The Bigger Picture Photography Competition
Following is a selection of some of our Year 1 entries into the Bigger Picture Photographic Competion. The students submitted 3 images each across 5 categories, which included: Fragile Earth, Age of Innovation, Society in Chaos, Being Me, New World Order
Georgie Davies
Our society is in Chaos and people die what reason? this photo shows the bloodshed in the world and what we as humans choose to ignore going around in society so we chose to ignore every day that continues to happen and we only become aware once it happens to us.
Who are these people that take over our society? Do we even know who we are looking up to, or putting the the trust of the our countries in? Are they nothing more than me or you?
This Image relates to the category by showing the interests of different people that make them the people they are, as this person enjoys finding new places and climbing around to see different things around us. This photo was not edited just taken on berry head with a chill sunset.
Chelsea Edwards
This links to being me as it shows me looking into a distorted version of my past. It implies that we don't always remember the good and the bad of our past. Due to the large amount that has happened throughout my childhood, some parts become quite blurred as I struggle to remember them. This is shown through the blurring of my image. The image was taken on a film camera and developed for 1 second.
I chose to take an image of a firework to show that we are going astray from societies chosen path, relating to society in chaos. The sparks coming off of the firework represent people taking the own paths in life and not submitting to societal norms. The explosion implies that society cannot be kept under control and will always go in different ways, for better or for worse. It shows that society is slowly degrading as we are removing the passion and fire that we all once had, this passion has gone due to the horrendous acts throughout the years.
For this image I used blue and pink lights to create a face with contrasting sides. This image fits into the category of "Being Me" as it shows the colours of the bisexual pride flag. The image represents our true colours and what people could actually see if they looked passed the stereotypes and judgement. The use of two highly contrasting colours implies that due to others, we confuse our sexuality to fit in with societal norms to avoid harassment from those who are closed minded.
Faye Brueton
The picture shows a pixelated happy couple with fancy clothes which represents that pictures can be fake and altered to make it seem they are happy and that everything is fine.
This image shows two pictures of the same person taking a selfie but one has been altered. Images can be faked but it also shows that people can fake their body image and that can cause people to feel insecure about their image.
The image shows a teenager on their phone looking on Instagram at shoes. This shows that the population has been sucked in to social media and that they show clothes and shoes which makes people feel insecure about their body image.
Shri Gunasekara
my category is ‘Being Me’ and I want to give through this photo, an insight into my family dynamics and how we have a really good bond with each other. We show this by coming and hanging out in people’s rooms (usually mine), chatting and bantering with each other. I wanted to show this and how we all share things in our family like my laptop is always used. My sibling and my room is always filled with my family, so I wanted to capture that very small yet cosy space that’s always filled with my family.
Here I wanted to show the antics of having a younger sibling and how they will just take you stuff. However a lot of people find their younger siblings annoying and get angry when they do things like this in your own room. I think though it is sweet that they feel so comfortable in your presence that they can steal your stuff and use it in plain sight. I love the way he is fidgeting with random objects while watching Pokemon and even within a messy and probably too cramped room (judging from the position he is in) he stays.
This image I think is really interesting as it shows two contrasting elements of my younger brother. For example, this crazy young boy essence of his, as he dances and does these really weird poses, but this is contradicted by the dress he is wearing with the veil on top of his head. However whats really heart warming is the way he can do these things with confidence and not have anyone bat an eye lid, he can be anything he wants to be.
Phoebe Dixon
I chose this photograph to represent the topic that I chose 'Society in Chaos'. I had chosen this because I feel it's showing caution to safety through the chaos as guards were needed to control people's actions through the evening but also through having railings so that people can't get too close to the important people and the props such as the children in the parade and the mayor. However, this means that the public are cramped into a tight space which could cause harm to themselves. This is showing how poorly the public's health has been taken into consideration.
I had taken this photograph to represent the social science behind chaos in society in this day and age. In this shoot I had tried using the rule of thirds to make my audience look at the girl in the middle first not only because shes in the middle of the image but also because she is in focus and the people surrounding her are out of focus, presenting motion. This image is presenting healthcare, technology, education and migration because it's showing how we're surrounded by shops that provide these certain things that anybody can access.
I had chosen this photo to represent society is chaos around large events such as Christmas markets in towns. As you can see there are people rushing to get closer and closer to the markets and the stage with a live band but also rushing to find their way through the town to come away from the crowds of people. However, events like these could hide poverty because there are lots of people in the street at the time of taking the photographs, it covers up the people who live on the streets. It could also cause harm to the people who are homeless as there isn't much room to move at this moment in time.
Nadia Batchelor
I wanted to show how trees are part of life and how even though the world is being destroyed by global warming the tress remain as beautiful as ever.
Virag Kiss
One day all of this will be gone. It will be lost under either a pile of houses or retail spaces. If it isn't lost to that, then it will be lost to deforestation or it will be lost to farming. So the message is catch it while you can. We have the power to choose to nurture or destroy. Humans need to work with nature not against it. Beautiful sunsets and forests and foliage will soon be lost to us forever.
Friday nights are the nights when people let their hair down, but they forget the chaos that they often cause. A discarded cigarette and shoe is a picture that paints a thousand words. A drunken society is a blinded society, it is a society that cannot see what kind of chaos it is in. We follow the crowd like sheep often forgetting that there is actually a better way to live. Society is already in chaos and we don't need drunken chaos on top of it all. We need to stay sober to rise to the challenges ahead.
What we don't see doesn't make us aware. Poisons are all around us, in our atmosphere, in our clothes in hair in our eyes in our stream and our drinking water. Poison is everywhere. If only we could see it then we could fight it and we could change things for the better. As humans we are fighting against the natural order because our traditions blind us to the truth. If we could see before our eyes the harm that we do then maybe we would mend our ways? Because we don't see we are not only killing other species but we are killing ourselves!
Lottie Oxford
Within today's society, we often put up a front, therefore within my photograph I wanted to demonstrate that sometimes it's okay to not be okay. I wanted to show the problems of mental health and why it's such a taboo subject. The girl looks away from the camera, suggesting what she hides deep within. When asked “how are you?”, somehow it's become a social norm to reply “I'm fine” rather than explaining how you're really feeling. Like the girl looking away, we often turn away than by looking at the problem face on.
We as a society are consumed by 'ourselves', the over indulgence of enjoyment, putting earth on the back burner. Our carbon footprint increasing everyday by leisure and technology. The ferris wheel an indulgence for pleasure, situated on precious land destroyed by its sheer weight, while this object spins around polluting the air causing mass destruction to our planet as we know it.
My image focuses on the issues that surrounds mental health in today's society. The dark shadow encasing the gentleman portrays how those who suffer are engulfed by the thoughts and feelings, as if they cannot get away. This image conveys how two worlds can be poles apart with the loving couple walking arm in arm located on the left side of the image, seemingly oblivious to the world and to him. I shot this image using candid photography, so this image was an unplanned shot. The only way I have modified this image, is into monochrome.
Gemma Espinosa
Mega Cities are growing rapidly all around the globe, aiming to support the vast population that is expanding every day. San Fransisco is one of these materialistic consumers. I believe that this image of the city highlights the bleak, dense 'jungle' of concrete being constructed, rising above the ground, masking the beauty and busy atmosphere that lies beneath the flat layers of roofing.
An increasing population is draining the earths un-renewable resources and the 'cramped busyness' one feels from looking at this image helps express the need for change before we run out of space. How can we take action?
'Drawn Stone' was created by Andy Goldsworthy for the de Young museum in 2005. It is inspired by the unique character of California’s tectonic topography. Representing a faux fault line that runs through the environment surrounding the museum. This is a powerful piece of work as it reminds all visitors to the museum that the earth is fragile but strong enough to destroy the ground that they stand on.
My image shows figures, rushing past, seperated and ignoring the important statement. This oblivious attitude is impactful. 'Fractured' suggests that the world is damaged and not yet destroyed. Is there hope?
Animals all over the globe are bred and used for their produce. Cows in particular have meat, milk, skin and their own young unfairly taken to supply human consumers. Their deaths and exploitation is unnecessary. The obsession the human race has regarding the manipulation of animals has to be taken control of. I hope that this image will show people what is staring them in the face is a living creature that feels pain and deserves respect. Over a billion farmed animals in Britain are killed each year in slaughterhouses and over 2.6 million are cattle. Is that not enough?