Deconstructing Environmental Photographers

Simon Norfolk

 'A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj'

 'The brickworks at Hussain Khil, east of Kabul. With massive rebuilding taking place in Kabul, the demand for new bricks have soared.'

‘Heavy munitons were brought up to the mouth of the Salang Tunnel by Ahmed Shah Massoud in case he needed to blow the tunnel. These Soviet cluster bombs now lie in the grounds of  Olang Elementary School.’

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‘The Battle Space’ by Simon Norfolk is a series based on the aftermath of the Afghanistan war. The three images I have chose to analyze looks at the effect the war has had on the environment and the society. His work is inspired by the photographer John Burke, who also photographed a war in Afghanistan. Environment is represented through the three images as they all show humans intervention on nature and the destruction they have caused to it. When you first look at the images from the series you get a sense of beauty because of the lighting used and how at first you think the photo is of a beautiful landscape.Once you look deeper into the images you start to realise the photo’s are actually showing areas that have been affected badly by the war. At first you aren't shocked by the images because of the beauty of them which makes them more appealing to the audience. By using beauty to cover the effects the war has had on the landscape it makes you notice the picture first because of its aesthetic appeal, you then begin to realise its political and social issues as you begin to make out the aftermath. Each of the photo’s I looked at shows all the destruction the war has called, two of the images have no human presence in them however you can see the devastation of the war would effect the life’s of the people who live there. In the photo ‘A view of Kabul City centre from Burla Burj’ the foreground of the image showing all the houses is very dark with no bright colours which could symbolise the sadness of the war and the dramatic effect its had on the area. Whereas the background of the image is of beautifully lit mountains which symbolises hope for the war to end. The image has a slightly birds eye view angle to it which shows the scale of all the devastation and how much area has been affected by the war. The mountain with the houses on give a sign of hope as well because of how Norfolk has composed the image so all of the houses are surrounded by the high mountains which act as if they’re blocking them from the rest of the world. ‘The brickworks at Hussain Khil, east of Kabul’ by Norfolk demonstrates the pollution the war can cause as well as the devastation. The dark smoke contrasts against the beautifully lit landscape. This image clearly shows how humans intervention on the land has changed it drastically. Even though there is no human presence there is still objects in the image that shows humans have caused it because of the ladder and the truck. The smoke covers part of the land as if the natural landscape is disappearing because of it becoming controlled by humans. The large plume of smoke represents the power humans have over the land and how they can change the whole landscape completely by one change we do to the landscape.  If it wasn’t for the smoke cloud Norfolk’s picture has a very picturesque feel to it, this shows how humans have ruined the environment with the war as it could have been a very beautiful and picturesque location. The third image is of a young person standing amongst remains of cluster bombs which lie in the grounds of a school. Having a person in the image sends a message of how the war doesn’t just effect the environment but the people living in the society too, by using a young child it makes you relate to the image more because it makes you aware of all the young life’s it is affecting. By having the child positioned on the rock acts as a symbol of hope as the child is slightly away from the bombs which could present how he’s not completely amongst the war. The arrangement of the cluster bombs represent the recklessness of the war, as they are all randomly placed and positioned on top one another. The image has a very dark feel to it because of its social and political issue however the colours in the photo stand out, especially the colour of the rust of the bombs. The colour of the rust could be intensified because of how rust symbolises dilapidation, decay and corruption which is exactly what the war is doing to the environment. In all the images a small aperture was used to capture all the detail of the environment, I feel Norfolk used this technique to bring your attention to how the war effects everything. Norfolk’s work isn’t like the typical war photography that are taken in the battle zone which are very traumatic and shocking as he focuses more on the aftermath and how it has affected the environment and the people living there.