Marine pollution images show a shocking future

The project was a collaboration between Richard Lord of Sustainable Guernsey and Karl Taylor of Karl Taylor Photography.

Two images have been produced and Mr Taylor said these, as well as short message videos and a behind-the-scenes video, were a charity project. It took four people a week to complete the images, from concepts to studio clean-up.

The first image shows a baby holding a syringe in a sea of plastic and the second, the infant is lying in the centre of a human eye created from plastic.

Mr Taylor said the project concepts were designed to have a bit of shock factor.

‘Hence the baby with the needle and syringe in its hand,’ he said.

‘The idea of including a baby was formed to represent the future generations and we are hoping through various media channels and charities that the campaign will raise awareness and inform people what they can do to help.’

The syringe was sterilised before being handled by the baby and the needle was added to the image later. The child’s mother was also nearby throughout the shoot.

Marine biologist Richard Lord said syringes are often seen on the island’s shores.

‘I found one with a very sharp needle on the beach not long ago and another about a week ago,’ he said.

‘It is something you can find on the beach.’

The debris shown in the photos was collected over just two kilometres of Guernsey shoreline and represents the eight million tonnes of plastic and pollution entering oceans each year.

Mr Taylor said he was pleased with what the team had produced.

‘Richard approached me and asked if I would be interested in working on the project and I knew given the material that we had to work with that it would be very interesting but also very challenging, as it is very difficult visually to control where the eye goes when it is confronted with such debris,’ he said.

‘It took a lot of planning, lighting and post-production work to deliver images that would work visually and for the message to be absorbed and appreciated.’

Mr Lord said the litter used for the photos was collected from November last year until February, when the shoot took place.

‘I reached out to Facebook and the people of Guernsey,’ he said.

This was through the Found on the Beach in Guernsey Facebook page set up by Sam Reoch.

‘She has really galvanised the initiative to pick up litter,’ he said.

On the Facebook page, beachcombers passionate about keeping Guernsey shores tidy share images of the amount of rubbish collected from the beaches.

Rubbish used also came from this year’s Big Channel Island Beach Clean.

Plastic collected included plastic bottles, fishing gear, shoes and medical equipment and weighed over 400 kilos.

Mr Lord was then assisted by ornithologist Vic Froome and his van to transport all the donated plastic to Karl Taylor’s studio.

‘We had bags on the roof of his van, we managed to get it all there in three trips,’ said Mr Lord.

Mr Lord did believe that promotion of the plastic problem was helping.

‘Guernsey beaches have never been more litter free. Beachcombers are cleaning every single day,’ he said.

‘A lot of them are avid litter pickers and schools are getting involved as well. I hope the message resonates with people in Guernsey,’ said Mr Lord.

There are plans to work with media companies in the UK such as Sky and the Daily Mail so that as many people as possible hear about the important message behind these images.

• Mr Taylor wrote a blog on the process of creating the images which includes short videos and a behind-the-scenes video. This can be found on www.karltayloreducation.com/ocean-pollution-awareness-campaign

• To find out how to help protect future generations of humans and wildlife visit the Marine Conservation Society website on www.mcsuk.org/get-active