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Jan Bainar
Jan Bainar is young photographer from Czech Republic. His main focus in on Central European wetlands. He is very interested in environmental issues. Works in financial advisory.
What if the landscape in a photograph looked like Salvador Dalí’s clocks?
I've recently had the privilege to meet with an outstanding photographer Fedor Gabčan. He attended the opening of my first ever solo exhibition in a renowned gallery in the city of Ostrava where I live. I must admit that I didn't recognise his work until that day and I did not have enough time to speak with him at the opening. Fortunately, I was gently advised by the owners of the gallery to meet him again. Sure, why not, I would love to meet and talk photography with everyone, every time. So I Googled his work and was amazed by his portfolio, and by one image particularly. You see, one thing I dream about in my photos is to change the way how we perceive the traditional perspective. And there it was, a photo with two perspectives. You can see a huge pile of soil with few chimneys in the background and some sort of waterfall in the foreground. The land looks like Salvador Dali’s cIock. I realised it is a manmade artificial landscape but the photo was definitely taken on an analogue camera with little adjustment done to it. What a refreshing thing to see in comparison with current fashion for pristine wilderness style photos with a lot of editing.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against beautiful looking landscape photos. But the more I do it and more I see it, I feel it is contrary to what our current landscapes look like. We tend to shoot wilderness but most of the countryside and cities we live in look so differently. Only a few of us capture manmade landscapes with human impact in them.