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The river Tame as a place in my heart because I grew up living next to it, as a boy I would be

amazed at its power and the life that it supported. Of course, this was all just in my mind

because, in reality, it was probably more polluted then than it is now, there were no, or very

few controls regarding pollution, and if there was, very little was done about it. I spice many

years ago that factories along the river all had quotes of how much factory waste they could

dump in the river. There was one chemical factory that used to dump, Thousands of gallons

of waste in the river each year they would get fined, a minimal amount. It was so much waste

that when it hit the small rapids, it would foam up and block the roads 30 / 40 feet above the

river. Thankfully I don't think this practice still exists. The River Tame has been in the news

this month for being the most plasticated river in the WORLD. " One section of the River

Tame was found to have 517,000 plastic particles per square meter of sediment - double

the previous record for any waterway or ocean in the world" We can only stop this by

educating the people and helping them to make the right choices when buying products.

Products that don't contain plastics. Facial scrubs and many other products contain

microplastics. Governments need to bring in legislation to encourage companies to stop using

products that are not biodegradable or at least don't cause any harm.

(The quotes above and below taken from the Manchester evening news web site)

(https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/river-tame-

plastic-pollution-microbeads-14407335 (accessed 30/03/18))

"Prof Jamie Woodward, head of Geography at the university, said: “We expected higher

concentrations in cities and urban rivers, but in those, the levels were extraordinarily high."

“We found that wherever you have people, you have plastics - and where you have high

concentrations of people in the industry you have high levels of plastics.”

When the team tested again after the flooding of Boxing Day 2015, they found the levels had

dramatically diminished - by 70 percent - meaning they had flowed into the Irish Sea.

The plastic is thought to come from industrial sites near the river, storm water drains and

sewage overflow pipes connected to homes and businesses.

Because the fragments are so tiny, they are not filtered out by sewage plants and flow into

rivers and eventually the sea.

Here, they are ingested by shellfish and plankton and often end up being eaten by humans.

Plastic particles have been found in almost three-quarters of ocean fish.

Although there is a growing body of research, it’s still not fully known how plastic

contamination affects humans and animals.

However, it’s thought it can cause obstructions in the body and, if small enough, could pass

into the bloodstream. It can also carry other toxins into the body.

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(https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/river-tame-

plastic-pollution-microbeads-14407335 (accessed 30/03/18))

Below is Bill He has lived in Tame side all of his life I asked him some questions.

• What do you think of the river Tame and how it is looked after.

It is an absolute disgrace. It could be very nice if it were looked after but no one seems to

care, I mean they do care, but most people cant do anything about it on there own.

• Did you know that it has just been tested and it is the most plasticated river in the

world?

I hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me, the amount of rubbish that has been dumped in

there over the years.

• Do you think the people could clean the river if they all got together?

People could help a little, but rivers can be dangerous, it would need a lot of planning to

organise a voluntary clean up team, but we could do a litter pick along the banking that would

spruce up the walkways.

Bill on a walk along the pictures River Tame.

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Below is part of a water system that was used for the cooling towers of Stalybridge power station

now demolished, these ponds have been fenced off for many years. When the cooling towers were

in operation the water was drawn from two man-made ponds off fresh water, the water was used in

the towers collecting many pollutants along the way, including sodium chloride, legionnaires disease

and other pollutants that were all collected in the ponds below. When the managers decided they

needed to change the water the dam was opened, and gues were it went. Through the tunnel below

and into the river.

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A small stream going to the river. The poisons and pollutants just in this small stream, is

unbelievable, the origins of the items seem to come from a variety of places.

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Now we have the dreaded plastic and other pollutants contaminating the river. I don't think the wild

life is to happy

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When they decide to unblock this, where will all of that pollutants go, I would like to think it will be

removed and disposed of properly, but I have my doubts.

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Let's decorate the tree.

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There are three wheels on my Wagon.

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Where is my oil can?

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Morning Dew the drink you can find anywhere. Its next to the plastic but not on the shelf.

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Why not go for a paddle on the river beach.

Below is Jonathan Susca, a partner in TAS Group, The company have offices and warehouse

alongside the river Tame. He is a person that as strong views on the environment he lives next to a

country park with his wife and children, he sees on a daily basis what a difference we can make by

looking after our environmental surroundings. His company is trying to encourage his clients to

change from the plastic cups and packaging they use now, to biodegradable products. He as just

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introduced biodegradable straws to the line of products that they sell. " When I first heard the news

reporting that the river was the most plasticated river in the world, I was shocked at first, but when I

thought about it having seen the mess and rubbish that passes our offices floating down the river, I

shouldn't have been surprised." Jonathon Susca 15/04/18.

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Critical review after feedback

I have found myself very frustrated on this assignment. The most frustrating thing about this

assignment is the way we treat our environment and treat every bit of water as a dump, out of

sight out of mind I think is the train of thought. I was a little bit frustrated that my tutor was

concerned that a lot of my images were taken in one day, I understand where he his coming

from as far as revisiting and reshooting and building a portfolio of images that you can then

draw on for an assignment that you are working on over a period of time, but when time is

short and you only have one or two day spare time to get the necessary shots, I don't think it

helps getting criticised because the shots were taken in one day, but I do understand his point

if time was plentiful, but it is a part time course after all. It is why some people start the

course, is to do it when they have time. I have taken on board what my tutor is saying and I

do understand his point, off view and my new images are better for the feedback. Shoot

review reflect reshoot, and yes, my images are better for reshooting. When someone gives a

educated critique it help you not only on the image level but also it has offshoots it refines

you your thought process and that rubs off on the images you make in the future, you start to

fine tune.

The assignment when I first thought of it was a good idea I thought I could tell the story of

the river and the way it was used as a rubbish dump building on the recent news that it was

the most plasticated river in the world. I decided to walk the river taking pictures of the

plastic and other forms of pollution as I went along, some of the images were difficult to get

as I had to climb down the banking and over walls to get the shots. One or two of the shots

were a little plain on first view and the rubbish not as prominent as I first imagined they

would be, but when you click on them and they go full screen and you can zoom in the

rubbish becomes the main point of the image.

After feedback my tutor said the images weren't metaphorical enough, I have taken this on

board and changed some of the images not so much metaphorically but a lot stronger images

on the first view. I have added captions in a metaphorically and sarcastic manner to

emphasise the plight of the river. After feedback, my tutor was concerned that my research

wasn't related to my assignment, but I can say my research is related to the exercises and the

exercises are related to the Assignment I will need disagree with him on this point, what he

could have meant that there was no direct link, as far as he can see, but there is a direct link to

the assignment as the research is contained within the assignment three document, and yes

you could say the link is intuitive but it is there with in the document if it wasn't linked it

would be some were else.

The new set of images are stronger that the first set and I think do tell a better story because

they are more graphic, the plight of the river's story is told and when you consider this is just

a very small stretch of the river you can imagine how much pollution there is in it.

I have included local people in the story and engaged with people walking on the river I have

talked to local business and got their thoughts on the subject, but only scratched the service. I

have included my interpretation of a pdf book dummy my tutor didn't know if this was what

OCA wanted or how to do it. I have taken on board my tutors thoughts on the first set of

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images, and I have changed them for stronger images that tell a more powerful story than my

first set. I have now taken about 4 days to take all the images for this assignment more

images to choose from to help make the assignment stronger. I haven't used all the images

that I have taken has I ran out of disc space when making contact sheets. I have learned that

closer is better the for this type of photography the more graphic the better showing close up's

of the rubbish human beings have and are still inflicting to our environment.

The telephone critique was constructive and informative I have taken on bored the guidance

and advice given by my tutor, he was very informative and although I didn't necessarily agree

with everything on the whole a nice and constructive critique,