Happy New Year - Plans for 2016

Happy New Year!  I hope you enjoyed the fireworks last night and are starting 2016 off with lots of good intentions.  I’m not really one for New Year’s Resolutions, but I do have a few goals that I want to achieve this year.

This is it, my final year at university and it will all to be decided within six months time.  I’ll be shooting and soaring, bounding and leaping, into a brand new career and way of life.  How very exciting, and not even a little bit scary (well, maybe a morsel).

As have a lot of people, I've been thinking about what I learned in 2015 and reviewing the year.  It feels such a long time ago now, but back in February I organised an American Pancake Brunch with my fellow Event Management students; went to Costa Rica for five weeks in May learning Spanish, saving turtles and bird watching at an eco-lodge; and started planning what I'd like to do when I graduate university.

I've read a few other blog posts in the run up to the big NYE and a couple stood out for me.  The first was Monica Galvan's Choose to Live a Creative Life and the phrase "create more than you consume".  It's going to be my phrase (I couldn't do just one word as I know some people have) for 2016.  I want to create many new and beautiful photographs, and be more mindful about the products I purchase.  Could I buy handmade instead?  How will I discard what is being replaced and avoid my waste ending up in our oceans?

And the second was Beverley from Pack Your Passport's In Defence of Spending New Year Alone post.  My past few trips have been with other people and this post reminded me of the sheer satisfaction in travelling to a new destination alone, I am thinking about going on a trip when I graduate and at the moment leaning towards going back to New York, always a winner, but should I go somewhere I've not been before?  Maybe I'll create a Pinterest board with my options.

So these are my goals for 2016:

1) Review the images I have for my personal photography project and build a strong portfolio.
2) Plan and curate an exhibition of my final images in celebration of completing the project and promote awareness of what is happening to the vast seas and oceans of the world.
3) Graduate from university with a degree in Digital Photography and Event Management.
4) Continue to develop my photography skills (just cos I graduate, doesn't mean I stop learning).

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions and/or goals for 2016?  What are your plans for this brand new year?

Think Of A Project, Any Project

It's my final year at university.  I can't quite believe how fast it has come around.  When I handed in my notice at work in 2013 I was quite calm in the knowledge that I had a plan for the next three years, but now, those three years have become eight short months.  So many shades of scary.

I'm doing a double module in Photography this year entitled Digital Photography: Production, Curation and Exhibition.  There are three assignments, create a Portfolio; write a Critical Evaluation;
and host a Production Event; the conclusion to the project.

First things first, I need to think of a topic for my project.  The world and everything in it is my oyster, I can chose any topic I like.  That's quite a lot to consider.  To try to narrow this down I thought about the things I am most passionate about and what I felt would be worthwhile exploring in greater detail.  I have a great love for wildlife, nature and the coast.  For one of my modules last year I went a placement to Costa Rica where I volunteered at a national park where they monitor sea turtles.  Although it was probably on the periphery of my mind, I'd never really considered just how much plastic makes it's way into our seas and, in turn, our marine life.  In Costa Rica, I experienced it first hand with daily beach cleaning patrols.  For a beach that is monitored for plastic on a regular basis, we still managed to collect several black bags full of plastic each day.

When I got home, as always seems to be the case when a thing you just found out about suddenly seems to crop up everywhere, this video showing a research team who found a turtle with a 10-12cm plastic straw lodged in it's nostril, was released in August this year.

Video courtesy of Christine Figgener

*****warning: strong language and graphic scenes*****

Over the summer I kept an eye out for other news articles about plastics in our oceans and anything else related to this subject.  I went to the Environmental Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society in London.  The competition is an international showcase for the very best in environmental photography and film. Honouring amateurs and professionals of all ages, it provides an opportunity for photographers to share images of environmental and social issues with international audiences, and to enhance our understanding of the causes, consequences and solutions to climate change and social inequality.

Eduardo Leal's project, Plastic Trees, was made to raise awareness of the problems caused by plastic bags on the Bolivian Altiplano.

Image courtesy of Eduardo Leal

These images are not specific to this area of the world, I know I can remember seeing plastic bags caught in trees in my local park, it is something we are all witness too.

I am currently researching other photographers who have created photography projects on the impact people and industry have had on the environment to further inform my own project.  More information on this in a couple of weeks.

If you would like to support Christine's research into sea turtles, visit her Go Fund Me webpage.