SOUP: Turtle
Ingredients; plastic turtles that have circled & existed in the North Pacific Gyre for 16 years as a result of twelve 40-ft containers
of bath toys washed overboard on 10 January 1992. Additives; ducks, beavers & frogs.
Mandy Barker is an international award winning photographer whose work involving
marine plastic debris has received global recognition. The motivation for her work is
to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the world's oceans whilst highlighting
the harmful affect on marine life and ultimately ourselves.
I am particularly drawn to here photography series titled: Soup
SOUP is a description given to plastic debris suspended in the sea, and with particular reference to the mass accumulation that exists in an area of The North Pacific Ocean known as the Garbage Patch. The series of images aim to engage with, and stimulate an emotional response in the viewer by combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction and social awareness. The sequence reveals a narrative concerning oceanic plastics from initial attraction and attempted ingestion, to the ultimate death of sea creatures and representing the disturbing statistics of dispersed plastics having no boundaries.
All the plastics photographed have been salvaged from beaches around the world and represent a global collection of debris that has existed for varying amounts of time in the world’s oceans. The captions record the plastic ingredients in each image providing the viewer with the realisation and facts of what exists in the sea.
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SOUP: Refused
Ingredients; marine plastic debris affected by the chewing & attempted ingestion by animals. Includes; toothpaste tube. Additives; teeth from animals.
The visual impact comes from the dynamic positioning of the plastic debris against a void black background. Creating a sense of space and dimension. Not only as the contrast of the plastic pieces jarring. The title of the pieces resembles that of an ingredients list from a menu, which adds a little humour whilst highlighting a serious environmental issue.
SOUP: Burnt
Ingredients; all plastics partially burnt.
