Connection
Following the same line of my two previous blogs, my final goal to achieve in the better lives unit is to transform my work and my way of thinking to be more respectful with the environment, sustainable and aware of the current situation.
My chosen project during this second term is “Contemporary Portrait Photography”. I have always been interested in photography and wanted to learn more about its possibilities, and that’s why I decided to join this project in order to learn more about the techniques to make photographic portraits. Finally, after attending the initial lectures, I understood that I had to use this new learning platform to experiment with nature and make it the protagonist of my work.
Due to the current situation, it has been impossible for me to carry out some of the ideas I had for the photographic project since I do not have the materials and I cannot leave my house due to quarantine. However, I have managed to simplify the main idea and adapt it to new circumstances. Instead of using different models and natural landscapes for my photographs, I have been forced to use members of my family and the plants on my terrace. This has reduced my options but has resulted in a series of simple and direct photos that express the naturalness of the act of photography itself. With these premises, I intended to take a series of photographs that represented the connection of the human being with nature in a simple way, as if nature itself were part of the family. I have rejected any type of non-natural adornment to beautify my models (only makeup) with the idea of showing natural beauty in harmony with nature, without plastic or any type of synthetic material. The final outcome of the pictures was not as good as I thought it could be, but thinking about my limited resources, I think it matches the main idea.
Today we are in a complex situation that will mark a before and after in history, we just have to take a look outside of ourselves to see it. Due to the worldwide quarentena by COVID-19 and the massive decline in human activity, nature is gradually returning to its natural order. The return of marine life to Venice, deers and other animals walking through the streets of Madrid and the dissipation of the pollution clouds in countries such as India and China are just some examples of the effects of reducing our activity to a minimum during just two months. That is why I think it is so important to make people aware of the situation through all the means at our disposal, in my case this photographic project. Realizing that this situation is unsustainable and Changing our way of acting as a society is vital for the conservation of the planet, and that begins with each one of us.
IMAGE CREDITS
Brother, Rafael Garrido (2020)