Object unit Self-Appraisal

I began my object unit by researching particular photographers & articles in response to workshops, lectures and seminars all of which I posted in blogs.

The first work that I looked at was Keith Arnatt’s still lifes of litter from rubbish tips, he beautifully composed rotting food, tarpaulin and other rubbish in a traditional Vanitas style painting using soft lighting to create a conflictingly positive atmosphere.

I initially looked at Andy Hughes because of the way he beautifully composes litter to look attractive to deceive his audience.

 Then I started looking at the way scale can be distorted through perspective; Gary Bryan makes objects eg. sugar cubes look like huge structures. He also used waste material like bottles to create another environment not natural to the objects.

 I also looked at the work of Steffi Klenz, her ‘A Scape’ series were perspective is used to
make piles of rubble look like mountains commenting on how humankind exploits the planet.

 I have become particularly excited about the work of Edward Burtynsky, the way he captures man-made landscapes which often look quite natural but he still documents rather than critiques our actions.

 The image ‘Museum of Architecture’ by Joel Sternfeld intrigued me, the way in which he uses perspective to make the model look real life as well as framing and lighting.

I also found some articles about artists, firstly Max Liboiron who created sculptural structures out of teabags, you have to take a closer look to realise what components make up the scene creating a sense that we consume the landscape.

The artists Elise Morin & Clemence Eliard created mounds of CDs to represent throwaway technology society; it has a very attractive composition and gives this idea of mountains into a different context.

My emerging theme is based around the concept of human consumerism, the idea that despite the news coverage on growing waste nowadays we still continue to ignore the warnings. I wanted to highlight the destruction we are having on the environment.

Inspired by the artists and photographers I researched I wanted to show how we are consuming the planet by creating a still life of a landscape consisting of materials which have been thrown away. In my composition I used I used shredded paper, bottle glass, tyres, cereal packet cardboard, cling film, plastic tarpaulin, netting & data film all found in a bin destined for a rubbish tip. I used inspiration from Ansel Adams’ sublime landscapes to create and compose a mountainous landscape; lit from behind with a honeycomb and a pro light from the front to create highlights in the black film.

Ansel Adams

 I used a flag to leave the backdrop in shadow to create an overcast look to reflect the emotions provoked by the subject. By using a low aperture of F/2.8 I created a shallow depth of field so that the objects blur & fuzz in the background making the piles of shredded paper look like mountains while in the foreground you start to notice things out of place. While most of the scene is very flowing and natural, the glass begins to look aggressive, batteries cut through the soft surfaces to represent technological pollution on the planet inspired by Elise Morin & Clemence Eliard’s sculptures.  I took the image at a certain angle slightly look down on the scene as if looking from another mountain to give a realistic looking scene inspired by Ansel Adams and many of the other mentioned artists and photographers in our environment lectures eg. Albert Bierstadt and Timothy O’Sullivan. 

My Final Image

I am not trying to preach to my audience members but I want to highlight what we are doing to the planet, a realisation represented by the way the viewers would look at the image and slowly apprehend what the components in the image mean to each individual.