Would you buy and eat this if you passed by it in the grocery store?
Then why do we allow millions of pieces of plastic to add to the already polluted oceans around the world, and turn our backs to the fact that the food we eat, no matter now controlled, is itself littered with microplastics?
Or what about a country where 17 million hectares of land was on fire, lasting months, with air quality the worse in the world, crying for its own people to help?
Both of these images are made to elicit feelings of sadness and responsibility that humans have for its planet, a planet that is at the mercy of us humans to care for it and plan for it a more sustainable future.
The first image is from the Surfrider Foundation, which works to spread awareness for and inform people to protect the oceans. They explain the different types of pollution found in the oceans and the damage that has on both ecosystems and humans. This was part of a collection of photos from 2007 that collected trash from different beaches, and placed them into standard fish packaging commonly found in grocery stores, calling them the “Catch of the Day.” This image immediately stood out to me for the potential to formulate a speech about path of plastics into our bodies, as well as the striking colors and similarities to real food packaging. It is an idea that we do not want to accept, but need to realize the damage we are causing as stewards of this planet.
The second image is part of an organized street artist campaign, with the #bushfirebrandalism tag to signify artists fighting for people to vote for sustainability and environmentally conscious Australian representatives. This specific piece is by Callum Preston, and depicts Australia on fire and in need of help, in reference to the devastating wildfires in early 2020. These street artists felt this issue was not taken as serious as it should have been by the government and the people, and therefore they were moved to move others to be more conscientious to the needs of their country. This event was cast into the shadows during the start of COVID-19, and therefore I was intrigued and felt it deserved to be better understood by myself and the readers of my essay.
These PSAs both work to raise awareness of a similar idea: that humans are stressing our planet beyond it capabilities, in an unsustainable matter. I look at these two and see the perfect balance for comparing and contrasting the audiences, rhetorical tactics, and style to convey their respective messages, and am excited to dive into my interpretation!
Links:
I really liked your first artifact depicting all of the waste that ends up in the ocean. This image is very powerful, as I like the garbage being put into the fish container. I think that you should have a lot to analyze, which is great for your speech.
Looking at both of your artifacts, I can definitely agree that there is so much to unpack within both of them and I’m excited to hear your analysis in the speech and essay regarding just the first one as well as the comparison between the two. The reason why I especially like the first one the most in terms of a powerful message is because at first it just seems like a normally packaged good, but once the viewer looks closely they realize that it is actually just liter from the beach. I think this conveys the message that littering may seem like one tiny piece of trash in the moment but in actuality it has an astronomical negative impact on the environment. I am excited to hear about your analysis for both artifacts and great job choosing both of them!