIMENTATION:

My original image:

I completely removed the greenhouse and used the generative fill tool to create a depiction of how this area would look in the past, before the greenhouse was built here:

I made the area brighter through the sky and the tone of the grass to create a healthy and soothing ambience, what it would have been like years ago before pollution developed at such an alarming rate. I then used neural filters to show what the future holds for this greenhouse if it remains untouched, neglected and unloved:

I played around with a few of the filters and the strength of them until I found one that suited it. I wanted to use this at a reduced strength to show how it will become swarmed and taken over by the greenery surrounding, as if nature is taking back what is theirs. I think this also works well because it makes the appearance of the glass windows look dirtier, untouched and still for an extremely long time.

HOW I DID IT:

I used the rectangular marquee tool to select aspects of my image that I wanted to remove or alter, I had to b careful on how big or small I made it as everything within the rectangle selected would be changed.

I did this for every building or section of the image until I was happy with it, trying to ensure it isn’t too exaggerated as it should still look realistic.

Alongside this, I used the neural filters tool to transform the atmosphere of my entire image of the greenhouse:

I selected the landscape mixer Ai filter and played around with the different pre-sets until I came across one I liked. From here, I could alter the strength, time of day and season at which the image would be taken. I added this as a new layer one I was done.

In my final photoshoot I focused on the abandoned St Saviours Hospital that went out of use in 2014 as I felt this property was extremely relevant to my work on the Anthropocene.

St Saviours hospital is the modernised name of the institution that used to be known as the Jersey Lunatic Asylum – its name being this for nearly 100 years. Its foundation stone was laid on Saturday the 29th of July, 1865 after a long 20 years of the States being criticised for acknowledging that people with learning disabilities and mental health issues needed care in 1847, as this was a period of time where mental health was stigmatised and stereotyped into being clinically insane. Due to this, there was a large reluctance to building this property as a purpose-built asylum however the plans eventually came into play. Within this asylum, levels of care differed in copious amounts. For example, the less ‘severe’ patients would recieve the relatively highest amount of care that could be offered in this undeveloped medical period whilst those who suffered with greater mental health issues were ‘treated like animals’, kept in outhouses on the perimeter in appalling and inhumane conditions. Those who did not reside on the premises were sent to asylums off island in France or England, however others were kept within the General Hospital of which practiced as a poor house and hospital at the time.

Once the institution had been built, Dr John James Jackson was appointed as the Medical Superintendent in 1868, March 27th. This was when the first 12 patients become admitted from the General Hospital on the following months to come. Each year ‘inmates’ (as named by the press at the time) were taken out around the island to hold an annual picnic, an event that came across somewhat stiff and a rather militaristic affair, with the patients called back to their vehicles with a bugle call, at the sound of which they would all fall in.

Its name was changed to the Jersey Mental Hospital in 1952 and then again to St Saviour’s Hospital in 1963, however in 2014 its closure occurred due to a new premises being built with two wards consisting of 28 acute assessment and treatment beds. Here, patients finally became treated in a more caring and conscious way in comparison to its neighbours past.

The site now remains here desolate with its blank exterior sticking up out of the overgrown vegetation abandoned for decades, with several proposals for redevelopment of the site worth approximately £15 million.

MY PHOTOSHOOT:

I really wanted to photograph this site as I feel as if it shows a lighter side to the Anthropocene. What I mean by this is that the growth of this greenery over the eerily abandoned asylum shows that something beautiful can come from something that carries so much pain. Alongside this, I feel this is extremely representative of how these deserted properties and structures cause the natural landscape to move in an unruly manner, climbing over it due to it restricting the natures free and usual pattern of growth and forcing it to twist and turn in artificial ways due to this neglecting. I also think that it shows how humanity’s own ignorance prevails and projects into the plants, absorbing this neglecting and portraying this through their wild patterns.

I think the context behind this structure really adds a diffrent perspective towards the Anthropocene. Alongside this, as it was built in the 1800s, there is a clear difference in terms of aesthetics in comparison to neighbouring properties due to modernisation. For example, this was built using a brown and cream colour scheme, using granite bricks to build it. As well as this, the outhouses found have a similar enigmatic tone to them.

THE OUTHOUSES:

For my third photoshoot, I located my shoot in Grouville, St Saviours and St Helier. I sectioned this photoshoot into different aspects and environmental issues I wanted to concentrate on related to the Anthropocene.

LAND AND WATER POLLUTION:

WATER POLLUTION:

These two images were taken at Green Island beach in St Clements. I wanted to photograph this as I feel it is a subtle representation of the water pollution that is ignored in comparison to the more noticeable litter. Black sand is a common thing in places such as Hawaii, Iceland and the Canary Islands as these are areas with volcanic activity materials such as lava and basalt salts become eroded and filter in with the sand.

However, this is still found in areas located around the UK, for example Somerset, where there is no volcanic activity. This is the result of coal mines and seams being washed up from the Welsh side of the channel in the Severn Estuary. The waves pick this up and churn it ashore, with higher levels of it turning up in stormy conditions which is very toxic to aquatic life. In my image, it has ended up being trapped within a rock pool, inhabiting animals homes.

LAND POLLUTION:

In these last two images, I placed some seaweed inside the crisp packet and made it look as if it was growing from out of the bag. I did this because I feel as if it represents how the plastic produced which ends up in the ocean ends up restricting the growth of plants and ecosystems. Alongside this, I feel as if this symbolises how the consistent use of single use plastic is eventually going to be within everything we have, for example within the soil of which plants grow out of, because the micro plastics cannot decompose fully and therefore it cannot ever fully disappear in the natural environment.

DERELICT GREENHOUSES:

I came across a site of numerous derelict greenhouses. They were quite battered and broken, assuming this is not only due to the long period of time they have been sat here but due to Storm Ciaran too. The areas were either extremely overgrown inside with stinging nettles and other weeds or the ground had been reduced to dirt, unable to grow any plants due to synthetic fertilisers causing the roots to decay.

There was a large amount of fly-tipping and dumped appliances within some of these greenhouses, starting from ovens and freezers to live wires or farming equipment. These were scattered across the greenhouses in a careless manner

In this image, I used the two greenhouses as leading lines to direct the viewers eyes down towards an abandoned and old-fashioned blue car. This car had gathered a lot of rust from the multiple years it has been sat here.

URBANIZATION AND OVERPOPULATION:

I took these images from Fort Regent carpark, overlooking the town centre of St Helier. I thought this would be a good representation of how packed this area is, especially at certain busy times of the day such as 5pm. As you can see, there are numerous cars on the road, all contributing to the air pollution.

The result of this urbanisation means that there is a lack of greenery in this area, a few trees and bushes in the centre will large hills in the distance behind these modernised structures. Alongside this, there is a partial viewpoint of the harbour, of which the sand inside has been discoloured due to boats engines polluting this area when the tide comes in.

I set my photoshoot based around Bouley Bay, St Johns and Trinity as these areas are north to Jersey in comparison to my other photoshoot located more towards the south-east. Many of my images were similar to each other so I colour-coded them after editing to make it clear.

In this photoshoot, I sectioned my images into different themes so that I could get a wide range.

DERELICT GREENHOUSES:

I took images of this neglected greenhouse located in St Johns in inspiration of George Marazakis image of ‘A Cure For Anthropocene’ as the use of mechanical and chemical-based farming means that they are no longer in use as human development has leaned more towards using synthetic fertilizer.

EXPERIMENTATION:

For this image, I got to a lower angle to capture grass within the foreground to replicate George Marazakis camera angle when shooting his images.

I chose to shoot an up close image of a singular plastic chair in the centre of this dirty neglected greenhouse as I feel it represents how plastic is one of the leading causes of decay in the environment, standing alone in the middle of this destruction.

CONSTRUCTION:

In this image, there is a clear wipe out of anything natural, replaced with a monotone silver spread across the image. The natural light of the sunset reflects off of this metallic composition really nicely alongside the sky.

I took this image of a pile of construction materials scattered across the entire image as if they had been thrown there in a careless manner, allowing for a high amount of definition and vibrancy to catch the eye in an artificial colouring. In the background, there is a small amount of grass being toppled on, showing how this constant need of building, updating and redeveloping natural spaces presses down on any piece of natural space left.

In this image, I pointed the camera slightly down to capture the wheel of a vehicle behind some wooden palettes and broken plastic. I wanted to shoot this image as I feel that it carries a destructive tone within it, especially due to the sharp and violent way the black pieces of what appears to be plastic is thrown into a bucket, pointing in every direction to add a sense of danger.

This image consists of many brightly coloured gas canisters placed in a formal way, waiting to be released into the atmosphere to contribute to global warming even more.

I shot this image as I wanted to capture how these building materials had been thrown onto the grass causing it to become destroyed as its dragged across. I feel that this image shows the carelessness that humanity gives towards the natural landscape as it is clear these materials have been put here without a second thought.

In the foreground, the grass has been reduced to dry dust crumbling on the floor due to the hard slabs being placed upon these wooden palettes. I shot this image as I thought the way the healthy green bushes were bordered off from the now decayed dirt contrasted really well together and symbolised how one day, that’s all it will be.

I thought that the composition of this image worked really well as the sun doesn’t focus on any of the unnatural, man-made materials thrown around on the gravel, just focusing on nurturing the singular tree in the background.

ABANDONED STRUCTURES:

I took these images at the abandoned Bouley Bay hotel. These areas were boarded up and covered with urban graffiti, there was a large amount of dirt and rust stuck to the entirity of this structure to show its age. This area was located next to a alrge cliff edge which I wanted to capture alongside a large amount of destroyed palm trees and posion ivy.