Digital Collage of London Pollution
This collage was made using the primary source photos taken in London. These photos demonstrate how an urban environment can be physically impacted and stained by years of subjection to air pollution. I was inspired to make this digital collage after researching Alex Williamson, who using digital images in a collage format to present an idea. Therefore for this collage, my idea was to display how air pollution impacts places holistically, which is therefore why there are numerous photos. Also by having the pictures fade together, it connotes an idea of disorientation which is a sensation that would be experienced by someone who has been subjected to toxic levels of air pollution. Below is every step that i took to create this individual collage.
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This collage explored the disorientated feeling someone would get if they had inhaled toxic levels of air pollutants. It achieved this by cropping and blending individual photographs together to form one coherent collage of several photos. Each of the photos used in this collage has physical evidence of their surface being stained by the ash from smoke and air pollution. This therefore visually demonstrates how air pollution has a physical impact on an environment, by literally and figuratively darkening it.
Idea Development:
After studying Ian Murphy, it motivated me to develop my digital work into a physical medium, so that i could explore how textures impact the significance of the collage. Similar to Ian Murphy, i created the canvas out of various materials, such as cloth and newspaper. The newspaper that i used was another article that i found detailing information on air pollution, you can see this text in the photographs below. Moreover, i also incorporated aspects of other artist that i have studied such as John Virtue, since i mixed sand into my paint to replicate the texture of the accumulated ash on the surface of the building's walls. I found that by adding the sand, it gave the paint a depth as well as a rough surface that connotes the physical damage pollution can cause someone. Moreover, i used watercolour paint to create the rest of the walls, using the techniques i learnt after experimenting from JMW Turner's work. I ensured that the watercolour was diluted so that the text beneath was visible. Therefore, overall this resolved idea explores the impacts of air pollution through its structure as well as physical textures.
