Consumption, Waste and Decay - Mikaela Heise and Katie Buttress-Grove

Contemplating the central theme of waste and the subtheme of consumption and decay, our photo essay establishes the inextricable link between consuming and discarding. Engaging with familiar practices of consumption pertinent to Murray’s discussions of the mundane, the photography develops an intimate perception of decaying rubbish. Placing focus on the cyclical development of food to waste, and packaging to rubbish, our photo essay explores the increasingly habitual behaviour of resource exploitation and the resultant mass littering or polluting. 

The practicality of these products and food items are overlooked as they are freely discarded, reasserting their ephemerality and the frivolity of consumer practices. Aligning with Murray’s notions of the transitory and temporality of life, the intimate close ups provide textural variation of decay, elevating the fleeting beauty and substance of these everyday aesthetics. Through this depiction the essentiality of these subjects, namely food, is highlighted reaffirming its indispensible everyday purpose. 

This observance of the mundane was achieved within the Macquarie University campus with the use of a Canon 60D to achieve the most precise quality when observing tonal contrasts and textural characteristics. Tonal manipulation within Iphoto enhanced the visual vibrancy of the images, providing for an appealing narrative of wasted subjects. The song “Wasting Time” by Stephen Fowlds (2012) compliments the melancholic tone of the photography, stimulating a nostalgic response in regards to the essentiality of food and 
packaging.

Our photo essay can be accessed via the YouTube link provided below:

Mikaela Heise 42867584

Katie Buttress-Grove 42865794