For this collage, I wanted to bring attention to pollution and how it affects people, animals, and the environment. The whole piece is built around one question: “Who Suffers?” because pollution is not just some far-off problem happening to “the planet.” It affects real living things that need clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment just to survive.
This topic is personal to me. I grew up visiting the Dominican Republic, and the beach has always been one of my favorite places in the world. However, there is a lot of pollution there, and I have noticed that there are not always strong protections for public land. Sometimes, people with more resources are able to buy land and turn it into private spaces for profit, while the environmental consequences remain for communities and the public to deal with. Growing up seeing these issues made environmental pollution feel real to me instead of something that only existed in articles or discussions.
I chose “Who Suffers?” as the title because I noticed that people often think about pollution as only a nature problem, only a human problem, or only an animal problem, rather than understanding how all three are connected. I wanted the question to encourage viewers to think beyond one group and consider the larger impact of pollution.
The article I read, “What Do You See?” from De Nichols’ Art of Protest, played a big role in shaping my design. It discusses how images can communicate ideas beyond what is immediately visible and how protest art encourages people to look deeper and question issues they may normally overlook. This idea influenced my approach because I did not want to show pollution only as an environmental issue; I wanted viewers to think about who is actually affected by it. That is why I included images of plastic waste, polluted water, air pollution, and animals. These images are meant to make people stop and ask themselves who truly suffers because of these problems.
I created the collage digitally using images from Wikimedia Commons. I also included a few small messages throughout the piece for viewers to discover if they look closely instead of placing everything directly on the surface.
If I had more time or materials, I would have preferred to create this collage by hand instead of digitally. I enjoy physical artwork, and I think a handmade version would have made the piece feel more personal and added textures that a digital collage cannot fully recreate.
Hi Isabella,
Hi Isabella, I was really drawn to your piece because of the title “Who suffers?” I thought it was really poignant and it stands out. It’s short, simple, and gets the message across so easily that it stuck with me a lot. I was also drawn to your piece because I noticed that it was digital, and I enjoy a bit of digital design and art myself, so I was kinda drawn to it. I think you did a really good job of getting the feel and look of a handmade collage! I usually prefer handmade collages as well, I feel like making things digitally can be too surgical— you can’t tear, cut, or style as easily as you can with a handmade collage. Speaking for myself, too, I like the challenge of trying to find, mix, and match specific photos from a fairly random selection of newspapers and magazines for a handmade collage. It can force you to think outside the box more, and try to connect ideas of how it can fit your college. But, with digital, you do have the benefit of being able to find images that you want a lot more easily, and you’re also able to experiment around with editing the image itself. To a degree, there’s pros with both, but I also prefer making collages by hand usually.