Brief: Low Light and the 4x5 Inch Camera

Title: The Garbage Alchemist

A Series of Healing and Transformation. 

This series aims to highlight the plight of marine animals who spend their life stuck in plastic, fishing nets and other waste materials. The story is told from a futuristic surfer who also gets stuck in this endless wasteland which many surfers are starting to experience while floating in garbage and trying to catch waves. He arrives washed up in his boat after a treacherous journey from his planet to planet Earth. He had heard much about our beautiful ocean, home to his dream wave and came to find it for himself. He finally arrives and stands up in his boat looking far into the horizon, searching... But there was no glimmering water, no mighty crashing waves with mangrove forests along the beach front and no crabs scurrying on the sand. He could only find seagulls reminiscent of the ocean that was once there and a few grains of beach sand when digging down through centuries of waste. Disappointed and exhausted he lies on his boat, his head tucked in his hands and cries. Upon waking up he realizes his boat is stuck and he is tangled up in fishing nets, held down by the garbage growing around him. But he decides to do something about it. He leans forward trying to pull the fishing nets loose, struggling and fighting them and finally drags them away. In the end he stands tall and proud, ready to clean up the mess and find his wave.

My desire was to freeze that moment of desperation and defeat in my subject. I have realized that there is a whole world that goes unnoticed as landfill sites lie forgotten on the edge of main cities. How many people have even seen where their garbage ends up? At the same time, it was important to show my futuristic garbage surfer standing strong and proud ready to bring change. He builds a friendship with the seagulls and daisies popping out through the disastrous mountain of garbage. These connections inspired him to take action. Thus, I aim to inspire all those who view this series to play their part in reducing plastic pollution with urgency. In the end, through much determination, he does in fact find the wave of his dreams, on a white sand beach kissed with golden sunlight and pristine waters with crabs and fish playing in the tidal pools. It was all worth it.