Green Is the New Black captures sustainable choices through the lens of fashion photography, utilizing compositions akin to luxury brand advertisements. The series contrasts the growing need for sustainability against the persuasive power of the fashion industry that remains ambivalent to this need.
Public attention to environmental issues has reached a fever point. Nonetheless, making sustainable choices remains difficult, requiring us to step out of our comfort zone. But caring about our environment is no longer a choice. It is in fact a necessity that results from our inability to make that choice sooner.
The fashion industry stands out for its foundation on a fundamentally unsustainable business model. The luxury fashion industry sells clothes that transcends functionality and practicality by transcending rationality. If the allure of the luxury brands can cultivate a culture of irrational willingness to spend beyond necessity despite the exorbitant prices and environmentally unsustainable practices, perhaps this persuasive power of fashion could be harnessed for a greater, greener good.
My photographs present environmentally friendly practices accessible to us in our daily lives. Although accentuating the seriousness and urgency of environmental protection has been in vogue, this approach has not done enough. My project juxtaposes the fun, quirky, and evidently convincing marketing savvy of the fashion industry that sustains an inherently unsustainable business model against the necessary but neglected sustainable practices. Exploiting the persuasive expertise of fashion to reverse at least some of the harm the industry has inflicted on the environment seems like poetic justice.
See more of the this artist's work: siyehchung.com
