My main idea for the object unit is consumerism as I am very passionate about the effects we are having on the world due to the waste we accumulate. On Saturday I therefore decided to visit a rubbish tip where I was able to photograph different areas & sections of the tip eg. clothing, scrap metal & house waste; I hoped that this would help generate further ideas for my still life.
Like the weekend before I decided to use a Bronica SQ-B with colour film, ISO 160 as my final still life will be in colour, again after developing the negatives I scanned them into the computer therefore they aren't brilliant quality but helpful to see how they will look if printed.
When choosing my shots I wanted to create a feeling of excess wastage, similar objects piled up on top of each other representing the sort of society we are living in today. I set the camera to shoot at Shutter Speed 1/125 and found that most of the shots were around F/8; most of the images were taken when the weather was overcast which I felt added to my theme giving a negative outlook on the subject.
This second image was unfortunately a mistake, I went to focus the image and pressed the shutter. Although the image has actually turned out quite interesting with an unusual frame around the subject it has taught me to be careful how I hold the camera as the shutter button is very easy to press.
I was drawn into this scene straight away, the clothes looked as if they were piling out of the darkness. I almost felt like someone could be living in there and I was almost moved by the shoes in the foreground reminding me of the way Nazis would collect up the clothing and belongings of the Jews and other people executed. I really liked how the contrast turned out in this image as your eye is drawn to the mountain of clothes.
I was drawn to the electrical appliances as I almost felt that because they are so big that they are more of a waste and due to the long warranties on these sorts of appliances you have to wonder whether they were actually broken or whether they have just bought a new, better product highlighting the wasteful society we are living in.
This skip caught my attention as the solid, lines of the frames looked very harsh, aggressive and destructive. I also liked the bright white against the dirty backdrop which made it look as if they were cutting through the frame.
While taking another image this bin full of shredded metal caught my eye as it glinted in the light, I liked how it looks really busy but at the same time it is simply a pile of wire. It reminded me of shredded paper relating to the destructive nature of deforestation and waste, and although recycling is so easy to do nowadays people still do not do it.
The house waste skip was the most intriguing of them all for me as you got a feel of what sort of people could have put their rubbish in there. Old footballs, broken flower baskets and dirty sofa cushions; my eye was caught by the white bag flickering in the wind which I took in focus rather than the objects in the foreground.
After visiting the rubbish tip I generated my most recent idea for my final still life; the image will centre around an old tumble dryer which will have shredded paper and video tape film tumbling out of it. The tumble dryer represents society chewing things up and once its done with it eg. electrical appliances chucking it back out. The paper symbolises deforestation and the way we use paper up so fast and chuck it away, not recycle it without even thinking of the consequences. Finally the video film would highlight the way new products are constantly being invented and re-modelled, making people want to keep up with the new thing. Also how in the media there is always concern about how we are effecting the environment through our wasteful ways- landfills etc. yet we seem to ignore the advice such as recycling and continue to ruin the planet.
I would probably back my still life with a black backdrop to create a harsh contrast between the white tumble dryer and background and use bright, artificial side lighting to create a bold contrast between light and shadow. I would use quite a small aperture to create a large depth of field so that none of the detail is lost in any part of the image and therefore every symbol in the image is clear and equally as important as the other objects.
When choosing my shots I wanted to create a feeling of excess wastage, similar objects piled up on top of each other representing the sort of society we are living in today. I set the camera to shoot at Shutter Speed 1/125 and found that most of the shots were around F/8; most of the images were taken when the weather was overcast which I felt added to my theme giving a negative outlook on the subject.
After visiting the rubbish tip I generated my most recent idea for my final still life; the image will centre around an old tumble dryer which will have shredded paper and video tape film tumbling out of it. The tumble dryer represents society chewing things up and once its done with it eg. electrical appliances chucking it back out. The paper symbolises deforestation and the way we use paper up so fast and chuck it away, not recycle it without even thinking of the consequences. Finally the video film would highlight the way new products are constantly being invented and re-modelled, making people want to keep up with the new thing. Also how in the media there is always concern about how we are effecting the environment through our wasteful ways- landfills etc. yet we seem to ignore the advice such as recycling and continue to ruin the planet.
I would probably back my still life with a black backdrop to create a harsh contrast between the white tumble dryer and background and use bright, artificial side lighting to create a bold contrast between light and shadow. I would use quite a small aperture to create a large depth of field so that none of the detail is lost in any part of the image and therefore every symbol in the image is clear and equally as important as the other objects.
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