Landscape
Rachel Semanski
About
Mandy Barker is an international award winning photographer. Her work involves plastic marine debris which she uses to to raise awareness of water pollution, harmful effects on marine life, as well as the effect on human life. She has visited and shot all four oceans.
Her work is a collection of objects found in the ocean debris, scattered on the shores. She sets sail to scavenge for particles she could use in her photographs, spending hours arranging the debris to create a complex, layered image. Her images convey the illusion that these objects are floating in a body of water. She thought being on a voyages would her affect her photography towards the end of the project.
How does she do it?
This in a image from her series Hong Kong Soup:1826, titled "Lighters." She makes reference to our single use, throw-away society. For this image, Mandy spent three years gathering lighters from 30 different Hong Kong beaches. Everything is shot in her studio which meant hauling trash into her house. Barker shot on a black background using natural light, arranging the objects from varying distances so they appears to be different sizes and further away. Each item was shot twice to show both sides and help the density of images in the collage. It took three days to get everything in place and an additional six hours to capture the composition. Hundreds of layered images were used to create the final image.
Accomplishments
Two of her series have been published as books, including Hong Kong:1826. She has won a number of competitions and received awards.
My Views
Barker's work is a great representation of the issues of water pollution we have today. Her work gives the illusion of trash floating around every inch of the ocean; however, it gives a false view of how the image was made, where it was actually all produced in a studio and not shot underwater.
add more analysis to you views, is she dishonest? if you mention books, name them both. needs photos.
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