Marlene Wynn - Weekly Blog Post # 14

Fabrice Monteiro

1. Artist Technical Choices
1.  In these photos, Dakar-based photographer Fabrice Monteiro tries to show us the horrific damage mankind has caused the once beautiful Hann Bay beach in Senegal.  Using models dressed in outfits that incorporate the trash and waste they found in the surrounding environments, they seek to evoke the Greek goddess, Gaia, who sent her jinns to Earth to warn us of our impending doom.  
1. The first photo is shot in natural daylight.  It looks to have a very closed Fstop (as everything in the distance is crystal clear)and a moderately short shutterspeed (as there is not much blurring to the watter).
2. The second and third pictures were both taken in low lighting, requiring the use of a tripod and  longer shutterspeed.  Not sure of the Fstop in the 2nd picture as the dim lighting makes it difficult to determine if the objects in the distance are clear or blurry.
2.  Artist Conceptual / Thematic Intents
1. In the first photo, a sea jinn rises out of the polluted waters.  She holds a skeletonized dove in one hand, while a wrecked and listing ship floats behind her.  The light is in front of her, causing her costume and the waves to glimmer a bit.  The clever use of what looks like thick black plastic creates the base of her "dress" and also gives a more dramatic effect to the soft waves surrounding her feet.
2. The second photo gives off an eerie feel.  Everything surrounding this earth jinn is dead, dying, or burning...even her large heavy dress.  Yet in her hands she holds several large, deeply green leaves, as though challenging the world to see the beauty that they are missing out on.  The orange of the lit bonfires contrasts wonderfully with that patch of green in her hand. 
3. This picture screams of destitution and despair.  Even the jinn looks sad as he gazes down at the water flooded ground of the "house".  Before the jinn lies a few children's toys...a teddy bear, a fire truck, and a sand bucket...all symbols of a lost innocence. 
3. My Response to the artist's Intents
1. All three photos are very well done, and invoke in me the very thing they are trying to make me feel...awe, sorrow, fear, anger...the list goes on.  I think my favorite is the 3rd.  The sorrow the tablecloth bedecked jinn is displaying is heartbreaking.