Editorial illustration "Crocodile Eggs"

Editorial illustration - university assignment

For a university assignment during my masters in illustration at Falmouth, we were asked to create an illustration using only a select amount of chosen tools, as an exercise in limitations. We were given a few prompts, and I chose the prompt "Crocodile Eggs" and decided to create an editorial illustration. While researching “crocodile eggs” I found some interesting articles on Vice and the BBC about the crocodile trade and fashion companies like Hermès and Louis Vuitton building crocodile farms in Australia’s Northern Territories, and I decided to illuminate this through conceptual editorial illustration. 

The fashionista, entranced and hypnotized by her status, and far removed emotionally and ethically from the production of her bag, is walking/posing on what at first seems like clouds (she is “walking on clouds” so to speak). But, on closer inspection, it appears that she is actually walking on the crocodile eggs.

According to an article  (Vice, 2020) the local crocodile trade is worth $107 million, and aim to double its local crocodile industry products in the next 4 years. According to an article by the BBC (2016), local hunters retrieving crocodile eggs from the wild are willing to undertake such a daring and dangerous task, since crocodile eggs are extremely valuable and can fetch extremely high prices. Conservationists say that removing eggs could have a devastating impact, although crocodile farmers can now legally hunt crocodile eggs if they have a permit and adhere to strict guidelines. The Northern territories in Australia are known for the most ‘ethical’ production of croc products. However, studies by PETA in the USA and Zimbabwe in 2016 found that crocodiles were being sliced open alive in order to harvest their skins. Some of these products are outrageously expensive, for example, Hermes setting the all-time record for a handbag that sold at an auction for over $300,000, and bags are commonly priced at over $30000. Personally, I think that paying exorbitant prices for a bag is both ridiculous and disgusting. In my illustration, I explore the consumers of these bags. Most likely not conscious consumers, they are “blind” and far removed emotionally and ethically from the production of their bags, hypnotized by their status. For this reason, I have made a ‘blind’ hypnotized fashionista holding her bag, wearing crocodile products as bag and shoes. The exploitation of Nature by humans is a subject which I am passionate about exploring in my practice.