As a direct result of studying the work of Benjamin Von Wong, I
came across a further artist who enjoyed blending human forms with discarded
rubbish and waste recycling to create images of high impact.Gregg Segal
understands the vast environmental problem of waste and recycling and he
decided to tackle this issue by creating a set of images demonstrating the
amount of recycling waste a family creates within just 7 days.He asked friends,
family and neighbours to save their recycling rubbish for a week and then be
photographed surround by their litter. This technique he hoped would visually
encourage people to reduce their waste, limit their rubbish and understand the
environmental problem which they are contributing to.
Artist Images
I enjoyed the way that Gregg Segal used
different environmental settings for his images which I think was done to show
that the problem spanned all environments and no part of the world is left
untouched by the issue of litter and recycling. The above shot, taken
with Autumn leaves on the ground was an excellent way to ensure that the
brightly coloured carrier bags were very visible. The smartly dressed man
is a direct contrast to the mess which surrounds him and I liked this use of
contrast. The photograph is lit very well and I think this is done so we can
see all the details of the packaging and litter. I think this almost
personalises the photograph as we are able to see clearly waste products which
we may use on a day to day basis and then Segal's message is reinforced as we
see that it could be us lying amongst our own litter.
The
second image above, shot as a beach scene I thought was particularly effective.
This photograph again concentrated on a single person, however, in this instance,
they were almost buried in their own waste packaging. Again I liked the
contrast of the golden pristine sand and the vast array of brightly coloured
packaging as it made the image interesting. I also liked the composition of
this shot which I thought was eye-catching. The woman dressed in a bikini is a
completely normal sight on a beach, however, the litter is not common place and
again this makes us think about the underlying message of the image.
The
third image which fascinated me was the photograph above which showed the
immense amount of waste a single family creates within one week. I found this
image to have very hard hitting visual presence and everyone could relate to
the underlying message being given by Segal. I liked the way the family were
positioned in this photograph as it made the shot interesting, especially as
there was such a varied age range of people. Segal I think deliberately ensures
that the people in his photographs look as though they are going about their
daily lives as normal. Their facial expressions are happy and content, almost
oblivious to the amount of waste they are creating.
My Own Photographs
When taking my own photographs, I have tried to
portray the same message as the artist and continue the recurring theme of being
surrounded by our own waste, however, I have experimented with the composition
of my work to try and demonstrate interest in shape giving a pleasing overall
final shot.
I began by asking the model to raise their arms in
order to introduce interesting angles to my piece which I then used as a focal
point to my image. I felt that by
drawing the viewers eyes to this specific point you don't immediately look at
the rubbish spread around them, but then as the eye starts to explore the image
more, the environmental message becomes more prominent. By using this
composition, I wanted to try and illustrate the fact that the problem of litter
is not always noticed until people actually take action and look a little
closer. The sunlight was quite bright
when taking this photograph and this cast some unusual shadows on the ground
which I quite liked. I think that the
light could possibly have been used more to my advantage and if I had included
more of these shadow shapes could have achieved an even more interesting image
using the natural light more effectively.
The second of my photograph emulations concentrates
further on light, shadow and shape. I
decided to focus a little closer on the rubbish to the previous shot and also
at the shadows which were cast. I found that zooming in on the rubbish provided
a more colourful image as many of the brands labels were vividly coloured. The light shining on the plastic bottles
reminded me of Benjamin Wong’s mermaids and I enjoyed this merging of theme
within my shot.
When choosing the litter for this image, I specifically
chose brands and products which were very familiar with high impact labels as I
thought that this would help the viewer engage with my underlying message. The sunbeams and shadows lit the model well
and this was a good contrast to the litter lying in the shadows.
My third and final image explored a more macro
perspective of my subject. This time, I have focused the camera even closer for
this image again trying to display the detail of the rubbish. The open can is dirty which is in direct
contrast to the cleaning product which lies next to it. I liked the irony of the discarded cleaner
being thrown on the floor which I hoped would be interpreted by the
viewer. Although I have kept to theme by incorporating
a small portion of the models hand, this photograph most definitely
concentrates on the litter and the way that it has been discarded. The colours are again bold and the label
brands obvious and familiar. I also
liked that the PEPSI bottle in this photograph has condensation inside of it
which again is seem more clearly with this zoomed in composition. The green foliage which is coming through the
brickwork is not lost within the photograph, however, to enhance this image,
perhaps, I could look at increasing the colour saturation of this to further
enhance the environmental aspect of the photo.
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