The Frankenstein Of Nature, 2022-Present
Inspiration for this project comes from what I see whenever I leave my home. I can drive in any direction and be met with the same thing: plastic bags stuck on the side of the road, caught in trees or poison oak, peeking out through the mud and leaves, or just floating in the wind. It is time something changed.
The idea to call these images The Frankenstein Of Nature comes from The Pencil Of Nature by Henry Fox Talbot. This was the first photobook to be published commercially and its purpose was to show the public how versatile photography can be. Talbot did this by depicting everyday scenes and objects. Like this early photographic publication, my images will be of local everyday surroundings. The difference is my images are drawing attention to a larger issue that affects every living creature on the planet. Instead of how photography can be versatile, the purpose is to show how destructive and invasive these toxic and undying plastic bags are. Another difference is my images are not meant to be a photobook but meant to be displayed in vibrant color and on a large scale when possible. Each image has the same commonality: a plastic bag is interfering in the scene. Some are close-ups and some are landscape style shots where the plastic bag seemingly becomes a part of the natural world. But plastic is not natural. Hence the name, The Frankenstein Of Nature.
Plastic bags take 1,000 years to break down and degrade in a landfill. Even then, they never completely go away. They break down into smaller and smaller micro plastics that will continuously pollute the environment for many years to come. Plastics used in things such as plastic bags contain dangerous chemicals like endocrine disruptors that lead to health issues such as cancer, birth defects and immune system suppression n humans and wildlife. Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year. This requires 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. Americans also use about 365 bags on average per person per year compared to a country such as Denmark where 4 bags are used per person per year on average.
In 2014 California was the first U.S. State to ban plastic bags. My end goal for this project is to have plastic bags banned in the state of North Carolina. Really, I would like them banned globally, but I will settle on where I live locally. At least for now.