02. Discarded Items
Discarded items sometimes create hazardous pollution, as David Attenborough showed in Blue Planet, and they can sometimes be the source of creative ideas.Eian Kantor has recorded discarded items in a series of photographs called ‘Found Sculptures’. In the project ‘Some cities and Mountains,’ Anthony Gerace produced photographs that record discarded items and aspects of neglect in the environment. Morgan Z Schultz created a short film with animation entitled ‘Discarded’ about the items people leave behind.

Investigate relevant sources and produce your own response to discarded items.

Starting ideas

I decided to pick discarded items as I feel like its a topic relevant to my local area, southeast London. I think the prompt is very broad and can lead to some creative outcomes. I also believe behind its simplistic nature it can pay weight to some important issues facing the modern world, including consumerism, the environment and self destruction of human kind as well as the huge and growing problem of homelessness.  First, I started by researching the artists given in the paper. I also had an initial link to homelessness and the items left behind by those living on the streets, I think this would be an interesting project and perhaps spread awareness. I also thought about litter and recycling to make art, for example hanging discarded items (litter) from fishing line and photographing them.
​Some various sparks for ideas are below.
  1. What qualifies as an item? Whats the difference between an object, a thing and an item?
  2. Object oriented ontology New materialism 
  3. Martha rosler Two inadequate systems 
  4. the_people_project_ ig
  5. Nigel shafran book
  6. ethical issue of photography, Objectifying subject with camera, power realtions 
  7. lost angels Lee Jefferies
some questions I aim to explore through this project include:
  • ​What is the difference between a thing, object and item?
  • To what extent does the camera/photographer have the power to change the subjects status as either an object, item or thing?
  • How can you morally capture poverty through photography?
  • To what extent is my local area polluted with rubbish, and am I surprised now I've been focusing on it more?
  • How can an individuals relationship with discarded items vary?
I decided to look into exactly what is meant by 'Discarded items', In the dictionary definition it relates discard to un-usefulness and undesirable, This made me wonder if by making discarded items the subject of an art form you could reinstate their purpose, in a sense reversing the act of disposing of them. I also am questioning the word Item as discarded can include living things but items insists not. If i could break away from the boundary of item I believe i could take this project much further, exploring human behaviour. Another thing I thought of when first confronted with this task was an idea I've touched on in the past, which is the idea of 'One mans junk, is another man's treasure.' I explored this in rituals for holiday homework when asked to create a idea for a photographic project. Within this I explored a few ways of portraying a variety of small subjects; First i experimented with laying out objects in an order or pattern, secondly i explored typologies, a good artist I found that links to this project is Steve Tyler with his project typologies of mass consumerism.

RESEARCH

Steve Tyler 

Steve Tyler is a photographer who using typologies to create images in which the collective product is more important than the individual components, I like his series 'Typologies of mass consumption' I like this series as it portrays the repetitive and consumerist lives of humans. It shows ritual in its repetitiveness and process of choosing and creating the typologies. His use of plan white backgrounds with the same item creates a stylised look creating a pattern, which relates to the idea the overall is more important than the individual. This embeds the idea of objects holding significance when in abundance, which relates to the problem of having abundances of rubbish, which ends up in land fill. 

I previously looked at Steve Tyler and his 'Typologies of mass consumption' When I was asked to create two project ideas for my rituals project. I based mine on the sub them 'One mans junk, is another mans treasure'. I came up with an idea based on human rubbish pollution and it's effects on the environment:

Micheal Wolf - Lost Laundry

Micheal wolf classifies his photos into different categories which link the photos together, one of those categories is lost laundry. This body of work is appealing to me as it captures the griminess of city life in a beautiful way. Out of all the images, I choose the 3 below as my favourites due to the pipe work, which adds texture and shape to the image. Someone else who photographer and classifies his images in a similar way is Peter Fraser. 
I like the idea of having a continuous item through out a group of photos, tying the images together, as Wolf did in lost laundry. I took inspiration from this in the set of 'stray' or abandoned mattresses. I believe this idea of photographing the 'inside' out of its domestic setting ,creates a sense of integument as you question how the domestic objects came to be discarded as well as a sense of loss.

Peter Fraser 

I feel both artists, and the majority of their work relates to discarded items as there photos are of fairly ordinary objects, or things people might not pay attention to or find unpleasing to look at, yet their photographs, especially when grouped with similar images are unique and unusual. Another key aspect of these artists that interests me is the simple classification of work and the impact of an images context with other photographs. I also find the muted colours and vast negative spaces, that appear within his work, emphasise the way Fraser takes the ordinary and makes it interesting and beautiful.

Alina Szapocznikow - Photo sculptures

'Out of my mouth'

Szapocznikow wished to leave a memory of her own body in her work. She attempted this in a number of ways, such as creating polyester casts of body parts and transforming them into household objects.  For 'Out of my mouth' she left a memento to her body through photographing her used chewing gum. Despite her subject being repulsive, she created some really beautiful works by emphasising and making advantage of the formal elements, such as shadow, line, tone etc to take the attention away from what the subject is and rather how it can be made to look. It shows the power photography holds, as it allow any object to be transformed into a work of art. Lastly, I appreciate her desire to leave her mark, and feel discarded items, generally are an example of us leaving our mark, and hold questions and mystery as to the person who left the 'mark'.
Szapocznikow began her career as classic sculptor, But changed her style and in doing so re-conceptualise post war sculpture. I am interested in her work due to her incorporation of discarded items such as used chewing gum, old clothes etc. Although the majority of her legacy of work explores the human body and doesn't relate to discarded items, I was inspired by the way she composes unrelated objects to appear to create one subject seamlessly. 

My response to ​Alina Szapocznikow

I was inspired by Alina Szapocznikow to create a relationship between the discarded and the human body. In doing so I began to question the link between the human body and life and discarded items. I feel the images subtly play on the delicacy of human life, For example the images with the cigarette stubs could be said to show that all life must come to an end, and that eventually we will all burn out like the cigarette stubs you pay no notice to. I believe all the pictures can also represent the lives of those who are neglected by society and pushed aside, It represents all the people who feel waked over, like a piece of tissue on the floor. lastly, the images in which the discarded items have been arranged to replace clothing items, the pictures explore the issue of fashion pollution, as the clothes are portrayed as discarded items, which represent the less we are wearing the clothes we buy and the issue of fast fashion.

The conundrum of items, objects and things.

When voicing my questions as to what is included in the term 'item' and found myself confronted with 3 pretty colloquial terms; Items, objects and things. Although, typically used interchangeably (By me at least) my teacher suggested there are differences in the terms and they imply the subjects relation to its surroundings. He suggested an Object is a thing that has a relationship to someone, through their ownership of this subject, giving it a purpose of some kind. Where as a thing is an object that lacks its purpose or relationship, in other words discarded or un-useful. I cant help but be drawn back to the idea of one mans junk being another mans treasure, in this consumerist and materialistic society, with such diversity in social class and values, relative poverty and comparison play a large role in the self destruction of human kind and all life.

'Un-discarded'

I decided to start basic. I still have hopes to bring some deeper topics into this project, but I’m getting my head round the ethical issues and practicality of it all. So I’ve started by thinking about genuine junk, my aim is to create a body of work which focuses on giving life or purpose to discarded by creating something of it in my photographs. I think this could be interesting as it could incorporate street photography, which has always appealed to me along side photographs that highlight some of the formal elements such as light, colour, shadow etc in a more graphic and abstract style. 

I also believe the power photography has to change the status of a thing, by reinstating it's purpose, makes this an interesting topic in its own right. Through the lens of a camera anything has the potential to be a piece of art and as soon as the photo is taken the subject changes from an object to a thing for the photographer and the photographs audience as they develop a relationship to the item. This also links the the philosophical view of 'new materialism', which addresses the way in which humans have asserted themselves at the top of a social hierarchy of the earth, Teaching and acting on the view we are more important than anything around us. it refers to our selfish and greedy habits of exploiting and abusing other aspects of the world for human gain, which eventually will lead to our self destruction. For example, humans assert themselves as more important that nature and destroy habitats for fuel, agricultural land, landfill etc. New materialist's aim to combat the self destructive nature of human ignorance by celebrating and appreciating all aspects of the earth from the mightiest examples of natures strength to the smallest everyday object you'd take no notice of. Many artists have been exploring this view through their work by encouraging individuals to see the value and worth in other wise taken for granted and pushed aside things, Reinstating their status in the world and making steps towards a world in witch we respect everything around us, rather than encouraging the false belief that humans are of more worth, importance, value or intelligence than anything else.


Evaluation

My three photographs I find really effective are the three to the right.

I like the first one as it is fairly abstract and highlights the variety of textures and colours as a subject for a work, It also a good example of making something of items otherwise seen as rubbish.
In the second, I find the contrast of the white, almost minimalist background of the building to the chaotic and messy rubbish and graffiti.
​

RESEARCH

Keith Arnatt - Pictures from a rubbish tip

Keith Arnatt uses the medium of photography like a painting, Despite his subject being rubbish, he manages to create the most beautiful images. Paying recognition to the beauty in the colour, pattern and form in our everyday waste. He presented his photos in rows of 5 and often focused on close ups of old food, plastic etc against a background of coloured, transparent plastic bag, creating as sense of obscured depth and adding texture, colour and form to the photo itself. The photos are a celebration of the formal element.

''Arnatt attends, through the lens, to things that have been forgotten, left, thrown away, discarded or orphaned.''

Photo analysis

 
​On its most basic level, the photograph is of a decomposing orange, sat on a bag of rubbish. However Arnatt celebrates the formal elements in his work by using photography like a form of painting, His muted colours and brush like textures give the impression of a painting. This helps to bring cohesion to the photos when in a line, as the muted, pastel colours, created by the transparent plastic layers, run through each work. I choose this photo to analyse as it is a prime example of a photographer attributing its subjects with value by working them into a piece of almost transcendental beauty. Furthermore, I choose this piece in particular due to its eye catching colour combinations, with redy orange running throughout the picture. As well as the reflections made by the light bouncing of the plastic bag and the composition of the objects.
​The orange is sat in the bottom right corner, its weight pulls the plastic towards the orange, creating creases in the plastic all pointing towards the orange. This means where ever the audience looks they're eyes will be brought back to the orange, as it is the focal point, you begin to notice colours, textures and tones you wouldn't on first glance. In addition the way the light bounces of the plastic creates a new layer to the photo, not only do you have the muted, obscured view of the rubbish in the bags, and the decomposing junk on top of the bag. There is also a layer of precise, delicate highlights, which further obscure the bags contents and create texture through the contrast of highlights and shades where the creases in the bag are.
I like how the bag fills the whole background, creating a sense of inevitability about the production of rubbish, as it appears to go on forever. Further more, i love how the reds in the image guide the eye around the picture, starting withe the orange, being dragged round by the bits of decomposing peppers and completing a circle and returning to the orange, through the orange in the peach drawing on the cup. I like this order to as you go from natural to man made but also return to a shape of best resemblance to the orange itself. Lastly, in the bottom left  corner a match and what looks like two pieces of sweetcorn sit on a fairly flat area of the bag, there is no highlights in the plastic, due to it being in shadow from the crease beside it, This means there is no texture in the bag and instead the bag looks like ice, with the rubbish frozen within. The decomposing bits of food begin to look more like beautiful sea urchins and you forget your looking at a pile of rubbish. It is Arnatts ability to create such a beautiful work, with such 'ugly' subjects that makes him so captivating to me.

Response - Compost photographs

Although I had the idea to photograph the contents of my compost bin before I looked into Keith Arnett, Researching him gave me inspiration to carry on. I found the link between mine and his work in the use of the formal elements to being out the beauty in decomposing and fairly repulsive objects. My main focus was on colours and textures as well as a sense of depth created through shadow. I felt a few of my photos were successful and others not so. The images i found successful were those with lots of colour, typically from scraps of fruits, and strong shadows; as they were taken in dim light with a hard flash. Surprisingly, I was most happy with my first photo. Despite not making much progress on this idea, it caused me to step out of my comfort zone and helped my understanding of the formal elements and the power photography hold,s by showing a idealised snap shot of the world. It helped me understand how the photographer chooses to leave out and include certain aspects of reality, it also flattens and eliminates the other senses the subjects may hold in reality, lastly they often show a snapshot without context.This all contributes to a changed perception of the subject.  In this instance the camera meant the smell of the compost couldn't be smelt by the audience and the colours looked less intense without the harsh flash and in some instances slight increase in contrast. The camera was able to change the status of a neglected and over looked sight into one of interest. The images I found successful are shown below.

Discarded items and the environment

Another huge issue that can be explored under ‘discarded items’ is the impact of rubbish pollution on the environment.

New materialism, environmental issues and ​anthropocentrism

New materialism is a philosophical theory that believes the stratas within the world, which give certain groups and things more status over others need to be entirely abolished. So that rather than having one species (humans) who can assign a object/creature value based on its usefulness and appeal to human kind, all things and creatures are equal. They believe the anthropocentrism within society, or else we will lead ourselves to the world's inevitable end. Anthropocentrism is defined as 1. Regarding humans as the central element of the universe. 2. Interpreting reality exclusively in terms of human values and experience. When put in the context of the environment you can see that even 'environmentally sound' actions, such as some renewable energy types are still not placing the emphasis on the environments right to life in itself, and is still twisted in with anthropocentric views. For example, we may look to hydro-energy to replace fossil fuels, however this is to maintain human living standards and is in our benefit, the effects on the ecosystems within the water. 

''New materialism offers a way to re-think academic practices and suggests the possible overthrow of a previously stable or at least dominant order of ways of knowing, thinking, believing, acting.”

''New materialist pedagogies involve raising questions that dismantle hierarchies of power''

Our economy is outdated, in our consumerist capitalist society, are economy is dependent on the production, selling and buying of goods. It has been this way since before pre-industrial England and continues like this today. However there’s been a change in practicality. In pre-industrial times there would be merchants and craftsmen, trained in a different skill (such as shoe making) the goods would be made and sold on a small scale and money would stay in rotation through the buying and selling of things needed by the population. As technology increased as did the population, this led to jobs of craftsman being taken over by factories and machines that could produce the goods on at greatly faster rate. This meant there were less workers needed but more jobs needed. In turn people had to turn to selling things that aren’t basic or ‘essential’, leading to the increase of the production of junk as well as the manipulation of the population to give into the fast fashions and a wasteful mindset.The fashion industry is one of the top polluters, with over 300,000 clothes ending up in landfill a year in Britain alone. So long as are economy stays dependent on the production and retail of junk to provide jobs for our ever growing population we will bury our earth in our own waste. There is excess amounts of materials in the world, as we can see from the amount ending up in landfill. It’s time to look to re purposing and recycling materials already existing in our earth and second Hand retail. Stop treating our home like a rubbish heap!

RESEARCH

Jefferson Lankford -willful ignorance

Jefferson Lankford made a series of photos, in which he brought rubbish collected from nearby roadsides, parks, rivers, and streams into the homes of his friends and himself to highlight the problem of mass consumption and the scale of rubbish pollution. His pictures show their subjects surrounded by piles of rubbish as they get on with their everyday routine. I think these pictures are extremely evocative about the environmental problems in modern society. The huge amount of rubbish in the shots reflect the scale of the problem, and when the background of the rubbish collection, being from the local area, makes it even more shocking.

Harley Weir and Wilson Oryema - rubbish 1.2

Harley weir is a London born photographer, who has been involved in fashion photography and was concerned over the consumerist nature of industry as well as the production costs and waste within the fashion industry. This could be said to have inspired her body of work ‘Rubbish 1.2’, in which she captures rubbish strung up in fishing nets. Wilson Oryema is another photographer who is concerned about wastefulness of humans and uses his artistic platform to express and draw attention to these concerns. The work was paired with poems written by Oryema reinforcing the tragedy of mass consumption.

Photoshoot

​HOMELESSNESS

I believe homelessness relates to discarded items, in the belongings left behind for example in door ways which are slept in a sleeping bag or cardboard etc, I also sadly think homelessness is a discarded item as not enough attention is put on helping people sleeping on the street. Lastly there’s a sort of stigma around the homeless which denotes them as discarded by society, I have always wanted to explore homelessness through photography but I worry about the ethical way to go about it as well as the message it will convey, Id hope to raise awareness and evoke emotions of compassion and sympathy but worry it could come across as the opposite.

​One idea is to recreate the reminiscence of a homeless person, for example with the cardboard insulation from the floor, sleeping bag and various possessions in school, moving the set up around and photographing it. This would also hopefully raise awareness if paired with a small passage of text. To do so I'd have to talk to the headteacher and get permissions but if I could I think it would be a really effective way of exploring this topic. 

Ethical issues surrounding photographing homelessness

As well as the ethical issues in the photographing of strangers, there's also the issue of the theme name 'discarded items' and it's link with homelessness, I do not want any work to come across as derogatory or insensitive. I have always felt very strongly towards the issue of homelessness from a young age, and the link between the two came from a place of concern for how many homeless people are treated by much of society, and how people can be living in these conditions, especially now in January, right on our door steps and not more is down. This kind of ignorance and the way many people are treated by the government, welfare systems, the army etc related it to discarded items for me as its as if these people are trying to be censored from society, ignored and discarded. I also see the items as a representative of how the homeless can be objectified, I can best explain this with rhetorical questions. Would you feel something was not right or ask a person dressed in a formal wear lying on the floor or sitting on the floor if everything was okay? Now would you do the same if you saw someone who looked homeless laying on the streets?
Some ways I could try to depict the issue of homelessness in the UK, whilst not being invasive and trying to be ethical are :
  • photograph the remains of somewhere a homeless person has slept.
  • ask a homeless person to show me a place or possession of importance to them and photograph that.
  • photograph empty places homeless people often stay.

Previous approaches

​As part of my research I looked at a documentary of a teenager in Canada who photographed homeless people around Canada with her dad accompanying her, They paid their models $10 and spoke to the individuals asking questions about who they were and how they ended up in their situation. Although the morals behind the project were really ethical and when hearing her speak you could tells he had extremely good intentions, I couldn't help but feel a sense of exploitation, with the up close flash photos and although the models were paid even that seems unethical to me, as its almost like taking advantage of someones weak economic situation how. Despite this, her photographs are incredible and very inspiring.   

Nigel Shaffran - The people on the street.

​Nigal Shaffran is a photographer who wanted to reveal the extent of the issue of homelessness in the UK but wanted to avoid the ethical issues surrounding it. To do so he created his book solely from photos the homeless took from his camera of him rather than of the homeless individual themselves, although I don't see the book as provoking the same emotions and thoughts I would like to achieve, if i were to under go a project on homelessness, or doing the issue justice, it opens a door way to other ways of photographing homelessness whilst avoiding ethical response. 
Another interesting approach I found was a project by a church in Toronto, and was displayed in Chapman cultural centre. This approach is not something I'd be able to recreate or adapt as it's a large scale, charitable project with funding etc. However I did find it inspiring and a fantastic way to raise awareness, offer support and bring joy to peoples lives through photography. 
The church gave out 100's of disposable cameras to homeless people and set up a photography exhibition and competition, with all profits going back into charities tackling homelessness in that area. As well as all this I really liked this project as it gave people, who are often pushed aside a voice and the joy of producing a piece of art and seeing it displayed. 
I also watched a variety of other youtube videos surrounding photography and the homeless, the videos to the left and right are two different projects, where as the middle is a video discussing the ethics behind homeless photography.

​Martha rosler - The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems

Roslar juxtaposed pictures of Bowery shop fronts with empty alcohol bottles with colloquial terms for drunks. I like this project due to the name, 'Two inadequate descriptive systems' this title portrays the idea neither the images (the outer appearance of the homeless) or the derogatory names for these people convey the struggle and depth of these individuals. It's as if Roslar is saying I tried my hardest to capture all the emotion, stories and scale of the Bowery homelessness crisis but not even these two different attempts could do the issue justice. It also is another example of how to go about capturing the essence of the homeless, photographically, whilst still obeying ethical guidelines.  

Rough sleepers installations  

My idea is to create impressions of rough sleepers around my school, I want to spread awareness by highlighting the ignorance in our society, when we blindly walk past people sleeping on the streets. If you notice these things in a smaller community of the school, why not wider society? I plan to photograph the installation in varies areas of our school ground, and maybe try to capture peoples reactions too. I have collected sheets of cardboard from my local area and a old sleeping bag, to feature in the work. I am considering using different signs to set pictures apart, as well as sending a message. 

I have a range of other ideas that could go alongside, for example
  • typologies of stray beds
  •  Using chalk to draw the interior of a home on the streets/walls
For my first shoot, i made cardboard installations to reminisce the homes of rough sleepers, I paired them with a cardboard sign with a slogan, hopefully making you think about the problem of homelessness. I went on to draw the outline of a man wrapped up in blankets and a sleeping bag and paste it onto the images. I experimented with various ways of blending or over laying the drawing.

Secound photoshoot 

Evaluation 
 I'm not too pleased with this project, I never managed to get my hands on an old sleeping bag and I ran out of time to do the projects I intended to do, as I focused more on the other projects I done. If i had more time I would have created more realistic impressions of homelessness using more props. Despite this there are 3 photos I am drawn to. I am drawn to the first photo due to the similarities in the colour, I also like how the raised corner of the cardboard draws your eye to the sign and the similarities in colour relates the photo to it's caption as the sign is almost lost in the sea of beige. The second photo I like due composition, the sign is framed by its surrounded and is the focal point of the photo. I also like how the school building, with its many windows is in the foreground of the photo as it links the photo to it's caption, as it is in plain sight of the many windows, giving the impression of people looking down onto the set up. Finally, I like the third photo as it has pathos, the words tug on your heart strings and evoke empathy. Finally, I like how the sign is obscured by the shadows.

Ben Johnston's cardboard houses

I found Be Johnston's instagram portfolio and was very inspired. He used cardboard and other materials to build sculptures of homes tying into his project on homes. Although, I found this artist after making my images, i felt a strong link between the two sets of work due to the messages they say about the instability of the housing market , with 36 people going homeless everyday in the UK only. I also like the way he recycles the materials. 

Homelessness photographs

Although I looked into the the ethical issues surrounding photographing the homeless, I decided to cave in and take a photo of an old homeless women begging in white chapel, I asked for her permission and gave her the change in my pocket. I felt the composition, patterns and the emotions her facial expression evokes were too good to miss out on. The other two photos are of rough sleepers beds in Blackheath and Walthomstow central, I like these images as they show a memento or impression of life, You can see old food packaging, bedding, belonging etc all helping to form an identity for the missing person in the image.

STRAY BEDS

One thing I have noticed in my local area is mattresses being tossed away in peculiar places, I tried to photograph the majority of them but found it was too dark. I like the concepts behind a missing or lost bed, it embodies the theme of discarded items perfectly as it's taking something familiar and homely, which is connoted with intimacy and comfort, and throwing it out.It also for me holds links to homelessness as it depicts the idea of sleeping on the streets, or the sense of not having that stable domestic setting. 

memento mori - reminder of death

RESEARCH

 Alec Soth - Sleeping by the Mississippi

Alec Soth's body of work, sleeping by the Mississippi, depicts Soth's journey following the river from south to north. He captured the impression of the people and experiences he had, one way in which he did this was through the bed's he found, which capture a memento of a person.

When researching deeper I found the process Alen Soth uses is just as important as subjects themselves. He uses an old fashioned 8x10 view camera, They are huge boxes with a tripod and cover for photographers head. The treason this is so important is the images do not have to be enlarge or tempered, as the film is 8x10. This means the photos capture details which would otherwise be lost, you feel as if you can feel the textures and the colours really pop out at you, making you feel embedded in the scene. Alen Soth was influenced by Stephan Shore, who also used the same camera, There is a video below in which Shore speaks about why he choose to use that camera, along side other things. I enjoy the philosophical side he adds to his photos, thinking about a cameras ability to compress time, freeze time and decisions as a photographer.

"It's about the mythology, longing, yearning and dreams that lie behind he way we imagine the river."

RESEARCH

This research is on people who have been isolated from society, experiencing poverty, and their relationship to discarded items; The way they use discarded items to build themselves the closest they can achieve to a makeshift 'american dream' and how the people themselves have been cut off to such an extent they are discarded by society, My focus is on not necessarily on the homeless but more those who's who go under the radar of society. I believe this links to both my homelessness theme and the idea of new materialism as not only do humans but themselves above other creatures etc, we also create strata's within the human race, giving some people the power to rule over others, through social inequalities between classes. The final strata being people who are pushed to the edges of society and ignored, as my focus. I also see this in society today and think it could be an interesting idea to explore; A typically working class area will become popular for various reasons and become gentrified meaning those who lived there can no longer afford to so are moved on. I think this relates to discarded items as that's how they are treated, thrown out pushed further and further away from their homes. Some examples of areas i could explore for the idea of gentrification are Kidbrooke, Lewisham, Hackey, Woolwich, Peckham and the East end.

Mary Ellen Mark - The Damms family

''amid broken glass, garbage, junk furniture, tattered porn magazines and dog feces. For four months, this place has been home.''

Mary Ellen Mark spent 4 months living with an extremely poor family, She first met the family when she photographed Dean and Linda Damm with their children, living in a car, in Los Angeles. The photos were published in LIFE magazine and instantly sparked a wave of generosity, with over $9000 being donated directly to the family. Eight years on Ellen Mark tracked them down to see how things had changed, she found them living on an abandoned pig farm in the dessert, I was intrigued by their dependency on discarded objects, For example how farther, Dean, finds abandoned cars to raid or sell on; whilst Jesse is photographed sleeping among junk. Another thing that caught my attention was this line in the article; 'Deep in the desert, two hours north of Disneyland, down a dirt track through the cacti, mesquite and Joshua trees, is a former pig farm. Over the door is a sticker reading House of Pain.' The juxtaposition of 'disney land' and the Damm's 'house of pain' is very impactful, and brings me back to the idea of people being discarded and thrown out by society. There are a family children living in such terrible conditions whilst the nearest land mark is an icon of a child's happiness. Finally, The way the people are described and treated, makes them seem like objects, reinforcing my ideas of the discarded strata of society. The article and photos had a focus on the children and the way they were taken out of parents care and placed in different homes and families before returning back to their mother and so on, the care worker says "We keep taking them, and you keep making them." Later Linda describes how she once sought a safe house for battered women and says that Dean now keeps one of the kids with him at all times as insurance that she doesn't run away and Dean says "Once they take the kids, boom, your income's gone," All these comments or events show the power relationships in the family, with the mother being a 'possession' to Dean, her abusive husband, whilst the children act as an insurance to stop mum leaving, and way in which family earns their money. 

Margaret Bourke White - Have you seen their faces 

''Disadvantaged people who have departed from public view after having been relegated to the realm of the unwanted and disinherited.'' 

'Have you seen their faces' was published in 1937, and focuses on the rural American south and its troubles. The book pairs powerful black and white images with a quote from the subject or someone else in the area, written by Caldwell. White uses a method of photographing, which cold b said to be unethical but helped to capture the distress and real emotional of her subjects. She would wait and the photograph the subject without warning. Describing her subjects as being "imprisoned on a sheet of film before they knew what had happened." 
Similarly to Mary Ellen Mark's work on the damm's family, I believe this relates to discarded items as it shows the governments attitude to this disadvantaged people, treating them as discarded items. They are out of sight, out of mind and for the government that is good enough. White uses photography to bring attention back to these areas and give people a platform to have their voice heard. It is another example of using the camera to draw attention to an issue and changing the 'status' of the subjects by changing the from being unnoticed and disinherited to a work of art. The title of the book was inspire by two short stories from 'The new masses' magazine, which was a marxist American magazine, which became highly influential throughout the Great Depression as people looked to alternatives political ideas. The stories were called 'You Can Make Out Their Voices' and 'You Have Seen the Heads', which later were turned into a play called 'Can You Hear Their Voices?'. The title emphasises my idea of the work drawing attention to other wise neglected subjects, and evokes questioning and a response from the audience.

Photo shoot round white chapel and brick lane

Within the photos are images for various themes; homelessness, stray mattresses, un-discarded items and recycling/environment. 
Hover over a photo to see which theme it applies to.

Recycling and homelessness

I visited the nomadic community garden in Shoreditch. The garden contains tons of structures entirely created from discarded items from shelters, such as cafes, to statues. I took a number of photos, I love how colourful and full of life they look. The graffiti adds to this chaotic, colourful nature. As well as being an interesting place to visit it also does a lot to help the environment, By recycling rubbish and old furniture etc they stop it going into land fill. They also have a collection point of old clothes, books, toys etc that are open to be taken by the public, As well as showing an attitude of 'waste not, want not', I'd imagine it must be extremely beneficial for the large homeless community in that area. Who can now come to the garden to get another layer to keep them warm, or a coat to sleep under. You can also see the impact this garden has had on the local homeless community, As just round the corner from the garden under the railway bridge is a huge shelter created from recycled materials, Behind it was a range of old seats and pots ans pans etc. Unfortunately the shelter was enclosed in a gate, and i couldn't figure out how they'd got in but it was clear there was at least one person living inside the shelter. 
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Evaluation

I like the images witch appear very lively, with lots of colour, definition and subjects; such as graffiti. I had planned to go to white chapel to photograph a street of cardboard homeless shelters, but they had been moved on. Despite this I am happy with the photos I captured, I feel I achieved my themes in many pictures. The colour and liveliness of the area helped to make an other wise 'ugly' subject aesthetically pleasing and the nomadic community gave a great opportunity to take photographs linked to the environment and recycling. I am especially pleased with my photos of the homeless shelter, I feel it ties the ideas together as well as being an interesting photo. I like the contrast between the pink of the material and the blue graffiti, The arch of the shelters entrance and the glimpse into someones life it provides, through the chairs, pots, pans, bags etc that are visible. Another photo I think worked successfully is the image of the light blue and white mattress against the heavily graffitied wall. I like the contrast between the subjects as well as the framing created by the bed poles. I also like how there is a whole bed alongside a chair making it feel like the domestic has been dragged outside. Lastly, I like the subjects of the photo of newspapers on a blue bridge, but the quality of the photo isn't very good. I like how the papers are layed out almost in the shape of a sleeping person, to me it looks like a memento to the issue of homelessness and rough sleepers on that bridge. 

Mini photo shoot round my local area

I really liked the photos in which the sun is golden, creating a pink and intimate lighting. They make the photo appear warm and inviting despite showing some fairly ordinary, and even sometimes repulsive, subjects look attractive. I also like the images in which colours pop out against their background for example the colourful rubbish against the trolley and natural waste. I find image one effective due to lighting, as i spoke about before, but also the way it appears nature is taking over. The bike becomes engulfed in the sea of thorns as if to emphasise the waste mother nature is taking on due to our wasteful attitudes. The second photo, again I am drawn to due to the light, and the patch of golden bark in the top left corner. I also like how the object looks like a shelter, the angle the board is leaning at creates the impression there is another board on the other side propping the alternative board up, creating a shelter. This interested me after seeing the homeless shelter in brick lane, as it made me question what can be a home. 

Experiment

I collected discarded items from a round my local area, and pasted my photos to them using a mixture of pva glue and water. I believe this idea is interesting as it emphasises my theme of 'un-discarded' as not only are the photos giving a meaning to discarded objects, objects themselves can be made into an art, combining two examples of the photographers power to evoke change through photography. This idea can also relate to the environmental issue of waste, by recycling objects also touching on the nature of consumerist society's and the economies dependency on the production of junk, which is ultimately killing the earth. As well as being interesting objects in their own right.

Evaluation

For displaying the images and image clarity i found the flat objects, such as the wooden boards and tiles the most effective, However as an object I found the cone and bottle far more interesting as they have depth and form, even if that obscures the photo. Despite saying this, i found the wooden plank with the photo of the graffitied bins was interesting , I feel the plain background draws attention to the details in the photo, the colour is emphasised and the lines seem to feed into the gradient of the wood. Another object i liked is the oreo box with the photo of the bin and blue bag of rubbish. I feel the blues are very similar which gives the photo a uniform feel, the colour pops out and guides your eye around the photo, as the box, the graffiti and the bag are all the same colour.  

DEEPER MEANINGS TO DISCARDED ITEMS

Some questions related to discarded items.

Why might photographers be drawn to things people leave behind?
Photographers and artists may pay interest to discarded items as they vestige to the story of how the item came to be chucked out. They can evoke mystery. But also can act as a vestige as the reminder of the damage we are causing our earth through rubbish pollution.

Why do we create so much waste and what does this say about human life? 
We create so much waste in order to fuel our consumerist society. As the population rises and the jobs available fall, business have had to look to alternatives to the basic products that would have been produced before the industrialisation of England. Before, craftsmen would be skilled in a specific craft such as shoe making or blacksmithing. These would be timely tasks, which are now taken over by factories which knock them up in minutes. Far fewer people are needed for the same amount of a product to beef and within the factories people are being put out of work to make way for robots. This means more people are looking for work and so business began to churn out plastic junk, packaging and one use disposable items. What this says about humans is the self destructive and ignorant nature of humanity, we have come to a point in society where things need to change, our idea of society is outdated now and now we are just cluttering the earth with junk that goes into landfill, killing the world.

​How does the act of making a photograph transform the found, mundane or discarded object into something remarkable or marvellous? 
In our society an items status is based on its relationship to a human. When a item is discarded it goes from someone’s possession to a piece of junk. When someone rebuilds a relationship with the object, giving it a purpose it changes status. One example of several would be photographing it.

Barry Rosenthal 

Barry Rosenthal's 'found in nature' series shows the beauty in discarded items, through organising rubbish into specific patterns and categories whilst linking his images to specific themes, often relating to issues in society. Typically he focus on rubbish pollution and landfill, but other themes such as addiction also make an appearance in his work. He uses clear black fabric to make an infinitive backdrop for his objects, which he lays out paying great detail to the composition. The images I am most captivated in this body of work are Bags and wrappers, Dependency No 2, The wall, Beer cans, No vanishing point, plastic puzzle and no vanishing point. All of which have there idea rooted in a deeper meaning. I think the use of a mass amount of objects helps to evoke a response in the audience as it reflects the scale of the issue i explores. Rosenthal also pairs his photos with a passage of writing which helps to explain the meaning and inspiration behind the photograph. I feel the black background he typically uses makes his images look like collage as you cannot see where the floor and wall meet. I especially like the 'dependency', 'beer cans' and 'no vanishing point' due to the sense of the objects getting further away, giving the photo dimension.

Photoshoot

Photo shoot with my picture rubbish 

Evaluation

I like the photographs in which my rubbish looks in situ, and un-setted. I achieved this in some photos in a number of ways, Firstly the images in which I obscured some of my object with the greenery surrounding it, makes it looks like the item has been there a while and the plants are growing around it. Secondly, the photos where the rubbish is falling out of a bin I found effective as my rubbish seemed so seamlessly blend into the rubbish already surrounding and within the bin. Lastly, I like the images with just one or two items as it appears less posed. I also experimented with holding my phone camera to the view finder of my camera to create the film like effect. i found this successful when looking at the photos on my phone as they had more structure, definition, contrast as well as deeper colours and a higher black point. However, when I transferred this images to my computer they lost these qualities.

Plan for 10 hour assessment 

In preparation, I need to upload my photos onto a USB stick, so I can paste them onto objects. I also need to bring in the remade photo-objects I already have as well as some discarded items I've collected to paste my photographs onto. Finally, I need to choose a exhibition space and negotiate use of it with my teacher.
In the 10 hours, I plan to take one more photoshoot with the big bins, out front. Using them as a backdrop to my rubbish with photos on, I'd like the objects to appear to be in situ, making them look like they have really been discarded there. I then plan to display these photos, alongside old photos and the objects themselves in an exhibtion space as an instillation. I would like to print photos and paste them onto large pieces of cardboard and display the cardboard on the walls, whilst the floors are littered In my discarded objects. To do this I will need to produce more objects, to go alongside the ones I already have. 

Materials I will need:

  • PVA glue
  • a bucket and brush 
  • printer
  • Cardboard
  • acsess to bins as backdrop and recylcling bin for objects
  • a dustbin to use as a prop
  • the space in the broadcasting studio

Inspiartion for project

The inspiration for the instillation idea of littering the exhibition space with rubbish comes from wilful ignorance by Jefferson Lankford, As she filled everyday locations with rubbish to draw attention to the issue of rubbish pollution. I like this idea as it ties together my 'Un-discarded' and the effect of discarded items on the environment as I am repurposing objects to make art which links to recycling and the power the photographer/artist holds to change the status of the subjects.