MICROSCOPIC LAW = MOLECULAR VIOLENCE

This collection of microbial reactive contamination looks into the affects of oil spill contamination on microbial life in the Niger River Delta of Nigeria. Over the last 20 years there has been constant oil spilling in the mangroves of the Delta Region, and this constant pollution has not only affected the Ogoniland People, but also the complex ecological systems that constantly have to adapt to the irresponsibility of the mega oil industry. This series of photos has been realised after three trips in the last two years to the region of Nigeria to document the local residents, and how they have reacted to the spills, but also to collect samples in relation to the polluted water. Instead of adding the images of people to this series the aim here was to show this scales of contamination that we don’t see with human eyes, and also to show that even on the molecular scale there is a molecular slow violence that is happening which is hidden behind beauty. This was achieved by photographing the polluted water under the microscope magnified by 30,000 times what the eye can see, in areas where dead micro-organisms had been mixed with the oil contamination. This series aims to show this hidden violence of the tensions on a molecular scale of environmental exploitation while drawing in the viewer with photographic technicality, and beauty. When viewers ask what is this beautiful photograph of, the exploitation story begins, provokes, and challenges perceptions about the systems that we are all connected to in a complex system of global energy relations. Photography as an element to question, and produce an new environmental aesthetic using beauty as a means to become a catalyst for environmental provocation.

Design Components =  Contaminated Water/Soil Samples +  Hitachi Electron Microscope SU7000 + Microbial Hibiscus Stain