A six-month project exploring how environmental pollution is perceived within everyday coastal spaces.
This six-month 2021 project while studying at Ara Institute of Canterbury involved repeated visits to popular Christchurch beaches including New Brighton, Boulder Bay, Sumner, and Taylors Mistake.
The work explores how environmental pollution is often presented through visually appealing imagery, creating a sense of distance between the viewer and the reality of the problem.
By photographing plastic waste as it appears within familiar, local environments, the project questions whether aestheticised representations of pollution soften its impact and reduce urgency.
Through sustained observation, the series reflects on how perception is shaped by mediated imagery, and how environmental harm can be normalised or overlooked when framed as beautiful, remote, or abstract — despite existing within our everyday surroundings.
