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Analyse how and why the contemporary photographers Klaus Pichler, Billy Kidd and Martino Zegwaard have explored ideas to do with decay and decomposition in their practical work and to what extent does the work force the viewer to re-evaluate how they see these subjects.

‘(Of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi.’ This is what has been stated in the English Oxford Dictionary. This gives a clearer understanding of what decay means and wat it can be related to.

When considering the concept of ‘decay’ it can be argued that there is an important political argument to be debated especially in relation to the way that people throw food away without second thought. Photographers and journalists allow us to explore and witness the theme in full depth as we can really see how decay is affecting our world. This is a topic that has a massive effect the way the country and the earth is being treated. This essay will aim to explore the process of decay and deterioration and the way breaking down of items is affecting us and how precious things are also effected by decay. Everybody sees that flowers are a beautiful thing but when they have started to decay and become broken down due to lack of water and food, they start to look awful and revolting. We want to be able to show people that these decaying flowers are something that is beautiful when you look at them, but also be able to show how abandoned buildings and ones that are starting to fall apart still have some meaning with them.

Food waste is a huge effect on everyday life. When people throw away food that could be reused, it can show to people that everybody focuses on themselves instead of giving to others that would appreciate this. When looking at the Guardian newspaper, there is an article that has been wrote on 9.1.17 about the amount of food waste that is produced every year, ‘UK households binned £13bn worth of food in 2015’

Klaus Pichler is a contemporary artist whose work focuses on the world of decay and how it is effecting people. Pichler mainly shows his determination towards decaying foods by photographing them and informing the world know the issue that the world is having with the amount of food being thrown away. The title of Pichler’s project is 'One Third'. The reason why Pichler named his project this was to do with a survey that he has looked at that mentions how 'One Third' of the world's food is getting wasted.  Pichler relates to the personal question as the aim is to expose to the world the huge effect that food waste is causing. Pichler is showing how food is becoming wasted and how much food isn’t used in the world. He is also showing the food can be used else were when people maybe don’t want it but this can be argued when looking at his work and projects.

July 16, 2014

When looking at ‘One Third’, you can see that Pichler is concerned about how healthy and good food impacts people around the world but this can be argued as others may see a different type of message that he is trying to show. When looking at Pichler’s work above, it shows a receipt that has been edited with writing that explains how food waste is causing a problem in the world, ‘one-third of food produced for human consumption goes to waste’ (Keefe, 2014).

Pichler was inspired by the UN/ FAO survey that was created on ‘global food waste’ in 2011. He stated that he is surprised by the amount of food that’s wasted. Pichler said that the survey has stated that one third of food is getting wasted. In an interview with the author, Picher states ‘The sheer amount of food waste shocked me and I decided to do a project on it.’ (Buckle, 2017). In regards to what Pichler wanted his viewers to see in his work, he commented, ‘My aim has been to depict the food waste issue in a quite provocative way’ (Buckle, 2017). Pichler created his project out of a different array of food items and let them break down naturally. But then he wanted to capture them at different stages in their process of decay. Pichler also comments upon the way he wanted his images to be presented and allow his audience to reflect on the way the they are shown, ‘using the same black backdrop which if often used when it comes to advertising luxury products’ (Buckle, 2017). When questioned about how he wanted the audience to ‘see’ and react to the imagery, Pichler stated, ‘I wanted to achieve an effect in which you say ‘wow!’ when you first see the images, immediately followed by an ‘eeeewwww!’’ (Buckle, 2017).

When looking at Pichler’s image, the ornate bowl elegantly houses the deteriorating strawberries and this creates and element of shock to see a subject so disgusting and can be transformed into something beautiful because of the way an artist composes and lights these. This photo has been shot against a black background allowing the audience to think about this image as Pichler is trying to promote something. Even though we know that he is trying to promote decay from food waste, others that view this may not be knowledgeable about the issue that is being shown. As Pichler has a close link with the subject due to his past, he’s promoting this towards an audience can help him campaign for the issue to start becoming recognized and acknowledged. When looking at the photo, it looks as if Pichler has put a single spotlight onto this bowl of strawberries as you can see the shadow of the bowl at the bottom. This light effects the way the image may be processed by the viewers as Pichler seems to be wanting this is be a focus point of the image. As he doesn’t want the viewers to focus much on the bowl or background, a single spotlight can help catch the viewers’ eyes.

When looking at this photo from Pichler, it shows you a design of bread that has been created into a circle but looks as if he was trying to create a pizza. It doesn’t state that he created this food in a pizza design but can be interpreted by the positing of the food. With Pichler's photos, he looks as if he has created and arranged them into a pattern of design as no photo that you look at makes you feel disgusted with these images. The pieces of bread haven't been arranged lying down, they look as if they have been hung by string and attached together but you cannot see this as the background is pitch black.

When looking at an interview, Pichler shows that he has a personal connection and mentions that he grew up in the countryside and his relatives were farmers so food and food production is a meaning topic. He mentions that he lives in Vienna and states: ‘It’s more difficult to get organic food, so I am constantly taking some effort to search for good food.’ (Buckle, 2017).

Billy Kidd is an artist that has created photos and artwork that shows how flowers can decay in many different ways and why they decay like this. With flowers, people aren’t interested when they start to decay as that’s what people expect them to do but nobody considers the effect that this may have on nature and how it could be bad for creatures that need the pollen and nectar to live on but also because if we didn’t have flowers and plants for the animals to pollinate then we could slowly start to die out as they help provide oxygen for us.

Kidd’s work addresses themes of decay.  The flowers have started to decay and Kidd is trying to show his audience how there is something beautiful about these plants dying, ‘In some ways, he has breathed new life into these decaying flowers.’ (Lowry, 2012) Kidd has said that the most challenging aspect of his work is to try and capture the decaying flower at the right time in its process otherwise if it’s early then it’s just a flower but if too late then the character of the flower is lost, ‘Too early and it's just a pretty picture of a flower, too late and you've lost the flower's character.’(Seipp, 2013). It is also said that Kidd was influenced and captured by the beauty that the decaying flowers had to offer as others would dismiss the attractiveness that they withhold.

The aims and intentions that are portrayed throughout Kidd’s project seem to be that he wants to show his audience that you shouldn’t just ignore the beauty of these dying flowers even if they aren’t the most pleasant thing to look at. Others could argue this as people may have different opinions and interpretations of his work.

Kidd’s work sends a message to the audience that really allows them to have their own interpretations that his work. It’s said that his work is trying to show people that he wants to allow others to see the wonders of the dying petals instead of the disgusting dead flowers but really it allows people to make their own judgement of how they see it but on the other hand.

When looking at the first photograph, the beauty of the colours and edit that Kidd has created is amazing. Kidd has taken this image on a black background and this allows the dying flower to really be shown to the viewers. With the help of the black background, the viewers have nothing to look at other than the flower that is presented. When looking at the first image, you can see that Kidd has edited this image in an editing software as some of the petals are a lot darker than the others. This can make the viewers think about the different textures and patterns that could be presented on these petals. Kidd has taken and edited the photo so that when you look at it, you see more of the beauty than you do of the decay. There's something special about the way Kidd has positioned the flower as when you touch a flower that is decaying, the leaves start to fall off as they are weak so it would be interested to know if Kidd was gentle when handling this flower or to know if any petals fell off.

When looking at the one of the petals, the veins are showing. As they are so small and thin, they can be a bit of a struggle to see but to know that Kidd has managed to capture these and present this to his viewers, it's quite impressive. This flower might have been yellow before it started to decay but some parts of the petals have started to show a darker tone. This may be down to the editing from Kidd also along with the darkness from the inside of the flower. Kidd has used a clear focus on some of the petals and this portrays to the audience that he wants to be able to show how beautiful a decaying flower could be.

Kidd has a personal connection to the theme as he sees beauty in these type of flowers that others may not, 'saw a beauty that other people often dismiss.' (Lowry, 2012). This shows that Kidd really is interested with the way flowers decompose and decay.

Martino Zegwaard is an artist that focuses on the beauty and breath-taking views of rooms that have been abandoned and left to fall apart. Zegwaard’s work relates to the personal study question as it relates to the way decay has occurred in life. Even though Zegwaard’s work doesn’t relate to a chemical decay, it illustrates the decay as in overtime, things start to become torn and degrade.

Zegwaard states he lived in the Netherlands and used to play on building sites, ‘As a kid I used to play at the constructions sites’ (Bergin, 2016). This portrays to his viewers that buildings that haven’t fully been built yet or ones that are being knocked down are something that interests him and is linked closely to what he likes to see. Some may argue this as they may have a different opinion on what they are seeing.

Zegwaard was inspired to take these photos because of what he had experienced when he accidentally found the negatives in a dark room, ‘I wanted to see this for myself and set about finding out who these negatives belonged to.’ (Bergin, 2016) This suggests that Zeqwaard was interested in finding out about the mysteries that could be lying in abandoned buildings that nobody would explore. Continuing the research, it shows that Zegwaard was shocked by the experience that he was met by when he started to investigate different medieval and decaying castles, ‘The feeling when I first walked into that medieval, abandoned and decaying castle, was simply mind blowing.’ (Bergin, 2016).

Through his photographic work, Zegwaard is trying to show his viewers that decaying, abandoned buildings can be seen as stunning and pleasant to see. Others may argue this because when looking at some of his images, you can see that there is certainly some interesting details that you may not see if you don’t explore these different buildings. They show us that now that nature is trying to take back its surroundings of the building, it’s changing it from something that was man-made to a natural area. The message that Zegwaard is communicating with his viewers is that beauty can still lay within these abandoned buildings and people should investigate even further to know what is being shown. People back away from these types of buildings as they might be scared of the part or spirits that may be within.

This image captures the idea of nature starting to take effect on the floor. This image is beautiful as the corridor is admitting natural light through the absent windows. This really illustrates to his audience that this type of photo is beautiful to the eye. The colours are saturated enough to possibly make the audience rethink about their view on what they might think about abandoned, decaying buildings.

When thinking about the relationship between Zegwaard and the theme of decay, it shows that these buildings are something that has caught his eye and something that he is truly interested in, ‘I pick them because I think they’re beautiful or photogenic or unique buildings.’(Gragert, 2015). It shows us that he has a positive attitude towards the work that he is creating and has confidence that the images that he has taken will excite and he will again his audience’s approval within the way that he is showcasing his work.

Decay, deterioration and decomposition come across as negative adjectives but these artists make all their work defy the odds of being unbearable to view. It makes you totally think twice about the way you judge things one how they look. The artists have challenged this status quo of not liking disgusting things because their work is trying to help shape the way you may think. They have challenged critics that will try and put down this topic but they have proved how somethings so disturbing and revolting can be so simple and beautiful. Starting with Pichler, he experiments and focuses on trying to get the best image out of the food he’s working with. He aims towards expressing the beauty that comes across from his photographs. When first seeing them, it is normal for you to feel disgust but when looking at the photographs carefully you can see the beauty that Pichler wants you to see. Moving onto Kidd’s work, He takes photographs of flowers that are starting to lose their life. He captures them on a black background but that feels so important as he’s trying to show how something so simple can die and fade away so quickly. Finally, looking at Zegwaard’s work, it hasn’t seen a room that hasn’t been used before but now looking at it, it’s interesting to see the different details and features that are included.

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Finished Essay

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Bibliography

Bergin, H. 2016. Martino Zegwaard’s Photography: The Beauty of Decay. 23 December. Culture Trip [Online]. [Accessed 18/1/17]. Available from: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/martino-zegwaard-s-photography-the-beauty-of-decay/

Buckle, P. 2017. Interview with K. Pichler. 9 January, London. 

Gragert, A. 2015. Interview: Photos Capture the Rarely-Seen Interior of a Lavish Abandoned Castle. October 1. My Modern Net [Online]. [Accessed 18/1/17]. Available from: http://mymodernmet.com/martino-zegwaard-castello-di-s/

Keefe, A. 2014. Visualizing Waste: Klaus Pichler’s Gorgeous, Rotting Food. National Geographic [Online]. July 16 [Accessed 6/1/17]. Available from: http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/16/visualizing-waste-klaus-pichlers-gorgeous-rotting-food/

Lowry, C. 2012. Beautiful Photographs of Decaying flowers by Billy Kidd. November 10. Fun Flower Facts [Online]. (Accessed 6/1/17) Available from:https://funflowerfacts.com/2012/11/10/beautiful-photographs-of-decaying-flowers-by-billy-kidd/

Seipp, C. 2013. Billy Kidd on Transience. November 7. AnOther [Online]. (Accessed 4/1/17) Available from: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3151/billy-kidd-on-transience

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2nd Artist - Billy Kidd (TBC)

Billy Kidd is an artist that has created photos and work that show how flowers are starting to decay in world. Kidd’s work relates to the personal study question as the question is trying to show that many different things are decaying in the world but nobody is taking any notice of what is occurring. With flowers, people aren’t interested when they start to decay as that’s what people expect them to do but nobody considers the effect that this may have on nature and how it could be bad for creatures that need the pollen and nectar to live on but also because if we didn’t have flowers and plants for the animals to pollinate then we could slowly start to die out as they help provide oxygen for us. The themes that is seen is decay. The flowers have started to decay and Kidd is trying to show his audience how there is something beautiful about these plants dying, ‘“Decaying Flowers” shows us that there is something beautiful and purely natural in the process of dying.’ http://www.featherofme.com/billy-kidd-decaying-flowers/ 4/1/17 09:51am. Kidd has said that the most challenging thing is to try and capture the decaying flower at the right time in its process otherwise if it’s early then it’s just a flower but if too late then the character of the flower is lost, ‘Too early and it's just a pretty picture of a flower, too late and you've lost the flower's character.’ http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3151/billy-kidd-on-transience 4/1/17 09:59am. Kidd was inspired by the beauty of how the flower petals came together in contrast with the rest of his work which was of naked, curved female body. It is also said that Kidd was influenced and captured by the beauty that the decaying flowers had to offer as others would dismiss the attractiveness that they withhold. The aims and intentions that are portrayed throughout Kidd’s project seem to be that he wants to show his audience that you shouldn’t just push aside the beauty of these dying flowers even if they aren’t the most eye-catching thing to look at. Others could argue this as people may have different opinions and interpretations of his work. Kidd’s work sends a message to the audience that really allows them to have their own interpretations that his work. It’s said that his work is trying to show people that he wants to allow others to see the wonders of the dying petals instead of the disgusting dead flowers but really it allows people to make their own judgement of how they see it but on the other hand, Kidd sends a message that is strong towards people to think about their actions when they are keeping flowers as they shouldn’t just let them die just to admire the beauty as they are attractive throughout. When looking at the first photograph,

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1st Artist - Klaus Pichler (to be continued)

Klaus Pichler is an artist that has focused on the world of decay and how it is effecting people. Pichler relates to the personal question as the attention is to show the world the huge effect that it’s causing. Pichler is showing how food is becoming wasted and how much food isn’t being used in the world. He is also showing that food can be used else where when people maybe don’t want it but this can be argued when looking at this work and projects. The personal study question is trying to show that decay of foods and objects that matter in the world can force people to think about their actions that they are taking upon the wastage of food and that is how Pichler’s project has influenced and helped shape the way the photos and writing is influencing the viewers. The theme that Pichler is connected to is decay and waste. When looking at is project he has created, you can see the he is very concerned about how this has impacts on different people around the world but again this can be argued as others may see a different type of message that he is truing to show. When looking a one of the images from Pichler’s work, it shows a receipt that has been edited with writing that explains how food waste is causing a problem in the world,   ‘one-third of food produced for human consumption goes to waste’(Keefe, 2014). Pichler was inspired by the UN/ FAO survey that was created on global food waste which was created in 2011. He has stated that he is shocked by the amount food is being wasted. Pichler said that the survey has stated that one third of food is getting wasted. In an interview from a student, Picher states ‘The sheer amount of food waste shocked me and I decided to do a project on it.’ (Pichler, 2017).Pichler has commented upon the aim that he wanted his viewers to see and how he wanted the work that he had created to affect them, ‘My aim has been to depict the food waste issue in a quite provocative way’ (Pichler, 2017). Pichler created his project out a different array of items and let them rot but then he wanted to capture them at different stages in their process of decay. Pichler also comments upon the way he wanted his images to be presented and allow his audience to reflect on the way the they are shown, ‘using the same black backdrop which if often used when it comes to advertising luxury products’ (Pichler, 2017). Pichler has the same view as others wanted their audiences to react to, ‘I wanted to achieve an effect in which you say ‘wow!’ when you first see the images, immediately followed by an ‘eeeewwww!’’ (Pichler, 2017).

 When looking at an interview, Pichler shows that he has a personal connection and mentions that he grew up in the countryside and his relatives were farmers so food and food production is a topic that is connected stronger to. He mentions that he lives in Vienna and states: ‘It’s more difficult to get organic food, so I am constantly taking some effort to search for good food.’ (Pichler, 2017)

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Analysis how and why contemporary photographers like Klaus Pichler, Billy Kidd and Martino Zegwaard explored ideas to do with decay and deterioration in their practical work and to what extent does the work force the viewer re-evaluates how they see these subjects.

Introduction

Within the essay, the theme will be looked at from a social point of view to see what the publics opinions are. The theme that is being explored is Magnify/Close up. Within that theme, the sub-theme would be decay and deterioration. This sub-theme is when things start to rot and decompose as bacteria and fungi is setting in. As these are showing decay from bacteria, this essay wont just show organic and food matters. Scientific research would come in contact with the sub-theme as it will help explain the causing of things to decay and to break down. When looking a decay, there is a huge political argument as there has been a huge include in they way people throw food and don’t look after the way they treat food. Many photographers and non-artistic links allow us to explore this theme in full depth as we can really see how decay is deterioration is truly affecting our world. This is an interesting topic as it is starting to massively effect the way the country and the earth is being treated. As well as how decay and deterioration is effecting the earth, I’m going to try and explore the way breaking down of items is effecting us and how precious things are also effected by decay. Everybody sees that flowers are a beautiful thing but when they have started to decay and become broken down but lack of water and food, they start to look horrible and nasty. I want to be able to show people that these decaying flowers are something that is beautiful when you look at them. But also, I want to be able to show how abandoned buildings and ones that are starting to fall apart still have some meaning with them. People flee when they start to see abandoned buildings as they are afraid of what sprits and dangers that could be inside. I want to be able to find out the different histories that could be involved within these abandoned buildings as I would be curious to find out why this building has been left or/and why it is being knocked down. When capturing these photos I will respect the rules of what have been stated and try and capture the outside of these buildings as it could be dangerous to enter. 

1st Artist

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Analysis how and why contemporary photographers like Klaus Pichler, Billy Kidd and Martino Zegwaard explored ideas to do with decay and deterioration in their practical work and to what extent does the work force the viewer re-evaluate how they see these subjects.

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INITIAL RESEARCH INTO ALBERTO GHIZZI PANIZZA

The name of my photographer that I have chosen is Alberto Ghizzi Panizza. He was born in Parma in 1975. Panizza isn’t a professional photographer but he has had his work published in different expeditions. His recent expedition was one that he hosted himself. It was a slideshow of his different images that he had taken. They were presented to people while they were eating dinner. Another expedition that he took part in was to show off his Macro work to an audience and to show them specific details to things that the naked eye may see. Since he was a child, he has been drawing and created painting. He gathered his talent from his grandfather that was a native painter. He has started to become fond of nature and animals. Panizza wants to be able to get a closer view of animals and nature in different forms.Panizza has carried out different types of jobs in weddings, advertisements and personal services. He says that this is a hobby but he is deeply connected to naturalistic and landscape photographs, says 'always looking for the beauty of the world around us'.

When looking at the different photos that he has taken, they seem to be based around a rural area. The reason why I think this Is because Panizza has taken photos that of different landscapes and nature.

These images show that the background is all in the country side of somewhere that is quiet. I can see this as it may be hard to get photographs of different animals if there is a lot of people around or too much traffic.

I think that Panizza is trying to show this viewers the different views that can be interpreted up close. He has a Macro gallery that allows the views to see his different photos and be able to understand that there is so much more to see than from a normal distance. While these photos show close up shots, they also show the beauty that Panizza has found as this may be difficult to find in the urban areas. As I look at Panizza's website, there isn't any show of somebody talking about my selected images but there are different articles that he has shown that talk about similar images but they are all in Italian so I can't translate the writing.

'The colors and wonderful shapes of simple flowers seen through tiny and ephemeral dew drops, resting on grass stems, twigs or threads of cobwebs, the first light of day: it is the enchanting spectacle of nature captured with pazirnza and mastery by photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza. Born in Parma in 1975, apppassionato of nature and landscapes, began photographing in 1997 and has long specialized in macro photography, the field in which really excels.' I have managed to translate this text from Italian to English.

When looking at Panizza's images I can see that he edited them in a photo editing software. The reason I can see this is because every image is always if full color. When looking at the 1st image, the background looks airbrushed and looks edited. Panizza uses a lot of depth of field in his images and I think that I looks interesting because you have to try and guess what the background is trying to show. When looking and images 1+2, they both have depth of field showing. In image 2, you can see the blurred image of the flower in the background but when looking in the droplets, you can see the flower in clear view.

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Component 1 Question

A closer inspection of something will always reveal the truth. Can I as a photographer challenge this statement through my photographs?

The reason why I have chosen the of magnify is because I want to be able to capture the specific details and features that somebody is fully able to see from the naked eye. With myself capturing these images up close and magnified, I am able to show my audience the special things that are hidden away. The reason why this interests me is because people normally view something but don’t see the hidden things. ‘They judge a book by it’s cover’