Topic 9: NATURE and CULTURE

Activity

Task:
Watch The Industry's Impact on the PhotoHub and make a start on the Impact Assessment Plan to accompany your Illustrated Project Proposal assignment.
Additionally, you should consider how much any studio / work areas consume, and think about ways to reduce these and the overall impact of your practice.

I have been working on this already for my illustrated proposal so work in progress still, but here is my initial plan:
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Impact Assessment Plan

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly” – Anne Marie Bonneau
Photography is not environmentally friendly at all. Digital cameras consist of many electronic components, some of which are produced using toxic substances. Precious metals are mined to create the cameras, lead is used for the microchips and semiconductors are environmentally hazardous to produce. Analogue photography is no better. Most significantly, developing analogue photos requires the use of a variety of potentially dangerous chemicals, several of which are toxic to the environment.
I intend to explore how eco friendly I can make the whole photographic process from image taking to print. I am intending on using large format pinhole cameras made from sustainable wood or recycled plastics. I am going to use paper negatives rather than film-based negatives due to the environmental impact caused by film production. While exploring alternative processes I will be looking at the most eco friendly options, such as caffenol, cyanotypes and anthotypes.
For digital images I shall be using my existing cameras and any energy used for battery charging, editing etc is 100% green. Any prints produced will be produced by companies using eco-friendly printing companies.
I will be visiting locations that are within walking distance of where I live so there will be zero carbon emissions. 

​NATURE and CULTURE: Reflection

Reflection guidance

·       What is your understanding of the word ‘nature’. How is this term problematic?

The word ‘nature’ is used to describe all of the ‘natural’ (i.e. anything not man-made) in the world, but this could be seen as a problematic term as nature would also include mankind itself.

• How does location and environment feature in your work?

 
Location and environment are the main focus of my work as I am exploring through my photography our relationship with the countryside and the effect our surroundings have on how we feel and behave. 
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·       What is the relationship between your practice and human consumption?

I am very aware of the environmental issues associated with photography and the human consumption of the resources involved with producing imagery, both analogue and digital. Consequently I am looking at how this can be reduced through the image making process and I am looking at the most eco-friendly ways of being able to produce images through alternative picture taking methods and printing processes.