My on-going Plastic series started to come together after my return to Barbados in March. What began as an experiment a couple days into the new year has taken my work in a fresh direction. I was definitely uneasy about the selective color approach at the onset, but later embraced this methodology since it made me uncomfortable. I had been experimenting with the local plastic shopping bags and their color palette for a while and decided it was time to try a different approach.

 It’s the wild colors and strange relationships that occur when placed next to each other which, motivates me. Barbados is such a color saturated place. But somehow these Chinese made plastic bags found their way into daily life and manage to stand out in our color dominated society.

Shooting at night and on black and white instant film allows me to focus on designing the frame and provides the foundation for where the colors will live. My subjects represent the inhabitants of this  tinted world. They are often posed with symbols relating to the local culture. The images are taken with a Mamiya RZ 67, scanned, and edited in photoshop. The final crop is made at a 6″x7″ aspect ratio (final print 12″x14″).

The next phase will involve exploring more of a narrative in the works. I feel there’s room to also include more people in each shot and push the series in an eerier direction.