During a mixed media workshop, I experimented with physically deconstructing and reconstructing images of nature by peeling away the top layer of the photo and layering them together. I used photos that I had previously taken as I had not yet done a photoshoot for this project but still wanted to incorporate the piece and make it relevant to what I am doing. Rather than documenting nature as it exists, I deliberately intervened in it - peeling it apart, rearranging it, and forcing different elements to coexist within a single image.

​

This process made me more aware of my role within the work. I am not just observing nature - I am actively manipulating it. By selecting, peeling, and recombining these images, I am imposing my own sense of order onto something that would normally exist independently of me. In this sense, I position myself as the "man" in the relationship between human and nature - attempting to control, reconstruct, and reshape it.

​

However, the outcome resists full control. The peeling process of the photos was unpredictable, creating tears, textures, and distortions that I cannot fully direct. This tension between control and lack of control reflects the way humans interact with the natural world. While we attempt to dominate and organise it, nature continues to behave on its own terms.

​

The final piece appears fragmented and chaotic, with layers of flowers, water, and organic forms colliding rather than harmonising. This can be seen as a visual metaphor for human interference - where attempts to reshape nature do not necessarily create something balanced, but instead something disrupted or artificial.

​

Although this piece began as an experimental process, it has shifted my thinking towards the idea of authorship and control. It raises the question of whether humans are capable of truly shaping nature, or whether any attempt to do so inevitably results in distortion. 

​

At this stage, I am interested in continuing to explore this dynamic further - particularly the idea of myself as an active force within the image, rather than a passive observer.