ISSUE TWO - ENVIORMENTS
chrono collective Capturing the Now
Editors and Contributors editors content editor Bertie Oakes contenteditor.chrono@gmail.com design editor Max Searl designeditor.chrono@gmail.com
photographs front cover: zac riviello, part of his seirers ‘under tungsten; back cover: jordan pettitt, portrait of fractal forest
submit sumbit to us via email: sumbit.chrono@gmail.com www.chronocollective.tumblr.com
contributers dan mariner @danmariner www.danmariner.com harry lawlor @harrylawlor www.harrylawlor.co.uk arabelle zhuang @silentgrxy www.arabellezhuang.com/ jordan pettitt @jordancainepettitt www.jordanpettitt.co.uk/ maisie marshall @maisiemarshall www.maisiemarymarshallsphotography.com zac riviello @champagnezacci www.zacriviello.com
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FOREWORD: DAN MARINER
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HARRY LAWLOR
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ARABELLE ZHUANG
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INTERVIEW: FRACTAL FOREST
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ZAC RIVIELLO
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MAISIE MARSHALL
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Image from Dan Mariners seires ‘Drakes Folly’
Foreword The landscape we call home exists in a constant state of evolution, shaped by forces of nature and now even more so through our unquenchable thirst to develop as a civilisation. As we expand our cities and push the limits of our planet’s resources, we slowly become at odds with this landscape, eroding its primordial foundations and altering it forever. At first glance, this landscape can often appear benign and sterile to the eye, offering up nothing more than a viewpoint into our frantic world. However, if you choose to pause, observe closely and invest time in allowing the landscape to reveal itself to you, it is possible to become familiar with both its nuances and intricacies. You gain an insight into its way of being, the struggles and challenges it faces and the world that lives both above and below the surface. The art of photographic observation with its countless hours of sifting through banal data is seemingly a practice that only a few are prepared to master. Innumerable unsuccessful trips with camera in hand are the price paid in order to find that shred of evidence which will bring the story to life, in a way that not only offers up beautiful imagery, but provides a twist that causes the viewer to sit up and pay close attention.
As photographers, we undertake the vital role of recording this shifting landscape. We do this by documenting its evolution and unearthing the narratives that lie dormant within it. The power of visual imagery has long been a successful medium for conveying messages concerning issues that require urgent attention. When spoken or written word falls on deaf ears, the profound impact of a single image can be seismic. As a result, a genuine change in mindset on the issue in question may then be initiated. Environmental landscape photography has always used this power to great success by bringing awareness to under reported issues worldwide. It is now being used more frequently as a method of narrative delivery by a new breed of storytellers. Urgent topics can thus be brought to public attention through the weaving of the delicate and personal stories of the people affected by the issue in hand. The photographers featured in this issue of Chrono Collective have risen to the challenge of documenting their chosen environment by quietly and patiently sifting through the surface noise in order to find a narrative that conveys a message that is relevant to us all, but seen by only by a few. - Dan Mariner
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Harry lawlor A place i can forget
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n order to comprehend and to fully grasp an insight into his conceptual enviorment landscape project, I interviewed Harry Lawlor, where he answered our questions on his project ‘A Place I Can Forget’. Could you give up a general synopsis of the project, where and when it was shot? A Place I Can Forget (APICF) is about the fragmented nature of reality, through taking pieces of the real world and presenting them as a series I intended to take a place that is foreboding and strange, that would provoke a reaction from a viewer, making them question the work and come to their own conclusions about what it means to them. The photographs were shot in the Canary Islands in the spring of 2014. I’m still trying to work out for myself what exactly its about, I think when I put it together my main goal was more to create a feeling more than anything tangible. Did you have fixed aspirations for the project, or was it something that grew naturally into what it has become? I actually had no intention of producing a series at all, I had a brief look at the pictures when I got back but for the most part they sat on a hard drive for the next three years until I was having a browse through some old pictures and things started to click. I guess I started seeing connections between the pictures, there are a few motifs that I’ve used throughout the series, (closed doors for example) that give it this sinister vibe, that you’re shut out, you can’t get out or in, I suppose I wanted the overall feel of the series to be quite foreboding, as if something bad is about to happen but we’re not sure what, it keeps you questioning and thinking. How did you come up with the title for the project? I guess it came from the feelings that I had about the time that I spent in that place. We were primarily there to windsurf and there was no wind, so there was a frustrated and bored vibe that I couldn’t really shake off so I think that when I needed a title those memories definitely influenced the name in some way.
Who and what inspired you for the project? I suppose at the time I was really into the work of Lewis Baltz, I always found Baltz’s work quite surreal, there was a picture of a dead sheep that always sticks out in my mind and his pictures of parking lots. Robert Adams came to me later, I didn’t have his work in mind when making the work. The way that he presents the banal and everyday very much appeals to me, I’m a big fan of his work ‘The New West’ and the way that he would photograph in the bright sun, it’s very graphic. I feel like those influences come through in the pictures somewhat. I was also inspired by the place itself and my own thoughts and feelings throughout my time there. The often deserted, empty and desolate landscapes that I
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encountered were nothing like I have experienced before or since, it was all quite lunar with long roads through a desert leading to small groups of buildings and towns that were all spread quite thin over this small island. Some of the experiences I had there were quite surreal such as finding that cat head on the side of the road for example, it was a little strange. I made many of the pictures, (thinking about it now) in the space between the town and this desert-esque landscape. The edges of the main town where I was staying sort of crumbled into the sand which stretched for miles off to the horizon. How do you believe the images represent the environment that they were taken in, and how does the environmental landscapes take precedence within the project?
They speak less about the enviorment itself but more about this new place that has been formed by bringing the pictures together in the series. I suppose you could read into the images being this post-apocalyptic space, how the planet is feeling the affects of our presence on it. I want the viewer to make up their own mind as to whether it means that to them or not, there’s potential for the work to be about a number of different things, its very ambiguous in that sense. You have explained to me earlier that this project was every conceptual, is there a fixed narrative within the project or is it up to the viewer to interpret the images? There’s no fixed narrative as such, I like to keep it loose and let the viewer come to their own conclusions about what it means to them. I don’t like to influence that, its more about the viewer interpreting the themes that are explored through the images. I think that this is where my work is headed looking forward, I like the idea of letting people explore the work for themselves rather having some fixed way that the work has to be read, I think that if a body of work can be read in different ways by different people whilst you’re still communicating the overall theme of the work, it’s much more interesting and open. Is there anything as the curator of the project that you would want the viewer to know, that they wouldn’t be able to grasp just my looking at the imagery? I like people to interact with it, really think about how the pictures link and what the work means to them. I’ve tried to keep the real place as anonymous as possible so that it doesn’t influence the way that the pictures are perceived.
In the body of work two dead animals are featured, does this have any wider resemblance to the project? They simply fitted with the sinister and strange feel that I was trying to create in that space. I wanted the viewer to feel uncomfortable at times and the dead stuff was a way of doing that. There is a significant lack of human interaction within the project, why is this so? I wanted the viewer to feel very isolated and cut off from the rest of the world, we see cars in the distance and other signs of human activity but its always just a trace, I wanted the viewer to experience the work from a first person perspective. There were never many people around and I wandered around with a camera alone for the most part, not talking to anyone. I was photographing in quite a loose and ephemeral way, simply photographing things that were of interest to me I think that had a big impact on the content of the pictures and the way they’ve been shot. Thanks for the interview Harry, any last words? Thanks so much for including my work in the magazine! I’ve really enjoyed these questions and writing about the questions, I’m still exploring this body of work for myself so talking about it and sharing it helps me to understand it better.
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“The often deserted, empty
and desolate landscapes that I encountered were nothing like I have experienced before or since.
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arabelle zhuang the lizard
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aving always had a love for landscape photography, I wanted to explore Cornwall outside of Falmouth (where I study). I found myself particularly interested in the Lizard peninsula and spoke to a good friend, Callum Bees, who studies Environmental Science at Exeter University. He told me about the uniqueness of The Lizard and how it was not an original part of England. As he studies the geology of The Lizard on his course and thus has a deep technical understanding of its history, I thought that it would be amazing to have this information accompanied by photographs to document the processes and outcome of the thousands of years’ evolution. The Lizard is the most southerly point of England with breathtaking scenery and rare geology that creates a haven for rare plants, flowers and invertebrates. However, about 390 million years ago, it didn’t exist. Due to continental drift, dense oceanic rocks of the tectonic plate partially subducted under the lighter continental crust of the plate. It resulted in a convection of magma and major earth movements where peridotite rocks were pushed up from the boundary of the earth’s crust and the mantle plumed. The thrust resulted in the “welding” of the ocean floor rocks onto the continental landmass, which was England. This eventually formed what is now known as The Lizard.
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The geomorphology of Kynance is strikingly beautiful and at low tide, the waves crash onto both sides of a spit off that joins the main headland to a series of seas stacks. This landscape is a result of the geology; various rocks of the Lizard eroding at different rates. The coastal cliff exposures at Kynance Cove provide one of the best and famous exposures of The Lizard serpentine, and an array of igneous and metamorphic rocks that form it. The most prominent rock at Kynance is the Serpentine. Because of it’s magnesium and iron minerals, Serpentine is fiery red. Massive rocks with running veins are also seen scattered throughout Kynance. These are caused by precipitate that flows into areas of low pressure, usually nearer the surface of the earth’s crust. When the magma cools, within fractures and cracks, the minerals cool and melt at varying times depending on their crystallisation temperature. Within the ground water stores of Kynance Cove, there is a network of water channels that eventually become visible at the mouth of the drainage basin. Freshwater on land are held within rocks where streams flow through. This supplies water for rare Cornish heathland, such as gorse, bracken, bramble, heather and fern, to thrive. With flourishing heathland and wetlands, animals find The Lizard a safe haven to call home. - Arabelle Zhuang
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“The most prominent rock
at Kynance is the Serpentine. Because of it’s magnesium and iron minerals,
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“The Lizard is the most
southerly point of England with breathtaking scenery and rare geology that creates a haven for rare plants, flowers and invertebrates.
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Fractal Forest M: Where and how did the band form?
Words by Max Searl Images by Jordan Pettitt
K
eeping within the ‘environments’ theme of issue two, this month we interview ‘Fractal Forest’ a hardcore band from Falmouth taking influence from the unique tropical landscape in which they found themselves. Max interviews Sam and Lucas, with portraits taken by Jordan Pettitt. Max: Fractal Forest is a unique name, how did it come to be? Sam: We were struggling with a name for weeks. We wanted to combine juxtaposing ideas relating to machinery and nature. ‘Fractal’ representing the composition method and play style. ‘Forest’ representing the emotional content within our albums. After hundreds of brainstorming sessions, we just had to sit on one and go with it. We are really happy that we actually went ahead with it.
S: We had both been studying at Falmouth University for a couple of years, and both had wanted to collaborate throughout the course, but we had our own projects we were working on and it never seemed the right time. We approached eachother at the start of one of these projects, and it just took off from there. M: Who are your musical influences and what was your first CD you bought? S: The first CD I ever bought was either Craig David or Westlife. I can’t remember what came first but I listened to them on repeat for weeks. M: Do you have any influences outside of music? I dont actually take much inspiration in my composition style from anything besides music. In this project however, we were taking into consideration the different characteristics of forest wildlife and trying to transpose that into a writing style. It has been really interesting and has really made creating the music a lot more exciting.
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M: Describe your style of music?
“Having such a large space
to yourself creates a very introspective mind-set that stays with you for life and I try to convey this though my lyrics.
Lucas: Having such a varied influence has allowed us to work with familiar genres like hardcore and post rock while expressing our interest in other influences out of our comfort zone like using rhythmic aspects of hiphop and lyric structures reminiscent of poetry monologues. As we both enjoy the sound of digital synths and analogue ambient works utilising Sam’s knowledge of harmony and melody. As I’ve been into a lot of funk recently I try to focus on creating dense rhythms on the drums, this combined with the lyrical style creates hip hop esc structure. We’ve tried to be progressive as possible over the course of the album, as trying to incorporate all our influences into one song would be quite overwhelming. M: You clearly have a strong connection with nature, how does that portray within your music?
Lucas of Fractal Forest
L: When we’ve focused on ambient work on this album we’ve tried to convey a sense of space, this we’ve done mainly through guitar tone but also a great deal lyrically. Growing up in a small town on Dartmoor I had a lot of space to myself, not a lot of people have that, as a result I relished the opportunity of having a whole forest or field to explore at my will. Having such a large space to yourself creates a very introspective mind-set that stays with you for life and I try to convey this though my lyrics. Where as a lot of my lyrics focus on experiences in nature, I try not to specifically reference forests and trees but small details, rippling water, the sound of wind whistling through trees, even how a space changes my mindset… the kinds of things that stand out to me as a nature viewer, as
the lyrics are more about my experiences in those places I try to focus on the mindset. M: Whats in importance of playing live, and how can that benefit the band? S: I think it really depends on the type of music you are playing. Live playing definitely compliments many genres including our own as we aim to create a real atmosphere during our performance that brings more than just the music to the audience. It gives them an insight into our personalities and makes it a more intimate experience.
closer to the release of the album. M: Its been great having you both today, any last words to the readers? S: Thank you for having us! We will be launching our own website with the release of our album so you can read more about our methodology, enter competitions and get in contact with us there! Make sure to find Fractal Forest on our Facebook page for more news!
M: Are you working on any new music at the moment? S: Yes! We are soon to release our first album which is due at the end of this month. We are really focusing on bringing different styles to the hardcore genre so listen out for us. M: How can people listen to your music? S: As I said, we are currently working on our album which will be released at the end of the month! Check out our ‘Fractal Forest’ Facebook page to keep updated with band news! M: When is the next time people can see you live? S: We will be hosting a release night that is yet to be announced. Find the ‘Fractal Forest’ on Facebook for more infomation
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zac riviello under tungsten
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uring this project, my subject has been suburbia. One of the main reasons I have focused on this is my home town of Taunton. When I was younger walking around I was inspired by the local architecture, but I have only recently considered it as a subject. This is because of the photographers I have discovered since being at university. Todd Hido and Gregory Crewdsonboth shoot American Suburbia. They’re my main inspirations and I wanted to use their technical and artistic style wherever I was, and Falmouth has been an interesting location. I am still interested in shooting other locations in the future, to further explore this subject. The different locations will have a variety of atmospherical qualities. Whether this is a town, city, or rural landscape, they all have different qualities that together create a varied series of images. I enjoy the emotional and metaphorical themes created by the photos I have created. Solitude, isolation, ambiguity and in contrast the relatable homely feel in the landscape. I like the fact that the neutrality of the composition allows the viewer to have their own perspective of the image. I feel the simplicity of suburbia can be very powerful. The minimalism in the setting speaks to my artistic style. I want my images to have a thought provoking element to them so that the viewers can question what is happening in them. Whether it’s lighting, composition, or tone suburbia is a good place to express intentions that I am trying to represent. I relate to this quote from Todd Hido quite a lot “ I’m attracted to that cinematic feeling where something’s about to happen” in that many of the photographs captured at night could be a stills from a movie and I love that sense of mysterious and eerie to the image that can be created. I personally feel that my photographic compositions have been inspired by films such as Nightcrawler and Drive which match the beauty of which night can show. Since college I have been fascinated by Gregory Crewdson who creates massive scenes using movie lighting and built sets in which he creates a narrative that gives off a sense of isolation and mundane everyday situations which really appeal to me in a photographic sense. Using the inspirations from these photographers I have been always trying push the ideal shot as a final series of images. - Zac Riviello
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“I Enjoy the emotional and metaphorical
themes created by the photos I have created. Solitude, isolation, ambiguity and in contrast the relatable homely feel in the landscape. I like the fact that the neutrality of the composition allows the viewer to have their own perspective of the image
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t the beginning of 2015 I went to New Zealand, travelling from one end of the country to the other. Along the way I discovered the drastic change in its landscape and the diverse origins of its people. New Zealand sits on two tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Australian. Fifteen of these gigantic moving pieces of the Earths crust make up the Earth’s surface. The North Island and some parts of the South Island sit on the Australian Plate, while the rest of the South Island sits on the Pacific. Because these plates are constantly shifting into each other, New Zealand gets a lot of geological action, causing its diverse geographical landscape. The North Island of New Zealand has a ‘spine’ of mountain ranges running through the middle, with gentle rolling farmland on both sides. The central North Island is dominated by the Volcanic Plateau, an active volcanic and thermal area. The massive Southern Alps form the backbone of the South Island. To the east of the Southern Alps is the rolling farmland of Otago and Southland, and the vast, flat Canterbury Plains. Although this project is mainly identifying the shifting landscape it also recognizes the original Māori culture and heritage within its countries land. The Māori culture is still strongly present in the North Island of New Zealand, where they respect the landscape
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maisie marshall The ever changing land that surrounds them welcoming people into their communities. Māori are recognised as the Tangata Whenua (people of the land) of New Zealand. They make up 14.6% of the population and have a large cultural influence on the country. They have a profound love and respect for the landscape of their nation and live off the resources that it naturally provides. In 1840 the British Crown signed a treaty with Māori chiefs. This treaty is known as the ‘Treaty of Waitangi’. Although their culture is still strongly represented in areas of the North Island, it has been overtaken by western culture in the main cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Most of the western society that lives in New Zealand is respectful of the Māori heritage and its beliefs about its landscape. However there is still a percentage that fails to respect the original culture of the country. Although this project mainly identifies its landscape, there are small details in the images that represent much more about the western world overruling the countries original culture. - Maisie Marshall
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“Although this project is mainly
identifying the shifting landscape it also recognizes the original MÄ ori culture and heritage within its countries land.
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