Using the methods of adding, subtracting, substituting and superimposing on images, we are supposed to create 4 collages. My theme for this project is Exploitation – namely of the 3rd world countries through the 1st world countries’ point-of-view.

To start off, Exploitation is defined as the action or fact of treating someone / something unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

Addition (Exploitation and consumerism)

In the midst of a thunderstorm, several ships can still be found fishing. Despite the net full of fishes, the POV fisher is still fishing for the jumping fish. This shows how selfish one can be for their own benefit. The campbell soup was added as a significance of how consumerism is brought about in the first world countries and how little we value it yet how much impact it has.

Subtraction (Exploitation of childhood and child labour)

Half the picture was cut away, there was supposed to be a school in the foreground. Instead of being in school, the children are involved in child labouring for factories that might be producing goods for the first world countries. The added ball was a significance of irony and how the 3 girls are looking at it temptingly yet are unable to reach it.

Substitution (Exploitation of natural resources)

I wanted to show how we take our convenience for granted. Like the automobiles we are using now, can fuel last forever? Also, this shows how far we have progressed through the centuries. Yet, we are still exploiting nature’s resources at our convenience. So then how should we react if all the resources are used up one day?

Superimpose (The nature of beings)

Albeit the 3 pictures above are about human and exploitation I would like to end off with how love is shared between every being and thus we should start caring more about our surroundings.

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Something that I have learnt during this week’s lesson is how different wordings used could change the entire meaning of a picture. Hence, showing how one picture could be polysemic. To add on, there is no “fixed” answer behind each picture as it can be up to anyone’s interpretation. Thus, we should learn to embrace varied views.