Barry Rosenthal is a photographer and sculptor who studied photography at Dayton Art Institute in Ohio. His work is kept permanently in the Museum of Modern Arts in New York.

 

The work I will be studying and analysing is called “Found In Nature”, started in 2007 as an example of his work. However, it has evolved into miniature objects which were put into large scale images that represent all the waste that is found in the ocean nowadays. Rosenthal prepares to take his photos by separating the objects into categories such as colours. By doing this Barry Rosenthal brings awareness to the global crisis of ocean pollution and Climate Change. He does this as his objects are taken from the ocean and most are made of plastic as plastic is very bad for our environment as it takes an extremely long time to decompose. 

 

Rosenthal has also gained a lot of popularity due to him trying to resolve a global issue (ocean pollution) as people all around the world have seen it and even his magazine getting published into magazines in different countries. The reason for Barry Rosenthal to create “Found In Nature” is that he wants “to inspire the building of a more sustainable future. As an entrepreneur to show and sell my work. As an advocate, to create awareness of marine plastic pollution. As a witness to show proof. As a public speaker, to add to the discourse about plastics in our environment. As a creative collaborator, to partner with institutions and companies taking a stand. And as an educator, to guide students in a multi-discipline approach to rethinking plastic packaging.”

 

Rosenthal creates his photos from “Found In Nature”. He takes the objects which are in the same category and puts them all on a big background (black or white). He crops the photos but barely edits them. If he did edit it the photos would be without the natural connotations that the collection has now as it is all about saving nature.