environment assessment presentation

8/13/2019 Environment Assessment Presentation

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Hannah BroadAssessment Presentation:

Environment


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C o n c e p

t

My first thought for my concept was that I wanted to investigatethe terms:

Manufactured Unnatural Human landscape

Basically, the landscape that we as humans have transformed

and humanity's impact on the world.I started to look at the work of Edward Burtynsky and thought Icould research in to:

Sustainability/Sustainable living/development Urbanisation/Urban Migration Population Pollution Climate Change


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C o n c e p

tAfter my first tutorial with Steffi, it was decidedthat I would take a more subtle approachshowing human presence.

I then settled on basing my project on thedestruction of the landscape and focus on WWIIpillboxes and how they affect the land they have been built on.


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C o n t e x

t u a l r e s e a r c

h What are pillboxes?

Pillboxes are concrete dug-in guard posts, normally equipped withloopholes through which to fire weapons.

The original humorous name arose from their perceived similarityto the cylindrical and hexagonal boxes in which medical pills wereonce sold.

They are in effect a trench firing step hardened to protect againstsmall-arms fire and grenades and raised to improve the field of fire.


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C o n t e x


hBritish anti-invasion preparations of the SecondWorld War

British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entaileda large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation inresponse to the threat of invasion by German armed forces in 1940and 1941.

The British army needed to recover from the defeat of the BritishExpeditionary Force in France, and 1.5 million men were enrolled aspart-time soldiers in the Home Guard.

The rapid construction of field fortifications transformed much ofthe United Kingdom, especially southern England, into a prepared

battlefield. The German invasion plan, Operation Sea Lion, wasnever taken beyond the preliminary assembly of forces.

Today, little remains of Britain's anti-invasion preparations. Onlyreinforced concrete structures such as pillboxes are common.


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C o n t e x


h

Possible locations to shoot


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C o n t e x


h

Possible locations to shoot


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l o c a t

i o n

The Local Nature Reserve at Rye Harbour was established in 1970 byEast Sussex County Council

The 1149 acres are generally flat and low lying with no natural featureabove 6metres. The high points are the crests of shingle storm ridges built up over hundreds of years by the combined action of tides andstorms. The low points are the sheltered areas between the ridgeswhere saltmarsh developed on the regularly flooded land.

The influence of the sea has been greatly reduced during the last one

hundred years by man-made sea defences. There is a great variety of species with 3,300 recorded so far. These

include more that 150 that are considered rare and endangered inBritain.

The area also contains considerable historic interest with militaryfortifications from the 16th, 19th and 20th centuries, a lifeboat disasterand evidence of man's early and continuing efforts to defend the landfrom the sea. This flat, open and historic landscape, with its low level ofdevelopment, proximity to the sea and network of footpaths is popularwith visitors.


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o c a o n

Test Shots


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V i s u a

l r e

s e a r c

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Jane and Louise Wilson

I liked the contrast in the image between sky and land. The land takes up half theimage and the sky the other with the object obstructing the view and naturallandscape.

It relates to my concept as I plan to capture structures which visually impose onthe landscape as these do.

These photographs give the viewer a sense of abnormality and obtrusion, theobjects seem alien to the landscape and that is what I want to illustrate in myimage series.


12/15

V i s u a

l r e s e a r c h

Erasmus Schroeter

Bathed in theatrical light, the luminous colours, imposing scale andcrumbling ruins of Schroeters Bunkers create a panorama which is bothutterly arresting and wholly repulsive.

Yet, although the architectural ruins of Nazism and Stalinism maintain aclear presence in the cities, countryside and coastlines of contemporaryGermany and beyond, they are often invisible to the untrained eye.

Schroeters work makes it impossible for these ideologies to concealthemselves.

In my images I want to focus on the shapes of the building, and like theseimages, think about the proportion and the environment to create an illusionod the image seriously impacting on the environment.


13/15

V i s u a

l r e s e a r c h Lewis Baltz

Baltz strong composition inspired my images, particularly in the thirdimage. The angular lines and symmetry.

They give a strong sense of minimalism, creating an eerie and almostabandoned tone.

Unlike my other reference images, these seemed the most realistic, thingsthat you would expect to see in everyday life. This made me think howcommon man made structures are within society, corrupting the naturalenvironment.

This photographic aesthetic of minimalism and abandonment havecreated a strong visual reference for me.


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F i n a

l p r i n

t sI shot on colour film with an ISO of 160.

I was shooting on an aperture of f22-f32with a shutter speed of 8 and 15 to try andget maximum depth of field in my images.

I used a mamiya rz medium format camerawith a 50mm wide angle lens.

The second pictures exposure is slightly outso it doesn t have the punch of sharpnesslike the other two and the colour is slightlymucky which I have tried to colour correctas much as possible in the dark room whichI am now extremely comfortable with.


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S e l f e v a l u a

t i o n

This unit has really opened my eyes to the destruction of the environment, from researching different conceptsto choose I have come across a large amount of photographers who dedicate their work to capturing thenegative and destructive impact humans have upon the world. It has been inspiring, particularly the work ofKeith Arnatt, who portrays raw and captivating images of the environment. However for my concept I wantedto focus on something which had positive and negative impacts upon the landscape.

Overall I think that my visual choices translate my idea of representing destruction of the landscape well. I

chose to focus on war remnants, in particular ww2 pillboxes. Ironically placed in the 1940s to protect thecountry from incoming German attack, they are now an eyesore that scatter coastal areas.

Through my location scouting and research I found the majority of pillboxes to be located on the southeasterncoast around Kent and Sussex. I chose to photograph two particular pillboxes in rye harbor, Sussex as I reallyliked how they appeared to impend upon the coastal landscape, which other than them was virtuallyuntouched. The bare landscape and sand dunes created a strong contrast with the structural pillboxes, givingthem the appearance of abandonment and abnormality. Visually the landscape looked other-wordly, with the

bizarre structures looming on the landscape.

It has been easier to manage my studies this year, as I knew what to expect from my previous year, therefore Icould learn from my mistakes. I really focused on coming up with a concept early on, so I knew what toresearch and could start location planning and test shooting as soon as possible. This also made it easier to timemanage and plan my weeks, reducing stress and panic when I came to the final weeks before hand in.

Things that I need to improve upon for my next unit are basic things such as; double-checking my exposure

after every shot. As on a couple of my images the exposure was slightly off due to not metering before everyshot as it is critical because it is not consistent lighting due to being out on location. Secondly experimentingwith even more camera angles, as I found this difficult from shooting on a low shutter speed which causeddifficulty as I used a tripod, as I could only adjust it to a certain level.

The most significant challenge of this unit was probably deciding on what concept to go ahead with, as thetopic was so vast it felt impossible to choose just one. In the future I can overcome this by looking at a largeramount of visual research to get as much inspiration as possible, and determine what I like and dislike quicker.

environment assessment presentation

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