Thursday 21 January 2016

Making It Count

Its my second week back at university and the assignments are coming thick and fast now.  After my trips out over the Christmas holidays I am starting to feel like my final photography project is coming together now.  I've spent time in the digital darkroom blending images together to see how they work and if this idea would be successful, and good enough to submit as my final piece of work.

So far I'm pleased with the results, some are working better than others, but I've still got a few weeks before my deadline so have time to tweak and work out how I can group the images so that the final body of work is a cohesive one.

Here's a couple of my favourites:





















And one I'm not so sure about:



I'd love to know what you think.

Making This Project Count


As my project is about the affect pollution and humans have on our shorelines I wanted to link it with charities that work to protect the coast.  There are so many more out there than I thought there would be and it seems like it is becoming more widely reported in the media.  Which I know is a bad thing because of the levels of pollution and damage that is being done, but it also has to have a small silver lining because it is raising awareness and emerging in more mainstream media.  For example, the article More Plastic Than Fish in the Sea by 2050 was published in The Guardian and features comments from  Dame Ellen MacArthur, who broke the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2005.  I sincerely hope, by making more people aware of these atrocities we can start to make changes and reduce the damage that is being done.

To do my little bit to help I would like to support three charities through raising awareness of them at my final exhibition.  They are:


Two Minute Beach Clean is breeding a community of beach-loving volunteers helping to rid the world's beaches of marine litter and plastic pollution two minutes at a time.  People are encouraged to spend two minute picking up rubbish on their next visit to the beach, take a photograph and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #2minutebeachclean.  Why not give it a go and earn some social media fame.

Surfers Against Sewage is an environmental charity protecting the UK's oceans, beaches and waves so they can be enjoyed long term.  Their campaigns include targeting marine litter, protecting our waves, improving water quality, taking action on climate change, and increasing the education around these issues.  Take a look on their website for what is happening in your region and how you can support this cause.

Break the Bag Habit is a campaign targeting the reduction of single-use bags.  Not only do they contribute to litter on our streets, but they use resources such as trees and water to produce them, and take over hundreds of thousands of years to break down.  You'll also save on the 5p bag charge introduced by the Government last year.  Win win.  Its easy to sign up to the pledge and shows your support.

There are so many more I could mention, but it all gets a bit overwhelming so I have chosen those mainly targeting the UK and are easy to build into your daily lives.  We've all heard the messages to turn off lights when we're not in the room, to not leave the tap running when we are brushing our teeth, but what else can you do to reduce waste?

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