The Environment; Task 1

My initial idea was looking at the affects humans have on nature, by capturing simple images such as footprints in the mud and littering which had been left by people walking by. But once I got my negatives back and made contact sheets I decided that the images weren't really portraying what I wanted them to, so I developed the concept further. 

After experimenting with my first idea it led me onto another idea which was to photograph objects that wouldn't usually be in certain environments, although I liked this idea i felt that it wasn't strong enough so I developed it further to create my final idea. 

I liked the concept that there is no such thing as naturally structured, as to structure something means to purposefully make something in a particular way. This got me to thinking about the environment and how there are certain places that have structures which are not natural. So I started off by taking pictures of car parks, which i had the influence by Dan Holdsworth project 'autopia' where he took photographs of roads and places which have certain structures to. I then experimented with taking photos of environments and landscapes which i felt had a purposeful structure, places which were not naturally structured. 

For example i shot gardens that had been landscaped, public parks and housing estates. In all of these places i felt there was no sense of atmosphere especially in the housing estates where every house looked the same and had no character. Unfortunately the film came out blank so i had to re-shoot, but by re-shooting it gave me fresh ideas which i ended up preferring to my original idea.

After coming up with my final idea i researched into photographers to help inspire my final images. I looked at Dan Holdsworth’s project ‘Autopia’ and’ Megalith’ which i found led me to thinking about environments which have certain structures and beauty behind them. 

I also looked at Eva Strenram ‘Landscape with Cameras’ which isn’t much to do with structure but when i originally shot for environment i took photos of CCTV cameras in the environment as i felt they had something to do with modern day landscapes. CCTV cameras are a big part of modern society they are almost everywhere you go. They add to the atmosphere of an environment, giving people a feel that they are constantly watched even in the most unlikely places. I also like how she has photographed the same area but showing different cameras, it gives it a different perspective.

The Object; Task 1

Rather than looking into a current issue in the news I looked into a more personal issue relating to how the media constantly highlights the problems of anorexia and obesity. Several model agencies and advertisement use size 0 to create a world of ‘perfect people’ showing that being such small sizes is the right way to be, but who has the right to say that small is ‘perfect’. The media also talks about the rising cases of obesity in the United Kingdom and how there are so many health problems occurring because of this. What the media fails to show is the feelings and emotions of the victims who are incurring this illness or health issue. So after developing this idea and experimenting i came up with my final idea which was to use certain objects to recreate the idea of ‘Body Image’ by using objects such as a mirror, a manikin, a tape measure and pills to create the feeling and show the emotions of the victims. 

contact sheet

Here is a quick contact sheet of my final photos, but they are the wrong way round, the body should be on the right hand side.

Whilst doing this i had to think carefully about what kind of objects would be suitable to this idea so i researched into anorexia and obesity and found that often people struggling with weight often hide away from mirrors and are constantly measuring themselves, to see if they have lost or put on weight. Often people struggling with anorexia use diet pills to help lose weight more quickly, which is why i decided on having pills in my final shoot.

this was my setup when i shot my final shoot, i took a picture to remember how everything was done, so if i needed to re-shoot i would know exactly what went where.

First off i started by just researching the concept of what is the 'perfect body image' to see what i could find. I found articles talking about how anorexia and eating disorders are key issues in having the perfect body image. 

links to articles; http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm

http://feminism.eserver.org/real-and-ideal-body-image.txt

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/gavin-bond-obsession#!/photos/49385/1

I then found this images on the internet, its a persons body but only focused on the waist part. This helped with my final shoot as i decided that the waist is a part of the body is often measured a lot when it comes to losing or gaining weight. So I then decided to use the waist part of a manikin to represent the body. 

Another example i found of a woman using a certain position to hide her body from the camera, and the vague and dull lighting shows she doesn't want her body to be fully shown which could mean she has issues with her appearance.

Final Images/Prints

these are my final prints for object, you cant see them very well as they are just pictures of the prints so the colouring is off kind of off. Its just a rough idea of what my actual final outcome looks like.