Today I was so impressed – I was watching the One Show and they were playing a VT on scuba diving and they were looking at new creatures in the ocean and one of them was this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06qmm0t/the-one-show-03122015
It is called a flame scallop!
Notice any resemblances to something else?
I am so excited that there is an actual sea creature that looks like a creature I created in my photography so I thought I would share it!
One of the reasons I chose plastic bags is because of how controversial they are at the moment. Not only have they just been banned in England from supermarkets unless you pay 5p, but they pose huge threats to the environment and oceans.
I found an article on the Guardian that describes plastic bags as “consumerism gone wrong” which is quite true. I assume they were initially used to advertise different brands whilst people walked about with them, but seeing them blowing across the road is now exactly advertisement.
I also found a horrible statistic about a bay in Australia, and how “40% of small turtles passing through the bay and more than 70% of endangered loggerhead turtles – had ingested plastic.” This is a horrible statistic and just one of many about plastic bags killing and harming animals around the world.
I also wanted to look into something that I had heard about before called the ‘Great Pacific Garage Patch’. Here is an infographic on it:
and here is a horrifying photo of it:
Some people found it hard to accept that charge for plastic bags but after looking at images of what it does, I think it is a great idea to discourage people from using them.
These are my best 3 photos from the shoot. I added a slight curve to all of them to make the background blacker and the colours of the bag stronger.
The open mouth photos work best as it appears as though Tessa is being suffocated, which ties in with the idea of animals being suffocated by plastic bags and the fact that brands suffocate shopping towns.
I think the photos are actually quite shocking and have a horror aspect to them as Tessa’s face looks scary under the bags.
For this brief, I had the strange idea of putting plastic bags on human heads. This is because I thought of people being things and covering heads, and then I thought about consumerism, and then I thought that plastic bags could literally be consuming the person in my photos as people really are consumed by companies and brands. I additionally thought it was fitting with the recent plastic bag ban in supermarkets as it proved how much we rely on the bags shops used to give us when shopping.
Here are a selection of the photos from my shoot:
I think the ones with Tessa’s mouth open work best as it allows you to see her face more under the bag. The photos do look a bit strange but I think I am pleased with my outcome.
The black background was a good choice against the bright shopping bags as it allows them to stand out more in the photos.
I think the Sainsbury’s bag looks best with the bright colour of the orange against the background and the fact the bag is more translucent.
