GLOBALISATION
Globalisation is the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange. It leads to increased interdependence between countries across the world. Globalisation has many benefits like providing more employment opportunities, it allows many goods to be more affordable and available to more parts of the world, it helps improve productivity. It has also helped many of the world's poorest countries to achieve higher rates of economic growth and reduce the number living in extreme poverty. While there are many more benefits, globalisation likewise has its downsides. More cities, communities and countries are becoming industrialised due to globalisation, which has brought about the loss of biodiversity, growth of the local population, and climate change. Also, there is a threat to national and local economies and also, it has been linked to rising inequalities in income and wealth.
|
I have decided to make a mind map so that I can get all my ideas down in order to decide what exactly I want to focus on. I want to take in to consideration the social, economic, environmental and political aspects of globalisation so that I have a variety to choose from and expand from those ideas. The idea I am most interested in is consumerism. This branches off to the topics of advertising, materialism and worldwide renowned brands. Effective advertising creates new demand in new markets, by influencing changes in buying habits and lifestyle. Adverts play a big role in promoting brands in a way that makes people feel compelled to buy them.
Mood Board
Photographers that explore the idea of globalisation
Andreas Gursky
Visually, Gursky is drawn to large, anonymous, man-made spaces—high-rise facades at night, office lobbies and stock exchanges. Gursky makes photographs that are not just depictions of places or situations, but reflections on the nature of image-making and the limits of human perception. In his large-scale, colour photographs, the effect of capitalism and globalisation on contemporary life are often focal themes prevalent throughout his work. The photograph called 'Dubai World' consists of a group of artificial islands which are made to look like the shape of the world’s continents from a birds-eye-view.
Marcus Lyon
First Shoot
For this shoot, I was in New York which is a densely populated city and one of the world's major commercial, financial and cultural centres. The city has been affected by the impacts of globalisation and as the city is only getting larger, companies and financial institutions are attracted to this growth. There are immense opportunities for companies to expand their businesses in the US and setting up headquarters in New York, opens up new avenues. As this is my first shoot, I not only want to focus on advertising but I also want to photograph recognisable brands in the world.
Stephanie Jung
Stephanie Jung's work is a lot about everyday scenes from the city. Her images convey the chaos and mayhem of city life and she further emphasises this by layering her images. She first started to experiment with new techniques in order to exaggerate the feeling of the busy life and she found that layering her images started to become her main topic. The layering is something which became important and almost self-evident to her, as it represented best what she wanted to show with her work. Her work also shows the movement of time rather than just a single moment. Even though Jung's images portray the busy city life, I am want to use my images in Times Square to illustrate the constant bombardment and intrusiveness of advertisements.
|
I first opened the image I wanted to edit into photoshop. I wanted the lights from the billboards to really stand out so I increased the vibrance by selecting 'Adjustments > Vibrance'. After I did that, I started creating layers of the same image. In order to do that, I selected the rectangular marquee tool to select the whole image. Then, I pressed 'command C' to copy that image and then 'command V' to paste it on top of the original image. I had to decrease the opacity to create that layered look. After I decreased the opacity, I selected the move tool to position the layered image to where I wanted it to be. I created 4 layers by repeating these steps and each layer's opacity decreased each time. The background image (original image) had an opacity of 100% then the first layer had 58%, the second layer had 47%, the third layer had 45% and the fourth layer had 37%.
|
This first image that I created using similar layering techniques to Jung, really portrays the idea I want to convey of the constant bombardment of advertisements. I think the layering is particularly effective in creating the idea of repetitive, obtrusive adverts that are everywhere we go and are almost impossible to get away from.
|
In this image, I used the same techniques in order to create these layers. I like how in this image, there is not only advertisements on the buildings, but there are is also a lot of traffic and busy crowds at the bottom of the image. This not only shows the invasive advertisements, but it also portrays the densely populated city.
|
Second Development
For my next development, I do not want to carry on layering my images as I want to try and interpret my initial ideas in a different way. Initially, I was photographing huge billboards and advertisements in New York City which then led me on to discover Stephanie Jung's work who layered her images to convey the chaotic feeling city. However, my aim for my photographs was to portray that constant bombardment of advertising that we almost cannot escape from, so I decided to get inspiration from Jung's work and create similar layered images but with a different message behind them. I was successful in layering my images on photoshop and creating that overwhelming feeling that advertisements can have on people. The way that adverts are presented to our society really distorts reality, creating unrealistic expectations. They can plant unrealistic ideas and beliefs into the minds of impressionable viewers, which often leads them into buying things they cannot afford. So for this development, I want to almost completely strip back the adverts and chaotic images and look at it in the complete opposite way. I will do this by creating minimalistic images which will dramatically juxtapose the very hectic, frantic and never-ending images I created previously. This will present the idea that people are sometimes so engrossed and absorbed in these adverts that they forget what it would be like if all these adverts and shops got stripped back.
Lewis Baltz
Lewis Baltz was an American photographer born in California in 1945. When photographing, Baltz wanted his images to looks as distant and mute as possible. What he was interested in most was the phenomena of the places rather than the thing itself. He was intrigued by the effects these places had on the world. I think the way his images are perfectly geometrical and have so much detail yet they are shot in such a minimalistic style, make these images even more intriguing and effective for the viewer. He used a lightweight Leica which is a camera designed for taking snapshots on the go. The camera is exceptionally good at showing what the world looks like. It lays it bare and yet nothing is revealed. Baltz documents the changing American Landscape of the 1970s in his series, "New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California". The project consists of 51 images portraying structural details, offices and parking lots of industrial park. It is important to Baltz that his pictures are seen collectively as a group or series. He wants to encourage the viewer to consider not just the pictures but everything outside of the frame as well. What I found very interesting about these images is how he takes care to title his pieces with specific information on each site's location, so that viewers could return to the exact same place. Baltz's images are not exactly what I want to respond to, however, I like how he captures these locations and makes them look very minimalistic. |
Mood Board
Contact Sheet
|
I opened my image onto photoshop to enhance the colour of the sky. I first went to Image > Adjustments > Levels and made my image a bit brighter. I then went to vibrance to increase the vibrancy of the blue sky. I also wanted to try and adjust the colours on Hue/Saturation which I think turned out to look quite effective as it adjusted the colour of the sky and made it more of a turquoise colour. I did the same process for my other two images that I chose to edit. |
In this shoot, I wanted to capture minimalistic shots that portray the idea of stripping down the endless advertising that is constantly around us. By doing this, the image is stripped down to it's bare essentials. These images really contrast with the overwhelming feeling that my previous images of the layered advertisements created. Even though in the first and second image I photographed a billboard in Piccadilly Circus, I wanted to capture them in a minimalistic way so that not all the advertisements are shown in the image which really contrasts with the reality of actually being in front of a billboard and seeing all these bombarding adverts. My third image also looks very minimalistic, however, the main focus of the image is the building which makes it difficult for the viewer to understand how it links to globalisation.
Third Development
After trying my previous idea out, I found it quite challenging to express the idea I was trying to portray as the images I did get, were mostly of minimalistic buildings which almost makes it quite difficult for the viewer to understand what is happening and how it might relate to globalisation. I did also get a few images of billboards but I captured them in a minimalistic way, however I am still not very certain that I want to carry on with this idea as it drifts away from the idea that I was initially trying to portray. Even though my composition of these images are very strong, I will be going back to my mind map still focusing on the idea of consumerism, however I will explore this idea even further and looking at it differently.
I have decided to make another mind map but this time, having consumerism as the main title instead of globalisation as this will help me explore even more ideas on this topic. One idea that I am particularly interested to photograph and explore is fashion exploitation. As fashion images in magazines, films, the internet and television speed their way around the world, they create a 'global style' across borders and cultures which increases the dependency on massive amounts of cheap labour in poor countries.
Fashion is present in our lives everyday and new fashion trends are constantly inspiring the creations of designers, however, to adapt to this constant flow of trends and competitiveness, companies do not manufacture their own goods but rather relocate their production to developing countries where workers produce in appalling conditions that amount to modern day slavery and the worst forms of child labour. Child labour is the employment of children in an industry or business that deprives them of their childhood. Children are seen as obedient workers which makes them easy to manage however there is no supervision and there are no unions that can help them to bargain for better working conditions. The hugely complex fashion supply chain makes it harder for companies to control every stage of production which in turn, makes it possible to employ young children without the big brands and consumers ever finding out. An estimated 170 million children are engaged in child labour which is around 11% of the global population of children. Furthermore, forced labour is not only happening in fast fashion brands but also more luxury and exclusive brands have been known to have forced labour in their supply chain. There is a huge contrast between production in sweatshops, where young women workers are subjected to physical and sexual abuse, and consumption in retail chains filled with glamorous images. |
The fashion industry also poses significant environmental consequences. It is one of the most polluting industries on the planet, for example, the amount of pesticides and water used in cotton production have been known to cause drought and have been linked to cancer in India. Additionally, the consumption of fast fashion means the amount of textile waste is increasing at an uncontrollable rate as these clothes are only being worn for a few wears before they are disposed of. |
As I was researching into this subject, I found a documentary that 'exposes the dark reality of fast fashion'. The documentary is called 'Machines' and is directed by Rahul Jain. For his documentary, he travels to a vast textile mill in Gujarat, India and captures the inner-workings in this factory. The men in this factory get paid three US dollars per 12-hour shift and they only take one hour breaks between shifts as they have the financial pressures of providing for their families. When Jain was asked whether the factory produce textiles for companies worldwide, he says, "Yes, very much so, for all the usual suspects – high street chains. I can’t name them because I don’t have definite proof, but from what the workers told me it was a wide net. And remember, it’s just one factory: there are 1300 factories in the space of four kilometres squared, employing more than a million and a half people." This documentary is really effective and really does capture the 'dark reality of fast fashion'. What I thought was particularly effective was the way that Jain lets the viewer into the workers' world by making it very raw and untouched. For example, when there is dialogue, it is only from the workers themselves which really enhances the reality and actuality of it all, which makes the viewer feel as if they are there. Jain deliberately removed his presence from the film to let the audience be involved in what the workers are saying.
Rana Plaza
In 2013, the eight-story building called Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed. The day before, deep cracks outside of the building were seen but managers insisted that the workers still entered the factory to work. The workers in this factory who were producing clothes sourced by major international brands, had begged not to be allowed in as the building was visibly very unsafe and the workers felt like they were risking their lives if they entered. However, the managers were not listening to them. The workers had no other choice but to file in. Two thousand people filed in and just before 9am, floors started vanishing and workers started falling. The building took less than ninety seconds to collapse, killing 1,134 people. It is unclear about what exact companies were sourcing clothes from the building, but Primark and Matalan had previously been included. The fact that workers felt unsafe in this building and didn't want to enter, just shows the conditions that people are working in, in order to provide the consumers with cheap clothes. The manager insisting for the workers to carry on working, also shows that there must have been such a high demand for these cheap clothes as consumers are constantly buying them.
|
Statistics
Christian Boltanski
French photographer, sculptor, painter and film maker, Christian Boltanski is well known for his installations, especially this one on the left. He filled Paris' Grand Palais with a fifty-tonne mountain of clothes and the sound of fifteen thousand heartbeats. His intention was to illustrate the heaviness of all the hearts now lost. Each piece of clothing symbolised one person. There was also a crane above this pile of clothes was a metaphor for the 'hand of God'. The crane would reach to the clothes that were laying around the warehouse and deposit them on top of the immense pile of clothes. This crane was used as a symbol to represent all the souls that had once inhabited these clothes. Even though I have a different intention to Boltanski, I will be taking inspiration from his work. I like the idea of capturing the vast amount of clothes that are seen in fast fashion shops and how in reality they are being made in such horrific conditions in order to fulfil the consumers 'needs'.
|
First Shoot
For my first shoot, I wanted to first try and experiment photographing clothes that I owned which were all from fast-fashion brands. This included shops like, Topshop, H&M, Zara and Gap. It was very shocking to see the amount of fast fashion clothes I actually had which really made me think how oblivious we probably are into buying these clothes and how we may not even realise that we are contributing to this detrimental industry. I decided to create messy piles of clothes, similar to Boltanski's work but obviously not to that great extent of a fifty-tonne mountain. I think this idea of capturing the clothes in a messy state, portrays that idea of the mass production of these clothes and how it's almost impossible to arrange them in an orderly way as they are constantly being made and brought into shops. For my next shoot, I will definitely shoot in actual shops even though I think my first shoot was an interesting idea as I was intrigued to see how many fast fashion clothes I owned.
Second Shoot
In this shoot, I went to fast fashion shops in Oxford Street, like Primark, Zara, Gap, H&M and Forever21. I was trying to capture the clothes that are in piles and also clothes that are squashed so close together in order to get as many clothes available for the consumers. Primark was the biggest shop I went to and everywhere you looked there were piles and piles of clothes with people looking through them. Primark is an Irish brand and is known for their range of clothing, footwear and accessories for women, men and children at super cheap prices. Many fast fashion brands, including Primark, do not own their own factories and outsource manufacturing to their suppliers which means that they do not have control over their supply chain and can therefore take no responsibility for factory workers and any labour issues that may be occurring. I also went to Zara and Forever21 which are also huge fast fashion brands which produce clothes for very affordable prices. With new trends coming out every week, the goal of fast fashion is for consumers to buy as many garments as possible, as quickly as possible.
Edited Images
Fourth Development
Andreas Gursky: Amazon Warehouse
German photographer Andreas Gursky created this huge, immensely packed image which portrays the amount of excess and waste that we create due to consumerism. Gursky visited Amazon warehouse in Arizona which was stocked with books and boxes. When visiting the warehouse, Gursky said that it was very tough because of the working conditions. Amazon is so quick and practical as if you want something, it can come the next day. He wanted to show the contemporary world, the way it is. I am going to try and create something similar to Gursky's Amazon Warehouse by using one of my images of the clothes and repeating it many times on photoshop to emphasise the immensity of the amounts of clothes that are actually produced every day in order to fulfil the consumer's needs.
|
Editing on photoshop
|
I first opened up my image of the stacks of jeans that I photographed, I then adjusted the size and made it smaller in order to fit the other multiple images I was going to open. I then made sure each image was the same size, width: 5.7cm, height: 3.84cm. I then carried on opening the same image until I filled the white background up. Also, you could see the divide where I tried to layer each image so I made sure they were all aligned and then cropped any white sections that were left. In this slideshow I tried using six of the same images but below, there are nine of the same images as I wanted to create a more immensely packed image. |
I am really happy with my response to Gursky's work as it really represents globalisation in fast fashion and how the increase in production of these clothes are significantly increasing. I like how I used photoshop to highlight the quantities of clothes that fast fashion shops sell. However, this was my first attempt and it is quite obvious to see that some of the jeans look as if they have been cut off. I think I can definitely improve and overcome this issue as I will try and use different tools on photoshop in order to create a seamless image, making it look as real and natural as possible. In order to develop this further, I have decided to still use this technique of overlapping the images and creating one big overall image of the vast amount of clothes, however, I will also try and incorporate Victor Burgin's use of captions on his images.
|
As I previously said, I wanted to try and use more tools on photoshop in order to perfect my image of the jeans. I decided to do a second attempt and use the clone stamp tool in order to line up the white shelves as they were visibly not aligned previously. I selected 'alt' and chose the colour I wanted to use to fill in the gaps or make the shelves look the same level. I also used the clone stamp tool to cover any jeans that had looked like they had been cut off. I am much more pleased with this image as the shelves look aligned which makes the image look as if there were actually that many jeans.
Fifth Development
Victor Burgin
For my next development, I have decided to look at the work of Victor Burgin which involves large photographs with printed texts either juxtaposed with or superimposed on the image. His work is influenced by a variety of theorists and philosophers. What I particularly like about this concept is that the viewer gets to have a greater insight of what the photographer is trying to portray in a certain image. I think I can use this as I think it will make some of my images more effective as the viewer will be able to engage with the writing and really have a greater perspective on the issues that fast-fashion has created. I am therefore going to develop my previous idea by adding text to them. I am probably going to add captions with statistics or information about the fast-fashion industry. I think this will help the viewer understand exactly what I am trying to get across.
|
Original images
Photoshopped images: Using text
I used the same technique that I showed above on photoshop for each of my images to create that effect of having many copies of the same image. This made made it look even more busy and reflected the amount of clothes that are so readily available for someone to buy, without them even having to think what kind of life-threatening conditions people work in, in order to produce them. After creating this effect of even more clothes, I used the horizontal type tool on photograph to insert my text. I decided to use short but shocking statistics about the fast-fashion industry and it's terrible effects.
I added text to my image on photoshop and I am really happy with the outcome as I think it gives the image a deeper meaning and understanding for the viewer. I decided not to add text to the image of the repeated jeans as I felt like too much was going on in the image already and adding text almost made it look quite messy. Also, I thought that the image of the many jeans can look quite overwhelming at first as there is a lot going on so I did not want to add anything else to it. I also thought that it is quite clear to the viewer that I am trying to raise the issue about mass production of clothes and how in reality it is not all glamour, there are people risking their own lives in factories to be able to provide money and food for their families.
Blurb for the exhibition
The glamorous side of the fashion industry seems to be the only thing consumers focus on, however the other side often seems to be ignored and disregarded by the consumers. Fashion is present in our lives everyday and there is a constant flow of trends, however, to adapt to this constant flow of trends and competitiveness, companies do not manufacture their own goods but rather outsource their production to developing countries, where workers produce clothes in appalling conditions that amount to modern day slavery and the worst forms of child labour. With new trends coming out every week, the goal of fast fashion is for consumers to buy as many garments as possible, as quickly as possible. Fast fashion shops are constantly wanting to copy high-end designs by creating almost exact copies but the main difference is the extreme price difference. This constant 'need' of buying new, trendy clothes reflects the growing consumers desire for speed and value within retail. Their extremely low prices enable customers to purchase new clothing more often than necessary, meaning the consumption of fast fashion is increasing the amount of textile waste at an uncontrollable rate as these clothes are only being worn for a few wears before being disposed of.
Final Images