The iconic, three-story-tall “giant plastic tap” art installation by Benjamin Von Wong was spewing single-use plastic waste all over the entrance to Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada.
The three-storey-tall mountain of plastic trash pouring from the giant tap is a visual statement that speaks against the environmental damage caused by single-use plastics through art. This installation was in partnership with the aquarium.
“For the last six years, I’ve been fighting against single-use plastics,” said Von Wong. “Time and again, I would hear from the smartest people in the world saying ‘We need to turn off the plastic tap’ – referencing the need to address the upstream issues with plastic production rather than the downstream consequences of plastic pollution.”
The giant plastic tap consists of 10,000 pieces of plastic piled 30-feet high at the entrance to the popular attraction, though there’s a chance you might have seen it before this week. Von Wong has been raising awareness of the plastic problem using visual media. He created the installation as a commission for the Canadian Embassy in Paris, and it has since been recreated at several other locations including at the UN headquarters in Nairobi where an important global plastic treaty was inked.
The piece is a statement against the more than 2.8 million tonnes of plastic waste produced annually in Canada. It uses everyday items such as water bottles, coffee cups and other single-use plastics to remind us that we all play a role in making the planet more liveable.
Plastic is a serious environmental problem. It’s polluting our seas and oceans, killing marine life and entering the food chain.
We’re all responsible for this plastic crisis, but we can also be part of the solution.
Location Scouting
The photography and lighting setup was planned 2 days before the actual photoshoot took place. Since Von Wong was traveling at the time and not able to scout the location in person, I took the role and utilized an app called “Sunseeker” to map the sun’s path at different hours of the day. I recorded a video to narrow down the best angles. Von Wong and I finalized the lighting plan over a video call where I could share the data and video.
Location Challenge
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is one of the busiest tourist destinations in Toronto with over 10,000 visitors walking through the front entrance every day. Minimal interruption to that traffic is key, which meant we had to shoot with efficiency. Although we obtained permission from both Ripley’s and CN Tower to conduct a commercial shoot on both properties, we purposely kept the gear light yet powerful. We used a single broncolor Move 1200L pack along with one mobiLED head and the Octa 150 light shaper. We chose the Octa 150 for it’s unique soft lighting characteristics while also being lightweight and manageable. We designed this setup for agility – the mobiLED and Octa 150 were mounted on a monopod whilst the Move pack goes over the shoulder for maximum portability.
Adapting to Changes
Working with children is always unpredictable. The key is to keep the shoot simple and fun, to take breaks often and make sure your gear can deliver on demand. The Move pack easily keeps up with rapid fire exposures, maintaining consistent colour temperature shot after shot. The 1,200ws was more than enough power to overpower the harsh afternoon sunlight. We alternated using the Move pack as a fill light (with the sun as Key light) but when the sun hid behind the clouds, we simply turned up the power and used Move as the main light. Before the crowd started to realize there was a photoshoot with a baby and mermaid at the steps of the aquarium, we were done and wrapped up under a tight schedule. We didn’t want a large distracting crowd gathered around that could have negatively impacted our models or our shoot.
©Von Wong
©Von Wong
The broncolor Move 1200L is a truly great choice for location photographers. The battery pack is simple to set up, it shares the same library of broncolor light shapers that you use in the studio and no extra adaptors are needed to make things fit. It is powerful so you are not limited to producing shallow depth of field images in high-speed sync mode. It has good power delivery and portability. The battery pack lasted most of the shoot. However, a spare battery is simple and quick to swap in.
Welcome to #TurnOffThePlasticTap
3D Tour Experience:
https://otours.mediadistrict.ca/view/ZacCUUeAp1w/?cha=332
Written by Sam Tsang
SiliStudio: www.SiliStudio.com
Media District: www.mediadistrict.ca
Photographer/Big Plastic Tap Designer: Benjamin von Wong: www.vonwong.com
The Big Plastic Tap: www.TurnOffThePlasticTap.com #TurnOffThePlasticTap
