Back to the Future

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‘Back in the day', using film was a necessity, rather than a choice, if you wanted to create photographs. My first camera, obtained when I was around eight years old, was a simple 35mm point and shoot, finished in a ‘spider-man’ livery. Along with the vast majority of camera owners in the 1980s and ’90s, my photography was simple snaps of holidays, family occasions and some teenage misadventures.

I dabbled with SLR cameras, a ‘Centon’ and an East German ‘Praktica’ that I remember being reliably unreliable. My knowledge improved a little, and I had the basics down, but it’s fair to say I didn’t know how to use them to their full potential.

Moving from Manchester to Bangor (just outside Snowdonia) in the mid-90s was a key time for me. An interest in the natural environment quickly developed hand in hand with a desire to capture better images of this new world around me. My photography improved further, but the craftmanship needed to use film really well still illuded me.

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At the time digital cameras started to take off, the cost of a DSLR was beyond me, but I still abandoned my film cameras and began shooting almost exclusively with a digital point and shoot with a whopping 2 megapixels. During that period, my photography actually regressed as I reverted back to grabbing snaps and recording shots.

After moving to the lake district, I bought my first DSLR around 2006, and this proved to be a real jump off point for me. I consciously tried to get better at my photography and was helped immeasurably by the instant feedback on the rear of the camera confirming whether the image was a success or failure. Like others, I was mesmerised by the results I could get, the sharpness, detail, consistent colour etc.

Then around six years ago, I started to grow discontent. I’d mastered my equipment to the point where I’d begun to feel it was all a little too clinical and, dare I say, too easy to get results. This, combined with a photography community seemingly locked into a never-ending search for the latest ‘new thing’ in cameras and lenses, left me feeling cold. I’d lost my photography mojo, and I needed something to get it back.

Then around six years ago, I started to grow discontent. I’d mastered my equipment to the point where I’d begun to feel it was all a little too clinical and, dare I say, too easy to get results.

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Film photography was having something of a revival at this time, and the idea of going back and trying to develop a level of proficiency and craftmanship that had eluded me twenty years before appealed. I jumped back in head first, starting with a medium format TLR, then a Box Brownie, then a 35mm SLR, then onto ‘Toy’ Cameras, then Polaroids, then Pinholes, Panoramic Cameras……and on.

Whereas modern digital cameras broadly produce the same generic image look (you’d be hard-pressed to tell what image came out of what digital camera), I found using a variety of film camera formats produced an eclectic mix of fundamentally different looking images. The variety thrown up by this journey of discovery was something I began to revel in.

The film camera that became my most trusty companion was the ‘HOLGA’. In essence, these are pieces of low-tech plastic hewn into the most basic medium format film camera, the antithesis of today’s advanced and expensive offerings. A brand-new model can be bought for a very modest outlay of just £35-40. You could spend one hundred and fifty times as much on a digital medium format camera, but first, I’d ask, are you going to get one hundred and fifty times the fun, disillusionment, exploration, joy, frustration or delight from it? I believe the answer, unequivocally, to all of those questions is no.

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Technically, Holgas are incredibly simple. A fixed 60mm focal length, Zone focusing where you adjust focus ring symbols to match your estimated subject distance. Two apertures, f8 & f11, these are approximations as loose manufacturing tolerances mean every camera is ‘unique’. Finally, there are two shutter speeds, 1/100s approximately (ageing shutter springs will impact actual speed) & Bulb mode, which requires you to keep your finger pressed down on the shutter lever. Such a basic specification might horrify some but I’ve come to view it as a liberation rather than a limitation. It’s something that affords boundless opportunity to experiment with a gloriously crappy piece of plastic.

Technically, Holgas are incredibly simple. A fixed 60mm focal length, Zone focusing where you adjust focus ring symbols to match your estimated subject distance. Two apertures, f8 & f11, these are approximations as loose manufacturing tolerances mean every camera is ‘unique’.

Aside from Polaroid and Instax film cameras, the fundamental difference between digital and film photography is the point at which you get to see the image you’ve created. I’ve come to more appreciate something I read a while back:

The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting.~Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)

Having a material span of time between taking an image and being able to review it is something I’ve found strangely pleasing about film photography. The anticipation of having to wait and see whether you’ve created a masterpiece or a disaster can be delightful.

Whilst modern digital cameras are jam packed with a wealth of functions and incredible features, those things can act as a barrier to image creation. Having a multitude of control buttons, switches, wheels and menu options is not conducive to utilising your mental capacity on the most important photography fundamentals; seeing and composing.

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Fifteen years ago, technical perfection and faithful reproduction of a scene set out before me were photography goals. Today, images eliciting an emotional response combined with a visual aesthetic I find pleasing are my goals.

The simplicity of film cameras such as HOLGA’s helps me achieve that. In the absence of an ultra-sharp lens and the latest sensor to resolve detail, they require a greater clarity of thought and the pinpointing of strong graphic forms to make the most of their idiosyncrasies.
The simplicity of film cameras such as HOLGA’s helps me achieve that. In the absence of an ultra-sharp lens and the latest sensor to resolve detail, they require a greater clarity of thought and the pinpointing of strong graphic forms to make the most of their idiosyncrasies.

Undoubtedly, it can be a more arduous journey to arrive at results you’re happy with and I’ve made countless mistakes along the way. But, the personal satisfaction and sense of reward that I get from producing an image through the medium of film is exponentially greater than that of digital.

In the past few years since returning to film, I feel I’ve learnt more about photography than I had in the fifteen years prior. That said, I’m still on an apprenticeship with film cameras and have reconciled myself to the prospect of never truly mastering them. It’s a vocation and a learning journey without an end destination but I’m ok with that, my photography mojo is back!

The End of the Road

The island of Surtsey first broke through the Atlantic swell as a result of volcanic eruptions in 1963. The island lies just off Iceland's southwest coast on the mid Atlantic Rift, where two great oceanic plates are ripping apart from each other and forming new land. This barren rock, the newest of landmasses on our planet, was a source of schoolboy wonder for me, and yet looking at the satellite image on Google Maps as I write, you can see the distinctive green of life already starting to form on the volcano’s southern flanks. Significant new life on a bare rock in the middle of the ocean within 50 years. Nature is simply extraordinary in its ability to regenerate when given even the slightest opportunity.

1 Before

In a similar way, our own times have changed at an incredible rate over the last 100 years, heralding immense opportunity. But I still find it hard to imagine just how quickly new incredible become the norm and expected. In a world where it is almost impossible to imagine life without flying, for example, I was recently reminded that the very first passenger flight took to the skies just 104 years ago in 1919, with the first mass produced car, the Curved Dash Oldsmobile, rolling of the production line two years earlier.

As an early proponent, I vividly remember just how the arrival of digital polarised and split the community. But for me, it was just so exciting, both in the field and with respect to post production opportunities.
The National Grid, bringing electricity to everyone’s homes, did not arrive until the 1930s, whilst the NHS was set up in 1948. With respect to photography, I bought my first digital camera, the iconic 10MP Canon 1ds, less than 20 years ago, in 2004. Ridiculed by some at the time, this new technology was soon to change our world.

As an early proponent, I vividly remember just how the arrival of digital polarised and split the community. But for me, it was just so exciting, both in the field and with respect to post production opportunities. Within a year, we were exploring what is now called ICM and other techniques rarely explored with film (though the legendary Freeman Paterson would rightly disagree). The new technology rapidly bought huge opportunities for cost effective creative exploration, opening opportunities to run tuition workshops as digital reformed the photographic world. With cheap air travel this quickly morphed into venue based photographic workshops to ever more romantic locations as clients craved new and exciting places to experience. A favourite venue, not only for us, became what remains one of my most beloved countries, Iceland, and even today the hairs tingle just at the thought. Seas, storms, snow and ice. And culture. And always my childhood romance with Surtsey just off her shores.

Kettle Moraine

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Almost 40 years ago, I moved to Wisconsin and found myself living near the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

It lies in an area of glacial deposits left behind from when the lobes of two ice age glaciers met, shaping its irregular terrain.
I was slow in embracing what was only five kilometres from my home, but eventually, I began exploring and have now accumulated many hours of wandering.

The Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest is a pocket of green surrounded by agricultural land. With 12,150 hectares and a number of trails, the forest provides numerous opportunities to explore. It lies in an area of glacial deposits left behind from when the lobes of two ice age glaciers met, shaping its irregular terrain. It is home to drumlins, kettles, eskers, and some of the best examples of moulin kames in North America which provide an interesting but not spectacular terrain. While it has one of the oldest forests in southern Wisconsin, it is not a pristine wilderness. Nearly half of it was formerly agricultural land, with more having been logged. Parts were reforested with conifer plantations not typical of the area that was dominated by hardwoods pre-European settlement. It continues to be subjected to logging. The arrival of numerous exotic, invasive species has also left its mark, with non-native plant species now being widespread. The emerald ash borer from Asia has killed all of the once abundant ash trees.

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Its unnatural state is what remains of nature in this part of Wisconsin. As a long-term observer of this area, it is easy to notice the changes. At the same time, it is easy to overlook the resilience of the land and its flora. It may be changing, but it still is green with unique terrain, and it was beginning to have a deepening hold on me. I do not want to see this forest as just another example of environmental loss. I still find in this land the ability to be lost in “nature” and also to be lost in oneself.

The things I was noticing about my surroundings inspired me to return to photography. For the last ten years, I have been photographing the area. I started trying to capture the kettle moraine with one photographic slice of the landscape at a time with the hope that the slices would add up to a document of the forest as a whole. My repeat visits to the same areas had me thinking about the work as a series rather than single images. With time, I realised my photographs were not documents. I was selecting views that presented a very personal view of this place. Through the photographs, I was creating my own personalised map of my walks both in space and through time.

Its unnatural state is what remains of nature in this part of Wisconsin. As a long-term observer of this area, it is easy to notice the changes. At the same time, it is easy to overlook the resilience of the land and its flora.

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Even with having spent so much time in this area, it is still possible to see something intriguing around each corner. Knowing that each day it is possible to perceive the same world differently keeps the challenge and reward ongoing for both exploring and for photography. This land is not one of the large vistas. The subjects for photography are subtler and lead to a more reflective approach. The land, flora, and light gives one an ever changing surroundings that one needs to stay enthralled.

End-frame “Forrest Bench” by Lyle Gomes

Photographer, Jonathan Chritchley, put me on the track of Lyle Gomes. This picture is on the cover photograph of the book “Imagining Eden: Connecting Landscapes1. The book contains photographs made over a sixteen-year period from locations in America and Europe. These imaginative places were created as an attempt at recovering a connection with nature lost (Eden).

The special aspect ratio (~2¾ :1) of this picture might be the property of the picture that first catches the eye. After enquiring with Mr. Gomes, he told me this aspect ratio is the way he saw things. I changed the sentence to past tense as his latest work has different aspect ratios. Another portfolio, “Living with the Horizon” displayed the same characteristic. The influence of different aspect ratios on the message a picture gives only became fully clear to me after noting the uncommon aspect ratio of this picture. “Forrest Bench” radiates calmness, a certain serenity if you like. A quality that appeals to me, as getting away from day-to-day hectic and reaching a state of tranquillity is one of the reasons, I take pictures.

As I had seen a comparable theme before, I wondered why this theme is so important in arts. Does it have a particular message it is supposed to convey? If so, what is that message and why does it appeal to me? It triggered my curiosity towards themes in visual language. To find answers to those questions, I looked for examples in photography, painting and film and found out the bench appears in many artists’ works as a theme. Thinking about, it, not immediately having an answer, I remembered it to be present in literary arts as well. The above, the triggering of questions, also gives a partial answer to the question of why this picture is important to me.

Natural Landscape – Volume Two

Creating the first Natural Landscape book was a bit of an epic task. All of the decisions about overall design, font choices, typography etc all had to be made in advance of even starting to populate the book with images. As we then proceeded to add content, lots of ‘snags’ came up around how to get the best flow of content, how to cope with variable length text associated with images etc. I wrote a reasonably long article about creating the first book here, so have a look at this if you want to read more about the origins of the design and structure.

Natural Landscape Book Cover 2

Because we had issues in getting the first book ready in time, this year we decided to print it in the UK and arrange our own shipments across to the US. This did mean that the standard paper size is slightly different but it also meant that we could use a small Heidelberg press which would have the benefit of making the printing more accurate (paper stretches and so if you use larger paper, you get more stretch and hence more registration issues across the full sheet). The downside of this is that we lose of a couple of cm in vertical height of the book.

We asked for feedback on the first book once it was printed and received lots of helpful comments. We were pleased that nobody had a problem with reading even the smallest of the fonts in the book so in our new book we decided we could tighten things up a little bit on the essays and main content (10pt typical font size, 13pt line height). This compensated for the loss in vertical height in many places.

Article Spread

The majority of the book from last year was well received and so we kept the main structure although we decided on three longer essays instead of the four essays in the original book. Was also moved the large photos next to each judges page and replaced them with a compilation of the judges favourites and comments so you can read them all in one location.

Judge Spread

What we were very keen to do this year was to add some extra information about each of the included photographs. Ideally we wanted to include a long caption/short essay on each of the photographs, some information on how it was taken and a profile of each photographers. To include this in the book would almost double the size of it and so we thought we’d create a PDF that would include all of this information which you can open alongside the book either on a laptop or tablet. Although this added a significant amount of extra effort, I think the value it adds to the book is really worth it. I’d love to know your feedback?

Here’s the layout for a typical inclusion which shows the relevant page in the printed book followed by the layouts for the supporting pages in the Extended PDF. I've also created a small PDF with four images included to show the layout of the main book and PDF pages associated with them which you can download here.

Combined Preview Extended

The decision on which photograph to include for the front cover was fairly easy (once we’d restricted it by aspect ratio). Mieke Boynton’s aerial abstract was just so evocative!

Printing the book in the UK meant we were able to spend time on press and we were happy to see that the images coming off the press were very close indeed to the inkjet proofs (Thanks to Johnson's of Nantwich who let me stay with them on press for the whole three days of printing!). We had to play around with a few of the images because of the limits of the CMYK press, but overall I think we’ve got a good handle on how the printing works and it was very reassuring to see the pages coming off just as you would expect. My only caveat for anybody working on press is that images do shift in colour slightly when they’re drying down. I noticed more separation between magentas and blues in the wet prints as they came off press which often exaggerated digital noise/compression in these areas.

Once the final sheets came off press, all we had to do was to wait until they were bound and to mail them out. If anybody is interested in an article about the vagaries of posting out books (and other materials) worldwide - we definitely have enough experience to write something now!! If you're creating a book, don't underestimate this task and try to plan in advance!!

I’m exceptionally proud of the two books we’ve produced so far and if anybody is interested in buying a copy, you can use a coupon code of ONLAND15 for a 15% discount on these, and also on entering the competition if you’re interested. Click here for the purchase page. Also, if you enter the competition this year, you can buy a 50% off coupon for $20/£16 which can be redeemed against Volume One and Volume Two books and also against Volume Three once it is available in January 2024 (potentially saving over $100/£80).

Vol1 And Vol2

Due to many requests, the books are also now available as PDFs for $20/£16.

I personally always wanted a high-quality compilation book representing the zeitgeist of landscape photography and I think we’ve come pretty close to achieving this. I honestly think that the Natural Landscape book is one of, if not the key features of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards.

If you have a copy of either book, I’d love to know what you think about them.

Shanda Akin – Portrait of a Photographer

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I recently had a conversation with a fellow photographer about the influences on our images and how it seems like some of these influences are conscious, but surprisingly, many more are unconscious. Clearly, the paths we consciously choose to take throughout our lives have a significant impact on the direction of our photography and what motivates us to create artwork. What’s perhaps more interesting, though, is how our unconscious selves and our history as human beings play a huge role in shaping what interests us as photographers. These things may include our upbringing, our friendships, our failed or successful relationships, where we’ve travelled, where we’ve lived, and what we find interesting in the world. After all, it was Minor White who coined the phrase, “All photographs are self-portraits.” As such, I would like to take the opportunity to apply this idea to the subject of today’s article, a photographer I’ve grown to admire here in my hometown of Durango, Colorado – Shanda Akin.

Justin Pumfrey

We’ve interviewed a couple of people before who photograph at night (Alex Bamford and Jasper Goodall), and this was my prompt to approach Justin, but there is illumination here too. It can be a privilege to open an avenue of enquiry into a photographer’s practice, and Justin tells me it’s the first time he’s put it into words. He has had a distinguished career as a portrait and lifestyle photographer, and there are insights into that, but it’s the way that he writes about his personal photography that is most absorbing. So make a cuppa and settle down; Justin has put a lot into this, and I think you will find plenty to take away.

Justin Pumfrey Gps21

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to do?

I grew up in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. My family had been part of the town’s history in that they had set up industries that had seen the town thrive in the 19th and 20th Centuries. We were big fish in a small pond, silver spooners. At 8 I was dispatched to a boys' Catholic boarding school. Single-sex boarding schools are weird institutions - on the surface everything seems normal and proper and well-regulated - and the private life of the school, which was very Lord of the Flies? Mayhem. It was cold, it was harsh, and at times quite terrifying for a little one and it was home for 8 months of the year. Its saving grace was that it was surrounded by magnificent nature everywhere you looked, situated on the moors in the Vale of Pickering, in North Yorkshire. Waking up to snow on the dormitory floors that blew in through the obligatorily open windows “toughened me up”. Fortunately, I was able bodied, so I survived; I could hurl cricket balls, run like hell on the rugger pitch and across fields and fight my way out of any argument. The head described me as an inky little boy. I was a bit odd too, while the other boys bounced around to T Rex’s Metal Guru, I craved only Beethoven sonatas.

Seeds of Change

I have often wondered about the miracles of a seed - how can such a tiny speck grow into the most incredible flora, from a small daisy all the way up to a giant tree?

Hello, my name is Clare Newton. I am a photographic artist from East London. I create long-term projects in which I can totally immerse myself in the subject, and meet incredible specialists, scientists, and people connected to the subject I want to research. I enjoy spending time with them, learning about what they do, and then photographing and recording their scenarios, from which I can make a visual story from.

This project about seeds came from my quizzical enjoyment of nature. Each year I spend time camping on my own in my ‘hermitage’. A small 18th century Granary stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing but 13 amps of power and freshwater... that’s it! The experience totally immerses me in nature - making me become aware of my senses again; - smell, touch, light, shadows, patterns and fragility.

Grassbugleclarenewton

Living in the city, everything becomes dumbed down - the smell is so awful I have to stop using my senses. It is tragic, but it affects the way I think creatively too. I long to go on holiday, but the lack of employment prevents me, so I have to keep functioning and pushing my talents and abilities to perform at their absolute best. Then I do my utmost to make something happen so the work can be put to good use and benefit a great many people.

I am not from a horticultural background, but I love being in nature and discovering new subjects to learn about things that aren’t connected to my everyday life, then finding ways to share what I have learnt with the public. Many years ago, I was a volunteer for a special needs school. I found they had very few opportunities to get out and experience non-curriculum subjects. Since then, I have made it my ambition to reach out to people from all walks of life and bring something they may not know about.

A few years back, while camping at my annual artist’s hermitage in South England, I became fascinated by the thistle, its beautiful canopy that burst open and released a flight of seeds.

What’s so special about seeds?

A few years back, while camping at my annual artist’s hermitage in South England, I became fascinated by the thistle, its beautiful canopy that burst open and released a flight of seeds. How this prickly plant, so despised, still manages to survive the onslaught of a gardener's poison, a farmer’s weed control and other forms of destruction (what is so sad to find out is that this plant, above all others, is essential to the survival of bees and critical pollinators).

Inspired by this thought, I started collecting some thistle seeds and watched how they would capture the tiniest amount of airflow to lift them up and away to their next destination. This led me to become aware of how similar the dandelion is. Paying closer attention, I found that many flowers appeared to look the same but actually had a range of differences which I could photograph. I questioned myself, not knowing that both plants were, in fact, from the same greater family of Asteraceaes. What surprised me the most was when I discovered a decorative artichoke planted in a cathedral’s garden was closely related to the thistle. It never occurred to me that it was, in fact, the edible plant we see in greengrocers that is a giant thistle. It has the same overlapping fish scale patterns, a bright tuft of purple petals on top, and, when ripe, will release a flurry of furry seeds, each catching a breath of air to spread this happy family of plants.

Thistle Landscape Clare Newton

I think there are so many aspects we take for granted and don’t pay much attention to and thus lose our natural ability to see or question the little things in life that sit right under our noses or in photographer’s speaking... lenses.

Once back to civilisation, I started researching these two plants and came across an interesting piece of research by Edinburgh University. They, too, were interested in the flight of seeds and for their next project, they looked at pappus producing plants and testing their flight ability in order to find the most efficient flyers of all the pappus-based seeds and that being the dandelion.

Most pappus-based seeds have a round fluffy canopy with the seed tightly attached to the hair. The dandelion is sparing with its pappus as it only has a flat canopy with a long pendulum tail with the seed attached to that instead. It is remarkable, this provides stability in a variety of different wind strengths. The pendulum enables the canopy to stay at the top with the weight adjusting for direction and upward drawing effect. According to the initial research by a team based at Edinburgh University, Professor Viola found the dandelion's seed could fly four times more efficiently than a human-made parachute.

Just like science, photography, too, has to undergo a certain amount of experimentation. There is something magical with the light on pappus based seeds, but trying to capture something the eye sees and comprehends is a different matter.

Old Mans Beard Hedgeclarenewton

Just like science, photography, too, has to undergo a certain amount of experimentation. There is something magical with the light on pappus based seeds, but trying to capture something the eye sees and comprehends is a different matter. I mix the techniques of camerawork up to suit a situation sometimes, I crossover techniques I use in the studio, out in the field. The best light source in the world is bright sunshine. I really don’t get why so many photographers seem to curse it for its stark light and harsh shadows. I just move around a subject to avoid it! What to me is so logical is that DSLR’s are programmed to work at their best using direct sunlight - all the colours and sharpness happen when the camera has everything it needs to make an intense rendering. The sun is beautiful to work with, but my!

One does have to pay attention to time - as, unlike a studio set up, where light is fixed, the sun lengthens and changes its K (kelvin colour temperature) rating - plus the added drawback is the inconsistent cloud cover, darting all over the place. The trick is not to see these factors as problems but work harmoniously with them in order to find the magic in making the image. It is all there - it is just a matter of tuning into the relationship between your camera and the environment.

From Biblical beginnings

I became fascinated with the story of how a 2,000-year-old date was discovered and miraculously germinated. I wanted to see if it was possible to find a fossilised seed without traipsing across an unknown desert or paying exorbitant amounts for something I didn’t really want to keep for long. To my amazement, I found I could purchase one for under a tenner. Okay, it might not be very big - but I was sure it would serve my purpose for this project.

Twigs Blossomclare Newton

What arrived in the post was a perfectly formed Horsetail Seed Pod (Equicalastrobus), from Morocco which dates to around 56 million years old. This idea took me on a new journey. I questioned: Is it possible for this seed to have any living descendants?

Apparently, yes! Although not at such a giant scale as the fossil - Horsetail (Equisetum arvense), often called mare's tail, does exist. But it comes with a great big warning sign when purchasing it for a garden. “garden public enemy number one. It looks like it belongs in Jurassic Park and if left unchecked, it will spread like wildfire. It produces spores, spreads from the roots, and even small pieces of root will grow into plants”, says Allotment Gardener. At this point, I backed down from my enterprising and inquisitive photographer’s hunger to take home to photograph. This became an interesting concept for me, as it is living proof of a plant’s success in adaptation to changing environments and, astonishingly, over millenniums.

On a previous visit to Manchester, I remembered there was a beautiful and comprehensive museum of nature. I called them up and asked if they could help me find out more about my fossil seed. I had a fascinating tour of the museum’s collection. Seeing first hand an old Herbarium which contains nearly a million species of plant and fungus from around the world and mainly collected by Victorian enthusiasts.

I have never before had an opportunity to see such a private collection not open to the public. With each room, I made a mental note of items I would like to photograph. In the furthest room lay a small box with narrow drawers. Inside were presented row upon row of microscope slides.

My Fossil seed is a Horsetail Seed Pod Fossil (Equicalastrobus) from Morocco, dated approx 56 million years old. I searched the index boxes and located a similar set containing variations of the Horsetail; Horsetail plant (Equisetum Arvense) or in English: Horse Tail, Horse Willow.

Each with a carefully preserved seed or slice of a seed. Each slide is decorated with gold embossed letters and patterns with a central window - an enamel ring framing the cover slip pressing its specimen to the flat glass base. At the end of each slide is a tiny label with copper plate writing, detailing the specimen’s Latin title.

My Fossil seed is a Horsetail Seed Pod Fossil (Equicalastrobus) from Morocco, dated approx 56 million years old. I searched the index boxes and located a similar set containing variations of the Horsetail; Horsetail plant (Equisetum Arvense) or in English: Horse Tail, Horse Willow. Further on my journey, I found that Britain has a rare living version of my fossil which is found in South Wales.

You can see what happens when research and ferreting around, so to speak, leads from one aspect to another. It just requires an open mind, full of questions, then to take those questions and make some interesting visual answers, in order to build on a story that can be shared.

I love how the camera and a passion take me on so many unexpected journeys, I just hate it when it all has to come to an end and I then need to get a little bit commercial so I can keep doing what I’m good at.

Seeds of Change Exhibition

Seed of Change covers six alternative areas of research connected to seeds. Each tells a story through a narrative of pictures and words. From small beginnings, the aim was for the display to grow and include some film footage and recorded interviews with many of the scientists.

The artist-photographer Clare Newton brings these stories to life with the art of photography in a new exhibition held at:

Gilbert White's House & Gardens
Opening Date: 06 Jun 23 until 28 Aug 23
The Wakes, High Street, Selborne, Hants GU34 3JH
Open daily, Tuesday to Sunday, 10:30am to 4:30pm

RHS Wisley - Talk on 11th July 2pm,  Hilltop Live series of free talks, demonstrations and interactive sessions at RHS Garden Wisley, GU23 6QB.

This project is just coming live, the artist would like to make contact with venues who would love to exhibit the project.

Landscape Trauma

Contrary to a great deal of popular landscape photography, where the landscape is often portrayed as a pristine and wild land, contemporary landscape photography takes an alternate view and rarely portrays the landscape in this way. The subjects of contemporary landscape photography tend to err on the effects of our custodian role in the landscape, often showing how we, the landscape suffers because of this.

Simon Norfolk's work has represented the effects of war, genocide and climate change and the curators of the 'Landscape Trauma' exhibition have used his approach as a keystone to collect together a range of different artists, from John Blakemore, Faye Godwin and John Davies to Paul Hart, Mitra Tabrizian and Paul Seawright. The collection covers a lot of ground thematically and is a fantastic opportunity to see a range of alternative approaches to landscape representation.

Ingrid Pollard, Quondam One That Once Had, But No Longer, 2001 © Ingrid Pollard

Quondam One That Once Had, But No Longer, 2001 © Ingrid Pollard


Tell us a bit about the project 'Landscape Trauma’ and its underlying premise. The concept seems to encompass all landscapes apart from true wilderness photography.

We wanted to explore the ways that we impact the land, the idea that very few landscapes are untouched by a human presence. As we worked on the show, we started to focus on the landscape as the site of historical events, so the title suggests both the trauma undergone by the landscape but also the sites of traumatic events in human history.

How did you choose the photographers involved?

Our mission is to celebrate diversity both in the range of photographic practice and also in the photographers that we present. Landscape often seems like a particularly male phenomenon, and the countryside, historically, can be seen as a site of privilege tied to aristocratic land ownership, so we were keen to address this legacy by platforming a range of contemporary voices.

“... coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Simon Norfolk’s seminal book, For Most of It I Have No Words (1998).” Was Simon’s work a focal point for the exhibition? Did you consider bringing more of Simon’s work into the exhibition?

Simon’s book is a really important one for me. I’m especially interested in his landscapes in which there appears to be no trace of history at all. If we didn’t read the captions, we wouldn’t know why he had selected the location. So his book was a conceptual starting point for the show rather than its focus in the gallery space.

Old Bedford River (2019) From The Series Reclaimed © Paul Hart

Paul Hart, Old Bedford River (2019) From The Series Reclaimed © Paul Hart

When you were curating the project, did you have a particular story or narrative that you wanted the viewer to take away?

We divided the show into two aspects, one dealing with history and the other with our contemporary relationship with the land. So, for example, we include a major work by Victor Burgin that addresses the Holocaust but also a very recent work by Mitra Tabrizian that wittily responds to the Covid-19 pandemic.

How did the project evolve? Did you have to refine the vision of what you wanted to achieve?

We made the major decision to hang all three floors on themes around the landscape and the environment and decided to stage six simultaneous shows that would reflect the importance we attach to these issues. We are excited, for example, to also be presenting Mandy Barker’s remarkable installation, Plastic Soup. They are visually spectacular works that look at marine plastics and their effect on nature.

Paul Hill Mobile Objects Series (forage Harvester), 1981

Paul Hill, Mobile Objects Series (Forage Harvester), 1981

The Centre for British Photography opened earlier this year, can you tell us how the launch and previous exhibitions have been received and let us know about future exhibitions?

The response from visitors and the press has been amazing. I can’t believe how busy we have been. We’ve had over 100 pre-booked group visits, and over 1000 people entered our open call.  We’ve certainly demonstrated that there is a huge, enthusiastic audience for a Centre that focuses on British-based photographers. We’re now working on our autumn programme, which will focus on community projects.

Exhibition Details

The Centre for British Photography will focus on innovative photographic approaches to landscape and the environment in its SIX new exhibitions and displays opening this June. From a lightbox composite work of Helen Sear to an immersive exhibition of photographs by Mandy Barker, the Centre will encourage visitors to reconsider the world around them and our impact on the landscape.

The exhibition runs from 8th June - 24th September 2023 at The Centre for British Photography.

Address: Centre for British Photography, 49 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6LX

Exploring New Islands

Artificial islands are sprouting from many seas at a speed and on a scale never seen before. I spent two years exploring these extraordinary landscapes (The Age of Islands, published in the USA as Elsewhere). I wanted to capture their oddity and vision as well as the dusty, half-finished reality. Whether it is the dozens of islands massing off the Chinese mainland or the growing fleet that provide iconic offshore skylines in the Gulf States, they are monuments to both creativity and hubris.

New islands are flat, usually busy with construction, and they are often hard to get to. They throw up many challenges. All I know for sure were the clichés I wanted to avoid. Most new build islands have a lot of publicity, nearly always involving futuristic computer simulations and swooping drone footage. A bird’s eye view can capture their jewel like quality. But these distant images lack intimacy and have the torpid blandness that clings to all promotional bling. Maps can provide a more creative way to achieve a panoptic perspective. There are good reasons why maps enliven the pages of so many adventure stories. Labels like ‘cave’, ‘treasure’ and ‘secret base’ are impossible to resist and point to the fun and drama of off-kilter landscapes. I created home-spun, hand drawn maps of the islands I visited, like this one of Ocean Reef, the super exclusive islands that offer security and tranquillity to their rich residents a mere 30 seconds drive from Panama City.

I created home-spun, hand drawn maps of the islands I visited, like this one of Ocean Reef, the super exclusive islands that offer security and tranquillity to their rich residents a mere 30 seconds drive from Panama City.

Image 1

The Age of Islands uses mixed methods - maps, interviews, narratives, as well as photographs - to give the feel of these unique sites. Since many of my Chinese examples are found in the waters below coastal mountains, I spent hours trudging upwards with the hope of seeing islands in their widest possible setting. The best views of the huge and still-growing island that accommodates Hong Kong International Airport are from the glass-bottomed cable cars that trundle tourists up a local peak.

A Letter from America

Build Up

I had been undecided about where I should take my photography in the autumn of 2022. I contemplated a workshop revisiting the amazing Italian Dolomites or, alternatively, a road trip through Montana and North Dakota exploring the ghost towns and abandoned farms there. After much deliberation, in the end, I chose the road trip as it promised to be different from anything I had done before.

In the immediate run-up to the trip, the omens were not especially good. I had been ill with some form of viral illness (definitely not Covid!) in the ten days prior to the trip. I had felt so ill at one point that I seriously contemplated cancelling the whole thing.

The Journey

I started my journey exhausted. I strained my back at the airport and spent the entirety of my two outbound flights sitting bolt upright, terrified of triggering a severe episode of spasm that would spell utter disaster for the trip. I began to wonder if I’d made a terrible decision. I began to envision dull, overcast weather; endless featureless plains stretching into the far distance; and cold winds. I resolved to dig deep to rescue something from this total fiasco.

I landed in Billings at about 10pm local time - 23 hours after I’d started my journey. I was met at the motel with a friendly receptionist who had worked out who I was before I could say my name. Moments later, I was presented with a cold can of beer by my friends - JOY!!

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Meet Up

A good night’s sleep transformed my outlook. I met some of the group I was due to travel with at breakfast the next morning. Four of us spent a few hours exploring downtown Billings, walking around near the train tracks that bisect the town, and investigating the local industrial sites, railway yards etc. That evening the whole group met up for introductions and headed out for supper. Whilst we were eating, it started to snow…..

Weather #1

When I had checked weather websites before the trip, I read that a temperature of +5degC was typical for that time of year. I was passed a warning that it might be as cold as -5degC just before I left the UK. In the end, it got as cold as -25degC during my visit, so I was immensely glad I had packed plenty of layers.

That cold snap (earlier than usual) brought a dramatic change to the landscape. We awoke to find a few inches of snow on the ground. It stayed well below zero for the next 10 days, so almost none of it melted during our tour. Definite serendipity!

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Geography and History

The High Plains stretch from Colorado and Nebraska all the way up through Eastern Montana and the Dakotas into Canada. The area had very little, mainly indigenous population, before the 1880s. A combination of new laws and the desire of the railroads to form east-west routes here led to land grants being made to encourage immigration from the 1880s. Much of the land was practically given away, but the route of the railways and, therefore, the land granted was not always good land. Much of it was suitable for low intensity ranching of cattle and no more.

The railways were keen to establish communities to support and service the rail network, so encouraged the setting up of small communities at fairly regular distance intervals along the planned routes. Immigrants from impoverished European countries, as well as east coast city dwellers, were tempted to re-settle in these newly opened-up lands. The politicians and railway companies were well aware that much of the land was not that suitable for farming.

This huge open, almost treeless region can be prone to extremes of weather. The rainfall in parts of the plains is very low, the winds can be intense. There are huge ranges of temperature between the intensely cold winters and the parched hot summers. Summers can bring intense storms that ruin crops.

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Ploughing the land destroyed the indigenous deep-rooted buffalo prairie grass that had been holding the soil together. The exposed broken-down soil was vulnerable to the intermittent intense winds that simply blew away the topsoil. As the damaging farming practices persisted, the land began to fail. Low rainfall years compounded the dust-bowl problem.

More and more farms went bankrupt, and families had to give up and move away, often at very short notice. No one wanted to buy up failed farms, so the population began to decline. The remaining farms slowly moved towards mechanisation, which needed far fewer workers. This steep population decline was as fast as 25% in a single decade, with the period from the 1930s to the 1970s being the worst.

Additionally, new interstate roads bypassed the little towns that were built along the railway and highways. Smaller railway branch lines closed down. The less efficient elements of farming infrastructure, such as the smaller grain elevators, lost out to bigger, more modern ones. This killed off commercial activity, too and accelerated the decline.

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Trip and Landscape

We set out from Billings in our rental 4x4 SUVs, and for the next nine days, we drove snow-covered roads for about 1,700 miles in a great clockwise loop; up North and West through Montana, then East, skirting close to the Canadian border and into northern North Dakota, before looping back South and then West to Billings in Montana for our flights home.

Instead of the featureless plains I had feared, what I got was an endless Narnia-like winter wonderland of snow-covered, frozen plains, small stands of cottonwood trees encrusted in perfect hoar-frost, winding little creeks and rivers, sunlight glowing through woodland and more. The snow and frost clung to everything - even the finest blades of grass, every fence post and length of wire.

The landscape was, in times and places, close to monochrome with only subtle coloured tones. On the brighter days, the lines of wheat stubble in the huge prairie fields glowed gold in the sunlight in flowing stripes and waves dotted with occasional little lines of distant grain silos.

Visibility varied from many miles to just a few hundred yards. It snowed at times - light blowing fine snowflakes. It maintained the stunningly beautiful snowy coating on the fine branches and twigs of trees and on the wild grasses.

The landscape was generally fairly flat with slow undulations. The roads were mainly straight, as is typical in the USA. Between the small communities on the highways, the landscape was largely empty. We would pass derelict barns and other farm buildings. Some settlements had almost no signs of current inhabitation. Their most prominent features were the tall shapes of out-of-use grain elevators set next to the old railway tracks that used to service them.

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On the bigger roads, we would see amazingly long trains slowly moving along the tracks that often ran close to the highways.

Abandoned farm buildings would often have a number of rusting, abandoned tractors, harvesters, pickup trucks, lorries and cars nearby. These vehicles were sometimes lined up. Some were intact, others missing sections of bodywork. I was not infrequent to see bullet holes in the windows of old vehicles - from locals doing a little target practice.

Many domestic buildings were in a very bad state of repair. Large numbers were gone entirely or just a pile of wood. Settlers to the region placed great importance on education and religion. They took pride in their community and public buildings. Schoolhouses, as well as churches, were typically better built that their houses. For this reason, these buildings were often the last structures left standing after decades of onslaught from the intense heat of summers, the weight of snow in winter and the high winds scouring the plains throughout the year. Twice we arrived at the known location of an old church only to find a pile of wood.

Settlers planted cottonwood trees as barriers to protect their properties from the high winds. With snow on the ground, the little groups or lines of cottonwood trees were often the only indication people had once lived there.

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Access and locals

The majority of the scenes we photographed were taken from public land. Property privacy and trespass are taken very seriously in the USA. We were careful never to climb fences and never walk on land that wasn’t freely open or showing ‘no trespass’ signs.

Local people would stop and ask us what we were doing, but this was always in a friendly inquisitive way rather than challenging us. We had long, fascinating conversations with many of them and learned a lot about their local communities and the changes and challenges they had experienced in recent times.

We had arrived right at the peak of hunting season. Many locals would have their hunting rifles right beside them in their trucks. Groups of people wore camouflage jackets and trousers but sported bright orange safety hunting caps.

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My experience

It was a humbling experience witnessing the scenes of abandoned farms and houses. Each derelict, weathered building formed a silent testament to someone’s personal tragedy. A lot of houses were unlocked, with doors open. The interiors still had furniture, old-style fridges and washing machines. I found wardrobes full of clothes. Kitchen cupboards were full of crockery, utensils, cans of food etc. There were books and newspapers, children's toys, board games, and tools. Ceilings had come down in most properties, exposing old lath. Birds had made nests in many rooms.

Everywhere there was silence. I couldn’t help thinking of the echoing noise of children playing when I came across a pair of girl's roller skates. People had worked, eaten, slept, and dreamt here. They have lived and loved here, but it had all ended in failure, broken dreams, and bankruptcy. Humbling, perhaps, isn’t a strong enough word for the feeling of melancholy, abandonment, desolation and loss. The derelict, empty schoolhouses were a particularly strong reminder of just how many families were part of these lost communities.

As a Scotsman, my mind turns to the highland clearances and the abandoned settlements of the West Coast and the Hebrides. There is a persisting sadness in the broken remains of the crofts and enclosures in Wester Ross and Sutherland.

The silence was only broken by the sound of the wind, blowing in arctic air and by the occasional whistle of a train in the far distance.

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Weather #2

The cold was bitter at times. Wind chill added to the feeling. My eyes stung. A strong memory is of my nose burning in the icy, dry air. It even started to bleed a little bit. When the cold gets to your feet, it takes hold. Getting your feet warm again to make the intense pain better takes remarkably long. I was glad to have my brilliant windproof Keela jacket and salopettes, fleece lined trousers and double gloves.

The cold weather was consistent and persistent. Some days had mainly blue skies - the hoar frost sparkled in the direct light. Other days were so overcast that the white of the sky merged seamlessly with the snowy ground. There was always a sense of the wide open spaces, even when the visibility was poor - the landscape was like a blank canvas.

Making images

I started off like a good landscape photographer does - carefully setting up each shot, using my tripod, using mirror-lockup etc. It was too cold for all of that. The temperature was so low that the lens collar on my zoom became loose, and all the tripod leg and head joints either got stuck or became loose. After a day of so, I gave up and shot hand-held! This meant that I tended to take more shots (both for insurance because of the camera shake and because the process of composition was freed-up so much).

From seemingly inauspicious beginnings, I ended up having one of the most brilliant experiences of my lifetime. As road trips go, this will be very hard to beat!

End frame: Between Dog and Wolf by Chrystel Lebas

Choosing a single image for an end frame article has been an interesting process. I have been going back through a lifetime of images in my mind and in photobooks, thinking about pictures that have stayed with me over many years.

In the early days when I was first studying photography, my exploration of what has and could be done with the medium really caught fire. Looking back, I realize those early obsessions had a profound and formative influence on my own image making, although I wasn’t necessarily aware of it at the time.

One exhibition that particularly stands out was Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour at the V & A in London in 2006.

Twilight

Image credit: www.dandad.org

This exhibition, co-curated by Martin Barnes, drew together a number of established and emerging photographers, all working at dusk. The artists included Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Gregory Crewdson, Robert Adams and Bill Henson, as well as emerging talents Chrystel Lebas and Liang Yue. There was also a specially commissioned film installation by Ori Gersht.

The immersive staging of the exhibition lead the viewer into a dreamlike world. The walls were hung with sheer white fabric, which diffused the soft mauve and pink lighting, bathing everything in the atmosphere and stillness of twilight. This set the stage for a visual and psychological exploration of the effects of twilight. The large scale photographs suspended in front of these diaphanous wall coverings seemed to glow in the ethereal light that can only be found at dusk when the world shimmers for just a few minutes with the last traces of the setting sun; rich reds and oranges fade into purples and inky blues.

The image I have chosen for End Frame is from Chrystel Lebas’ snowy landscapes series Between Dog and Wolf, named Untitled 10, although my thoughts really refer to her series as a whole. The bleak wide-format landscape image shows a snow covered forest in the flat cold light of a winter afternoon. The title Between Dog and Wolf refers to the French expression entre chien et loup, which is used to describe the time of day when it is too dark to distinguish between a dog and a wolf. The blues of dusk cast a deep cold across the images so that it seems to seep into your bones. This is a landscape devoid of people, silent, hushed and completely still in the moment between day and night when shadows soften, the palette slowly desaturates, and the imagination takes flight.

Betweendogandwolf10 2005

The images are striking in their lightness of hand, allowing the viewer to project themselves into the scene, feeling the chill and the isolation as narratives form in the mind. All observers of photography bring their own experience to the viewing process, and these images leave space for multiple interpretations, but the titling gently nudges our imaginings.

The title Between Dog and Wolf refers to the French expression entre chien et loup, which is used to describe the time of day when it is too dark to distinguish between a dog and a wolf. 
This is a moment of transformation - it is as if humans may never have existed, and time stands still.

Whenever I view these images, the feelings return to me just the same. Moments of quiet and isolation can be rare in our busy lives, but these images bring a clarity and calm that I usually find only out in nature - they are transportive, and I feel I am about to begin a long solitary walk into the silent magic hour.

At the heart of the series is Lebas' skill as a photographer and her ability to capture the subtle nuances of light and shade, texture and tone, that give each image its unique character and emotional resonance. The result is a body of work that is both visually stunning and emotionally affecting, a meditation on the transience of time and the power of the natural world to alter our perceptions of reality.


Ellie has just released her newest series, Chalk Streams. The series highlights the threats facing ecologically rare and precious chalk Streams, 85% of which are found in the south of the UK. These rare and delicate ecosystems are under threat from numerous stressors, including climate change, pollution from sewage overspill and farmland runoff, water abstraction, and the practice of stocking rivers with trout for sport fishing.

In this series, light reflected from the surface of the nearby sea is overlaid onto river landscapes, creating a sparkling ingress. This beguiling glimmer snakes its way upstream, but the peaceful waters and arcadian setting bely a darker narrative. The transposed light symbolises the coming consequences of climate change, water abstraction, pollution and rising sea levels as they insidiously impose themselves on these pristine landscapes. The series highlights the grave perils facing these important ecosystems and the critical need to protect them from the pressures humanity is placing upon them.'

4×4 Portfolios

Welcome to our 4x4 feature, which is a set of four mini landscape photography portfolios which has been submitted for publishing. Each portfolio consists of four images related in some way.

Submit Your 4x4 Portfolio

Interested in submitting your work? We are always keen to get submissions, so please do get in touch!


Ian Meades

Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

Olympus Digital Camera


Katherine Keates

Highgate Revelation

Give Me Peace


Maurizio Catania

Untiltled

Maurizio Catania 4x4


Steve J. Giardini

Welcome Transition

Layered Terrain 22248nwnd850c

Welcome Transition

Layered Terrain 22248nwnd850c

The John Day National Monument, Painted Hills Unit is near Mitchell, Oregon, USA. One glance at the landscape conjures millennia of extreme geologic changes. Experts tell us a once tropical climate was followed by a volcanic period during the Eocene and Oligocene epoch.

Hot, wet and cool, dry weather extremes produced layers of volcanic red ash, mudstone, siltstone, shale and lignite. Chemical elements in the soil including aluminum, iron, magnesium, titanium, and others mixed and oxidized. The colorful mounds we see today is the result of this slow 50 million year geologic transition.

Ironically it was during an outing to the Painted Hills that I began a photographic transition. Unfulfilled with capturing objective, representational images, I began to explore other approaches. Influenced and inspired by the work and prose of creative role models like Guy Tal, Bruce Barnbaum, and the cadre of other expressive photographers, I reexamined my personal motivation and ambition.

The photographs in this folio represent transition first steps. They represent a new mindset, a new creative intent. The transition has begun. I don’t expect the transition to be quick or easy. I am only hoping it won’t take a millennium!

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Progressive Mounds 22119nwnd850cPainted Snow Melt 22117nwnd850c

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Untitled

Maurizio Catania 4x4

Top Left: The Trabucco is an ancient fishing machine typical of the Italian coasts used for collecting fish through nets.

Top Right: The windmills of the Saline di Trapani were used for the extraction of sea salt in large tanks filled with seawater.

Bottom Right: The Porto Canale di Cervia is located in the Adriatic Riviera Romagnola, is considered one of the most beautiful cities of the Riviera and is known as the city of fishermen.

Bottom left: The Pepoli Castle of the medieval city of Erice in the province of Trapani (Sicily) is also known as Torretta (small tower) Pepoli a not very ancient structure dating back to 1.850 belonging to Count Agostino Pepoli, hence the name Torretta Pepoli.

5 Trabucco

2 Mulino Di Trapani

3 Castello Pepoli

4 Cervia Seaport

Highgate Revelation

Give Me Peace

When exploring the urban landscape, one can sometimes stumble upon a treasure trove of possibilities. It was a happy accident when the apartment I rented for a brief stay in London with another photographer friend just happened to be a stone’s throw from the famous Highgate Cemetery.

Notable for its illustrious ‘inhabitants’, this sprawling but crowded cemetery was once considered London’s creepiest cemetery. However, it is also a lush and somewhat untamed nature reserve. Crawling with vines and brambles, the ancient tombs, expressive statuary, and tilting lichen covered headstones seem to reach through nature’s tangled web in search of the light of day. It simply begged exploration.

Electing to give myself a very special assignment before I left home, I bravely committed to taking one camera on this trip to London, and one fixed 25mm lens (equivalent to 50mm full frame] leaving all other equipment in Toronto. Additionally, I chose the strict criteria of setting my camera to square format and monochrome and not changing it. Little did I know how profoundly important this self-assignment would become.

Forced to photograph with strict, self-imposed limitations, I was nudged into finding perspectives I never would have considered. As I slowed myself down, I let my curiosity control my creativity. It became far more physical to move around the vegetation and statuary in search of a composition and to position myself exactly where I needed to be. It took time and grounded thought to carefully compose, absorb the bizarre ambience, decipher the faint and weathered epitaphs, and feel the mood of the moment. With this new approach, I unexpectedly connected quite intimately with my subjects and developed a deep, surprisingly powerful relationship with them. I still reflect back on the collection of images from this project as denoting a critical turning point for me in ‘seeing’.

I am a staunch believer in projects. This particular one took my photographic experiences to new personal heights and depths, which carried itself throughout the entire trip. First, I was able to travel overseas with a simple and single carry on bag which allowed me to relax emotionally and physically into the travel. But more important, by not packing more than one lens and one body plus committing to a monochrome setting from the very start, I honed my practice down to the bare essentials and successfully crossed the hurdle of needing every piece of equipment in my bag. I was totally freed from decision-making stress and the burden of cumbersome equipment. This allowed me to work my craft with what I had, physically and metaphorically, with no regrets.

I don't always photograph this way but the valuable lessons it taught me cannot be learned in any workshop or seminar. I challenge everyone who is hopelessly hooked on their gear, to simply ‘let it go’. And, if you take the challenge, I would love to hear about it.

Give Me Peace

Just Resting

Lament

Seeking Salvation

 

Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

Olympus Digital Camera

Much of the boundary between the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon is defined by the Columbia River on the final leg of its epic 1,200 mile journey from the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. It cleaves a deep gorge for 80 miles east-west through the Cascade Mountain Range, aided in the past by cataclysmic Ice Age floods that left impressive basalt cliffs towering thousands of feet above the river. It makes for an inspiring road trip to drive one of the highways that run along either side of the river: They traverse a diverse range of ecosystems, from a near-desert environment of grasslands on the rain-shadowed east side of the Cascades, to temperate rainforest on the west side. Incised back from the main gorge are numerous side canyons, and these host the hundreds of waterfalls that the gorge is renowned for. Spring and summer months see tourists flock to the region to view the more spectacular falls that are fueled by snow melt from the Cascadian peaks.

If anything in nature could be described as Gothic in architecture, these canyons would qualify - often deep and narrow, terminating in soaring cascading torrents forming an altar backdrop. The sound of the larger falls thundering into the basalt and echoing off the canyon walls would drown out any human choir. This is all very photogenic for sure, but for a solitary and more subdued experience without the crowds, consider visiting during the depths of the winter months. The skies are likely to be overcast and if it’s not raining, chances are it’s snowing. This of course makes for more challenging photography, but also the potential for more rewarding results. Altogether a darker, shadowy and more mysterious experience. Little of the verdant green of summer remains, except for the velvety mosses coating the branches of leafless trees and wetted rocks.

The long-fallen leaves now coat the ground in a mosaic of matted and forlorn browns. Their decomposition perfumes the air with a solemn mustiness. If the architecture of the canyons and falls evokes Gothic, then the winter aesthetic could be described as Goth - mist-shrouded and melancholic, stark basaltic blacks and greys dominate, making a black and white photographic approach seem quite appropriate (and perhaps nodding to the subculture found in the near-by city of Portland!).

Olympus Digital Camera

Olympus Digital Camera

Olympus Digital Camera

Olympus Digital Camera

Solitude or Isolation?

Golden Eye V2

Much has been written about the benefits of landscape and nature photography on our health and well being (read articles on mental health and depression). A growing number of well known professional photographers have consistently offered that view and have actively promoted their commercial offer and workshop content on the premise that time spent alone in nature with our camera has positive effects on our morale, levels of anxiety, and at an extreme as an antidote to depression.

I took up 'serious' photography about ten years ago and am grateful for and embrace the relief that it has given me through some dark times and periods of personal turmoil.
In general, I agree with that view, however, I would suggest that it is too simplistic a position to take and that there is a wider context that needs to be considered.

Looking back on my life so far, I have regrettably reached the conclusion that I have suffered from anxiety and depression for most of my life and certainly all my adult life. I took up 'serious' photography about ten years ago and am grateful for and embrace the relief that it has given me through some dark times and periods of personal turmoil. I have had moments of sheer exhilaration in the mountains, periods of peace and tranquillity in the woodland, and times of unconscious immersion in the intimacy of a coastal environment.

Lava V2

Incubation V2

Those times have undoubtedly helped me put aside the challenges that everyday life brings.... however, and this is the point of this article, those moments in time are only temporary. They represent a brief release from the issues that trouble us and which can take hostage of our thoughts. When you return from your excursion in nature, your troubles have not magically disappeared, they remain and, in my case, are sometimes magnified because of the precious time I have spent in nature and the subsequent contrast with the turmoil of everyday life.

Actual time spent out in the field can also present problems to people with mental health issues. I am sure we have all experienced days when we trudge around devoid of inspiration, struggling to find our creative mojo. For those who are troubled and unsettled, those occasions can magnify our sense of unease and increase the feeling of isolation from the world. It becomes easy to question your ability to find something inspirational and ultimately can spiral into a mindset where you question the reason for being a photographer in the first place. Such thoughts can take over and ultimately detract from all the proven benefits of being out with the camera.

For those who are troubled and unsettled, those occasions can magnify our sense of unease and increase the feeling of isolation from the world. It becomes easy to question your ability to find something inspirational and ultimately can spiral into a mindset where you question the reason for being a photographer in the first place.

On Track V2

For many of us, most of our photography practice is done on our own, whether that be time in the field or time spent processing and printing our images. I don't know whether that is always a good thing. From my perspective, solitude and isolation are two very different concepts. Although not a clear cut view, solitude can be a choice, whereas isolation is often, but not necessarily always, a feeling brought on by loneliness. In my more positive times, I choose solitude because I want to experience nature on my own, accompanied only by my thoughts and senses. However, in less positive times, that solitude can feel more like isolation, which in turn can negatively impact my health and wellbeing. I know that landscape and nature photography is an essential element of my life.

I love the connection with nature, the time spent in the elements, and the sheer joy of creating and printing an image. The benefits to me are immeasurable and far outweigh any downside. However, it does present its challenges, as I am sure it does to others, and as such, the question remains as to how I can carry on my work without suffering the impact of that feeling of isolation and despair brought on through time spent on this solitary pursuit.

Defining Self Expression in Photography

The important thing is: you must have something to say about the world.~Paul Strand

I have always had difficulty titling my photographs. It seems an easy task, yet I find it to be anything but. I was reminded of this recently as I added images to my website during a long overdue update. Most of the titles ended up being literal (e.g., Sugar Maple in Autumn), some metaphorical (e.g., Solitude), and a few cringe-worthy. I have long wondered why the difficulty. It seems contradictory that many titles are literal when I preach about photography's expressive potential and the idea that photos can be more than illustrations of literal things and serve as a metaphor for emotions. To name the photograph after the subject matter when that is not what the picture is about feels wrong. And yet, I am uncertain what many of them are “about.” Shouldn’t the title be self-evident if it’s my creation?

Sigfrido Zimmermann

Ancient Seafloor Iii

Social media has opened our eyes to a wealth of photographic destinations. All you need to do is rock up in front of one of those Instagram-able landscapes, and your photography will immediately get better, right? Jim Richardson’s book ‘Chased by the Light’ made a big impact on me, but “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.” Sorry Jim, I much prefer Elliott Erwitt’s “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place."… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

I’m a big advocate of photographing your local, so I was delighted to learn that Sigfrido had made a conscious decision not to travel but to concentrate on his home ground of California while improving his photographic technique. Fair enough, it’s a state that is big enough to have plenty of ‘wow’ opportunities, but I really like websites that are personal and relevant and not a resume of workshop destinations. And in Sigfrido’s case, its work that has scored highly in the National Landscape Photography Awards 2022.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to do?

I’m a Salvadorian American born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I’m a husband to a beautiful and supportive wife and a father to an adorable son with a heart-melting smile. I’ve always been interested in nature, the outdoors, and the pursuit of adventure. I remember being fascinated by the stories my father would tell me (and still tells me to this day) about his adventures as an ornithologist in El Salvador. He has innumerable stories about exploring the cloud forests of El Salvador while studying birds and sometimes bats for the natural history museum. At an early age, my interest in nature further developed by going on camping trips with my family to our local mountains. My parent’s influence, plus my constant viewing of BBC and National Geographic nature documentaries, nurtured an admiration and love for nature.

When I started university, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in science, but I wasn’t sure what area of science to concentrate in. I was fortunate enough to participate in a marine biology semester provided by the California State University system on Catalina Island. During the semester, we spent 3 months living on the island, spending countless hours in the water studying the organisms we found. Through this experience, I realised marine biology checked off many of my interests; it filled my days with adventures through scuba diving, fieldwork, and travel, but most importantly, it fed my curiosity about nature.

I then pursued my master’s in marine biology, working for Dr. Peter Edmunds, a well-renowned physiological ecologist studying coral reefs. During my masters, I had the opportunity to travel to remote tropical islands like Moorea in French Polynesia and St. John in the US Virgin Islands to study the coral reefs. I was particularly interested in the role microhabitats and competition have on coral reef community structure. Now I currently work for the Vantuna Research Group at Occidental College, studying the rocky reefs and kelp forests of Southern California.

Black in the Landscape

I've always loved black, and I realized that, from the beginning, man went into completely dark caves to paint. They painted with black too. They could have painted with white because there were white stones all over the ground, but no, they chose to paint with black - in the dark.~Pierre Soulages

Real black is rather rare in the landscape. The black clouds on the horizon, the black depths of a lake, or the blackness of the night sky are rarely, in fact, black. Photographers require light to record on film or a digital sensor, and black is the absence of light. Black surfaces are those that absorb most of the light falling on them and emit little back. Few surfaces in nature absorb so much light as to be considered a pure black. Even in the night sky and the absorbing void that is space beyond, the scattering of light by particles in the atmosphere often leaves a trace of colour when viewed from the ground (hence the recent marketing of night sky filters to remove the scattered light from urban sources in a certain range of wavelengths). Certainly, there are dark shadows that might need to be carefully exposed to reveal some detail, but they are not often pure black.

So the use of pure black in an image is to employ a form of artistic license and indeed has a long history in art, going back to the prehistoric use of black in creating cave and rock paintings (see the quotation above). Black was then one of the readily available pigments, as it was later in the manufacture of inks, where it became particularly refined (using a mixture of pine soot and animal glue) in the production of Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting called Shanshui (mountain water) art. Later in the 14th Century Chinese monks introduced the style to Japan where inks made of oil lamp soot and glues were used in the Sumi-e style of refined monochrome landscapes, one of the features of which was that they should be produced with minimal but exquisite brush strokes.

The use of black in painting was taken to the extreme towards the end of the 19th Century by the French painter Paul Bilhaud (1854-1933) with an all black rectangle with the (not very woke) title Combat de nègres dans la nuit of 18821. This was taken further by Alphonse Allais in his Primo-avrilesque album of “monochroîde” works of 18962. Both Bilhaud and Allais were members of the Incohèrents, a group that existed for a relatively short period during the 1880s but which influenced a number of later 20th Century movements in art including dadaism, surrealism and minimalism in ways that have only recently been revealed3.

Bilhaud Combat De Nègres

Paul Billhaud, Combat de nègres dans la nuit (1882)4

There have been other traditions of the use of (near) black in the Western art tradition. These include the chiaroscuro style 5(from the Italian chiaro, light, and oscuro, dark) used in the Renaissance by artists such as Raphael, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and his pupil Gerrit Dou. The style was mostly used for portraits and still life paintings. In most of these paintings, any landscape is generally obscured in the background, but at the end of the 18th Century, the English painter Joseph Wright of Derby adopted the style for both portraits and landscapes.

Through the Imaginative Landscape of J. M. W. Turner

I would like to introduce my project dedicated to the great English painter of the Romantic era, J. M. W. Turner. The organisation of the project on Turner, which took almost two years, was, personally, a great challenge for me. Nevertheless, I have been involved in similar projects for quite a while and have practical experience with them. Since 2015 I have been systematically working on projects – first focused on writers (Karel Hynek Mácha, Hans Christian Andersen, Antione de Saint Exupéry) and now on prominent painters (César Manrique, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Joan Miró). I always choose art protagonists who distinctly differ from each other.

In the last five years, a group of people interested in these events has formed around my projects and the ICM & ME photographic techniques in general. It is my endeavour to involve not only photographers but also people interested in other art forms – paintings, graphics, ceramics, poetry, etc. Seven photographers and one painter from the Czech Republic participated in the project on J. M. W. Turner - Miroslava Bedřichová, Jitka Bejdáková, Hana Janíčková, Vladimír Kysela, Lea Luxemburgová, Miroslava Trusková, Břetislav Ulrich a Stanislav Zela.

During the course of the project, we made two visits to the Turner Collection in TATE Britain, spent a week in the Lake District and subsequently also five days in Venice – that is, in two locations representative of the exteriors captured in JMW Turner’s work, including London, where he lived. We literally took thousands of photographs and tried to interpret them in our own individual narratives depending on our individual understanding of this great painter’s work. In this way, more than a hundred artworks were created, 70 of which are presented in our joint e-book and 25 are displayed at our joint exhibition in Prague.

JMW Turner put great effort into approaching complexity in his landscapes; that is, he would often reflect on contemporary development in England and Europe. Turner lived through a time of key social and political changes – the whole Napoleonic era starting with Napoleon entering the political scene and his infamous end in St Helena; he lived through the wars with France and Spain, during his time, the Declaration of Independence was pronounced in America, steam powered railway passenger transportation started, and the first steamship crossed the Atlantic. And Turner was able to respond to all these in his work – through the choice of subjects, colours, symbolism. Besides that, he was the genius who significantly developed and shifted the use of watercolours, including continuous testing of new materials – both paints and paper.

During the course of the project, we made two visits to the Turner Collection in TATE Britain, spent a week in the Lake District and subsequently also five days in Venice – that is, in two locations representative of the exteriors captured in JMW Turner’s work, including London, where he lived.

Lake District – May 2022

The weather was not too good, on the other hand, anyone can take a photo of a beautiful sunset. We travelled through all the main areas of the Lake District, combined lake and seaside landscapes, technical details as well as historical nooks. The Lake District is representative of the typical countryside with lakes that Turner would so frequently paint. We photographed in various places, for instance, near Buttermere, Honister Pass, Whitehaven, Keswick /Derwent Water, Barrow-in Furness, Elter Water, or the Castlerigg stone circle…

Venice – September 2022

In Venice, you realise why Turner was able to incorporate so much space, air transparency and generally lively colours into his works. On our visit to Venice, we focused on the places where Turner actively painted, that is, the islands of the Lagoon, the sunrise and evening views of San Marco across the Lagoon, and on taking photographs of the canals at sunrise. Obviously, we did not avoid the central parts of Venice either, up to the Biennale Gardens where this year’s Biennale Arte was culminating.

Pozvanka Jmwturner

The Exhibition “Through the Imaginative Landscape of J. M. W. Turner”

The selection of artworks for the joint exhibition in Prague was carried out in the following manner: First, each member of the group chose ten works that they wanted to present in our joint e-book. Subsequently, the gallery curator, Mrs Vlasta Čiháková Noshiro, chose those works which she wanted to present in the gallery. The Gallery of Art Critics is a prestigious gallery which specialises in paintings and so the opportunity to display our photographs there is absolutely unique for us!

The official exhibition opening took place on December 15th in Prague. The exhibition will be shown until January 15th, 2023. Nevertheless, already during the course of the exhibition, we were contacted by other potential exhibition organisers, so it is most likely that the exhibition will be shown in other cities as well. Now, we would like to introduce one work by each of the authors with their own commentary.

Miroslava Bedřichová

Pic 01 Bedrichova

I have seen and visited only a small part of the region that Turner would so frequently visit and paint. I composed the final collection from photographs that were taken by chance, so to say, in moments when I forgot about the project – surprised by the calmness that the Turnerian, vast and raw places could bring about in me. The presented photograph is called Bezčasí 3 (Timelessness 3) and was taken in the Lake District, namely in Drigg; just like the majority of pictures in this collection. It can be seen here:
https://eu.zonerama.com/Bedrischka/Album/9101214

Jitka Bejdáková

Pic 02 Bejdakova

Turner’s canvases can be recognised at first sight. The unmistakable colour range with the dominance of golden ochres, yellows and turquoise blues, his brushwork - rather liberal, from free to wildly unrestrained, movement, excitement, light effects and fog… I focused on Venice. It might occur to us that any human endeavour will eventually be devoured by nature and returned to its original state as though it had never existed. Yet, it is worth fighting, creating freely with a swing, and courage, move forward, growing, ripen, just like Turner did, and it does not matter that it might not last forever. If it speaks to contemporaries and enriches them, it suffices, and even if it didn’t, the reward is in the author’s contemplation and expression of his conclusions.

Hana Janíčková

Pic 03 Janickova

I admire J.M.W. Turner for his brilliant work with colours and light. My photograph “Jarní” (Spring) was inspired by his light watercolours that captured the English countryside. I tried to capture the atmosphere of the lake district flooded by early morning light in springtime.

Vladimír Kysela

Pic 04 Kysela

In this particular project, my choice was to follow the line reflecting industrial development because Turner often dealt with the subject of the Industrial Revolution, and I found it interesting to push this theme almost ad absurdum. In principle, I wanted to look at the English/Venetian landscape and introduce industrial connotations in it from this day, though. The picture We Stand in Desolate Splendor is the main one in my project and represents for me Turner’s role in the development of society as the “Witness of Desire and Messiah of Light”. It is a collage of takes from London where Turner lived. My whole project can be seen at:
https://vladimirkysela.com/en/contemplations-en/jmw-turner-en/

Miroslava Trusková

Pic 05 Truskova

The fascinating eye of the storm that does not let you look away. You can only observe how the sky takes in the sea, and the water takes in the sky. And then, the golden touch of sun appears, an illusion of land, of a solid point on the surface. Once again, the mass rolls over, and the fleeting spectacle is gone. Perhaps that image is just the iris without a pupil. You blink, and the dancing light will enter you once and forever.

In his paintings, Turner captured both the wild countryside and urban landscapes, events from the early days of the Industrial Revolution, but also unrest in the world… Our generation finds itself in the middle of turbulent development – We observe changes in weather, mild winters, more frequent tornadoes, violent storms, and floods. On the other hand, there are droughts, rivers drying out, melting glaciers, rainforests are being cut and burnt down… Where is our horizon of events? With my picture, I venerate nature that we are so often indifferent to, but which is beyond us, outside of us, it can destroy us, and we will bow to it in awe.
https://www.truskova.eu/en/fine-art-photography/project-j-m-w-turner/

Břetislav Ulrich

Pic 06 Ulrich

I discovered JMW Turner for myself many years ago, and I still admire his paintings and watercolours. Yet it has never occurred to me to reflect his works in my photography. Eventually, it happened, though, when, by coincidence, I joined this project.

When taking and editing photographs, I did not follow a clear set plan but worked intuitively – I let the landscapes inspire and guide me, being influenced only by my prior knowledge of Turner’s work. “Derwent Water”: I’d say this photograph not only captures the beauty of nature but also insinuates the dark forces in it.

Stanislav Zela

Pic 07 Zela

Many years ago, there were those who were worried that photography might replace painting. It did not happen. In many ways, it can supplement and support it. Many famous painters worked from photographs, and today, photographers challenge themselves to make works that resemble paintings on canvas. To give up accurate realism and sharpness and to offer a creative interpretation in the world of pixels, zeros and ones. Neither paper nor the shiny screen can replace a coarse canvas in its three-dimensionality and smell of turpentine. Can this be done? Will anyone take an interest in it?

Other Links

e-book “Through the Imaginative Landscape of J.M.W. Turner”

The book summarises our trip in J. M. W. Turner’s tracks and can be downloaded for free at:
https://vladimirkysela.com/en-ebooks/ebook-imaginativni-krajinou-jmw-turnera/

It is in Czech, nevertheless, there are more than 100 photographs – final works by the individual team members as well as pictures documenting the journeys within the project

Blog, dedicated to the project on J.M.W. Turner

Selected blog posts (EN) can be found at:
https://vladimirkysela.com/en/tag/turner-en/

Conclusion

We hope that our project has been of interest to you. We would especially like to thank Graham Cook, who willingly spent his time with us on one of our visits to TATE Britain, which we highly appreciate!

ps: Actually, my Turner has been internationally awarded, below is the table of silver selection from the New York Photography Awards 2022.

Jmwt Awards

End frame: Dancing in the Moonlight by Wim Vooijs

Dancing in moonlight,
Dreams leave my head for my heart,
To grow and come true~ Wim Vooijs

This enchanting photo makes my heart sing. It brings to mind a myriad of other art forms like poetry, painting and music through the universal language of emotional inspiration (for example through tranquility). Some iconic pieces this photo evokes include Beethoven (“Moonlight Sonata”), Debussy (“Clair de Lune”), Sting (“Moonlight”) and Monet (‘Sunrise”)

Photographers travel the world from North to South and from sky to sea in search of a unique subject, but the moon and its reflection is a familiar, universal subject, which almost everyone can see on any given night.

I find it inspiring that Wim did not have to travel the earth to make this image, but instead, walked a few steps from his home and took on an ever-present subject to create this new, almost otherworldly photo. This is taking reality and changing it into art. In Wim’s own words, “You can take pictures of what everyone sees, but it's more fun to show others what you see and feel. In doing so, remain open to the surprise of what the world wants to tell you. Laat het gebeuren!”

In the age of the Internet and digital photography, where a sea of beautiful photos are available to view at the push of a button, originality is a rare sought after quality. “Dancing in the moonlight” oozes with imagination and magic.

Theo Bosboom – Back to Iceland

Theo’s book Iceland Pure sits alongside my copy of the Haaberg’s Iceland in All its Splendour (see Orsolya Haarberg Featured Photographer interview) and Hans Strand’s Iceland: Above and Below as my reference sources for images of Iceland’s sublime beauty. But Iceland has obviously changed over the years since these were originally published. The success story of a bankrupt nation transforming into a wonderfully successful economy includes a remarkable increase in tourism (which generated 10% of GDP and provides nearly 20% of Iceland’s jobs). Any increase in footfall always comes with some negative consequences. Although the land hasn’t suffered dramatically, the experience of visiting the places that were once isolated and wild has certainly changed.

Book

Theo’s new book partly reflects this, (as discussed in his article in this issue), along with his personal relationship with the island. We see the balance of images shifting as well, with fewer wide views of iconic locations and more vignettes and details, a change in approach that reflects how Theo’s photography has been changing over the intervening years as well.

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Along with this has been an eye for a project or an idea that lives beyond a single image. We don’t see overt project work in this book, it is still nearly all individual photographs apart from a small section on tourists, but we do some echoing of visual ideas reflected throughout the book. An off kilter sensitivity that finds as much interest in a distribution of coloured hay bales as a graphic flow of lava; a double page spread barcode of sand and water textures, a child's swing and snow bound car alongside beautiful details of waterfalls, stunted birches, bilberry and bearberry.

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A final chapter in the book shows some images of the latest 2021 volcanic eruption, which has provided Theo with some stunning and highly original visual takes on this sublime phenomenon. The image of the trails of headlights as the visitors left the lava flows after dark is a particularly creative one.
You’ll also see some wonderful photographs of the canyons of Iceland, perhaps outtakes of his European Canyons project. A final chapter in the book shows some images of the latest 2021 volcanic eruption, which has provided Theo with some stunning and highly original visual takes on this sublime phenomenon. The image of the trails of headlights as the visitors left the lava flows after dark is a particularly creative one. This chapter doesn’t visually mesh with the rest of the book, but it truly deserves its place, showing one extreme of Iceland’s varied landscape.

The book itself is very well produced, a hardback cover illustrated with graphic textures of that 2021 volcanic eruption, graphic flows of lava and glowing basalt textures. 170 pages of content on a nice thick 170gsm paper. A special mention should be made of Sandra Bartocha, who not only designed the book but helped with the sequencing and choice of images.

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Theo’s book just goes to show that we shouldn’t dismiss a location just because we’ve seen so many photographs of it. A thoughtful eye and a passion for the landscape will always find new ways of seeing, and this book is a testament to that.

I would recommend that you buy the book directly from Theo’s website because, as we’ve found out that publishing the Natural Landscape Awards book, the margins for commercial distribution are so low that one book bought directly probably returns the equivalent of three books bought via large retailers.

Back to Iceland – standard edition

Jim Becia – Portrait of a Photographer

Jay Cooke Wet Rocks Along The St Louis River Cropped

In a recent conversation with a photographer on my podcast, I found myself defending the merits of my stubborn nature as it relates to approaches to business and social media. Often, I think society paints those who are stubborn in a negative light, and even the dictionary makes it seem like a bad personality trait by referring to stubbornness as “unreasonable persistence.” Personally, I’ve come to greatly admire fellow landscape photographers who I see as stubborn, and Jim Becia is a prime example of one such photographer.

Jim’s been making photographs on film for over 40 years and has easily elevated himself as one of the finest nature photographers of our time – owed to his stubborn commitment to not only the medium of 8x10 large format film but also to his consistent approach to photographing the same places year-after-year.
Jim’s been making photographs on film for over 40 years and has easily elevated himself as one of the finest nature photographers of our time – owed to his stubborn commitment to not only the medium of 8x10 large format film but also to his consistent approach to photographing the same places year-after-year.

Like so many nature photographers I’ve spoken with, Jim never saw himself as a creative person early on in life, and he gravitated to playing sports as a youngster in his blue-collar town in northeast Connecticut. He eventually matriculated to college in Iowa, where he was an American footballer. Jim never really put much thought into photography until one day, during his freshman year, a fellow dorm resident showed him some Kodachrome slides, which deeply resonated with him. That very summer, he decided to save up to buy his first camera, a Minolta SRT101 and spent the next three years of college working for the college newspaper and yearbook as a photographer. The rest, as they say, is history! Jim’s career took many twists and turns after college, with four years spent as a ski bum in Snowmass, Colorado (I can’t say I blame you there, Jim), and various odd jobs at both Yellowstone and Zion National Parks, where his love for the natural landscape was kindled. He decided to move to Wisconsin to pursue more serious work by opening a frame and gallery shop with his wife-to-be. While he wasn’t selling his own photography, he was learning what it takes to sell photography and make a modest living off it. After 14 years of being in business, he decided to close his shop and pursue the sales of his own work via art fairs.

Landscape Narratives

‘Landscape Narratives’ is a series of visual conversations taking place between colour, shape and texture. All three of these elements can be found in landscapes from the broad flatlands or rolling gentle hills to mountainous regions and anywhere in between. It is a journey of discovery which seizes the eye and especially the imagination of the photographer, the painter and the visitor to the exhibition. Ruth Grindrod and Caroline Evans both live in Norfolk and are passionate about the landscape both near and further afield.

Ruth’s photographs are deliberately diverse in style as she tries to capture the essence of the landscape or area in which she is working. Her passion is coastal locations and seascapes, where she uses neutral density filters as part of her style.

Ruth comments, ‘When printing your work, the attention to composition, colour, tones and textures and particular nuances becomes imperative. And that’s before you even press print! Many landscape photographers now are choosing not to print due to costs and the overwhelming domination of social media, but it is a skill which creates great enjoyment and which I feel serious photographers should acquire.

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Breakthrough Light, Ruth Grindrod

Howick Boulders, Ruth Grindrod

Howick Boulders, Ruth Grindrod

Caroline works with mixed media, often adopting an abstract approach to her work. Much of her work is on a larger scale. Caroline and Ruth have collaborated previously and agree that in doing so, each benefit from the other’s perspective and from seeing how different mediums can be used to showcase aspects of the landscape, emphasising colour or tone, shape or texture.

Autumn Mountain, Caroline Evans

Autumn Mountain, Caroline Evans

Reeds, Caroline Evans

Reeds, Caroline Evans

Their choice to exhibit in the current economic climate was understandably not an easy one, but both agree that exhibiting physical images- photographs or paintings refines their individual creativity, develops collaborative creativity and encourages them to hone their skills.

They were also privileged to be offered The Crypt Gallery space on the grounds of Norwich Cathedral, which is a prestigious and atmospheric setting which creates a unique ambience.

The focus on landscape evident throughout the exhibition reveals the artists’ passion for, as well as their concern for, the environment in the face of environmental change. They believe that it has never been so important to celebrate the uniqueness of the world’s landscape and to appreciate this so people are empowered to respect, protect and also enjoy being out in it. They hope that this will be one outcome of their exhibition.

Ruth and Caroline welcome everyone to their exhibition to look, to enjoy, to talk and maybe to buy.

Ad Img 7557

LANDSCAPE NARRATIVES Exhibition

Joint Exhibition by Ruth Grindrod and Caroline Evans

Runs from 30/5/23 until 10/6/23. 10 am-5pm.

Closed Sunday for a Private view on 3rd June 1-4 pm. All welcome.

The Crypt Gallery,
The Close,
Norwich,
NR1 4DD

Michael Faint

Askervein, 2020
It’s all too easy for photographers to effectively romanticise any landscape, even if it isn’t a conscious decision, and at times it can feel like it’s open season in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides – all those shell sand beaches and azure waters that lend themselves to reproduction and interpretation. Although Michael photographs in both colour and black and white, it’s the latter that drew me to his work and from which we have selected images for this feature. Digging a little deeper, it becomes apparent that these aren’t empty landscapes – we can never really separate ‘land’ from ‘people’. We talk about growing roots, repetition as a creative tool, unexpected opportunities and creative collaborations, storytelling and drawing people in.

In view of Michael’s experience of birding and wildlife photography, it also seemed a good opportunity to ask him to say a little about avian flu and how we can all tread a little more lightly on our travels.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what that led you to do?

I was born in Ayrshire but have moved around the UK with spells in London, Norfolk, Lancashire and Essex, amongst others.

From an early age, I was interested in and fascinated by birds, and this was my main preoccupation when growing up. As this pursuit developed, I began to focus more on what is referred to as ‘Patch Birding’: continued and repeated visits to the same place over days, weeks, seasons and years, filling notebooks with details and incidental information
I currently live with my wife Sarah on the Island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Before moving to Uist, I worked in sectors as diverse as Medical Equipment Distribution, Port Operations and Interior Design. In 2019 Sarah and I founded the Outer Hebrides Coffee Roasters ‘SkyDancer’ at the Harbour in Lochboisdale. The roastery / café also acts as a gallery space for my photography and an outlet for prints.

From an early age, I was interested in and fascinated by birds, and this was my main preoccupation when growing up. As this pursuit developed, I began to focus more on what is referred to as ‘Patch Birding’: continued and repeated visits to the same place over days, weeks, seasons and years, filling notebooks with details and incidental information. This repetition brings a deeper understanding of the place that you visit, the seasonal changes, the yearly changes, the habitat, and the wildlife populations; the repetition is a means of discovery. Visiting a place once or twice only gives a snapshot of what it looks like, a superficial view. Continued visits allow you to notice and explore subtle changes and nuances in a place. This idea of ‘patch’ has stayed with me, and as I changed jobs and locations, I would always look to carve out a new patch within walking distance of where I was based, whether this was a beach or the depths of West London.

The ideas around the notion of a patch/place feed my photography to this day. As much as I seek the new, for me, there are clear creative benefits to continuing to visit the same place again and again and again. Repetition is a constant creative tool for me.

No more rose-coloured glasses, but still a love affair

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Detail of Vatnajokull glacier

Why (still) Iceland?

Explaining why a landscape photographer feels drawn to Iceland feels a bit redundant these days. Rather, you have something to explain if you haven't been there at least a few times. Yet in 2012, when my first book Iceland pure appeared, I still felt called to put the feeling into words what attracted me so much to this rugged island in the Atlantic Ocean:

"It is not hard to explain why Iceland is an attractive destination for a nature photographer. It has the biggest ice cap in Europe; the most beautiful and powerful waterfalls; the largest number of active volcanoes. It has puffins and harlequin ducks, wild, rocky coasts and black lava beaches, deserted plateaus and bizarre geothermal phenomena. And to top it all large areas are all but uninhabited, with tourists few and far between compared to elsewhere in Europe.

And yet this impressive roll call is only part of the reason for my continuing passion for Iceland. More important is that when I am there I feel closer to nature than I do anywhere else. It is as if I experience nature more intensely here. Iceland gets under my skin, moves me, and overwhelms me. Time and time again.”

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Winter scene, southeast Iceland

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Winter in Landmannalaugar

I think I still cannot put it into words much better than this. I can only add to it that my love for Iceland still lasts, almost 17 years after my first visit in 2006. I think it is safe to say that Iceland changed my life, both professionally and personally.

In a Different Light

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There’s something distinctly eerie about being up in the mountains all alone in the middle of the night. The flashlight catches the wee beady eyes of the natives (mostly deer and sheep), and you need to remind yourself that those illuminated eyes mean you no harm. They’re probably wondering what the hell this madman is doing wandering around the Wicklow mountains in the dead of night with a tonne of cameras, tripods, video lights and lighting stands. I have to let the silence take over, turn on the lights and start making pictures. Let the light in, get the camera rolling, and the calm always follows.

For the past 10 years, I have been making intermittent trips into Glendalough, Co Wicklow, at night time. Glendalough is so familiar to me. My first-ever photographic project, Wild Garden, heavily featured the park, and it's somewhere I’ve run countless workshops. Reinventing the familiar is what motivated me to explore this series of images, reconnection and introspection, thus, Glendalough seemed like the perfect backdrop to take on this challenge. To push the limits of my own comfort, the limits of lighting, and the limits of what I had previously explored. The outcome is a collection of 12 images and a time-lapse piece featuring the amazing sounds of Moderat.

I have a splilt personality photographically. One is very giving, he looks after others, puts their needs first, gives them all his energy, and shares all his creativity with them so they can make better pictures. That’s the workshop leader. The person that brings people all over the world to take pictures in the most beautiful places imaginable. I’m very grateful this is what I do. I love it.

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Then there’s the other guy. The guy that just wants to make pictures solo. The photographer that takes pictures only of things that inspire him. He photographs what feels meaningful personally. He strives to be in tune with his instinct, works on his own timetable, and pursues what he wants single-mindedly. Photography is not a team game, it’s a personal journey.

At some point in my career, the giving person took over my photography, and my work felt a little lost on a personal level. I wanted to feel inspired by what I was doing, but I found sharing my craft with others made me feel formulaic about my personal work. I had lost sight of the second guy and was taking most of my pictures for other people.

Something changed, however, when I saw a picture by Marcel Van Oosten around 2013. He had used an unnatural light source in the mist in one of his Namibia images. It made me think about how we perceive the landscape. We associate nature with a specific set of visual parameters. The light is generated by the sun or the moon. But nature to me was always more than parameters. It's a feeling, and the homogenisation of the visual presentation that I was experiencing in workshops was affecting how I felt about the landscape. I wanted to break that cycle and make sure that the guy that strove for personal inspiration stayed in the fray. I wanted to work ‘In a Different Light’.

The light is generated by the sun or the moon. But nature to me was always more than parameters. It's a feeling, and the homogenisation of the visual presentation that I was experiencing in workshops was affecting how I felt about the landscape. I wanted to break that cycle and make sure that the guy that strove for personal inspiration stayed in the fray.

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For most folk, the notion of being all alone in the mountains at night isn’t that appealing. I took some kind souls to help me carry the gear and also to allay the nervous energy of being out there all alone during the earlier part of this process. Over time, however, I realised that I had to be alone. The walks became more laboured, carrying the gear and the slight edge of being there alone more intense. More importantly, however, I was able to find peace and concentration to create.

Whenever I visited Glendalough, I always made sure to have Moderat blaring out at full kilter on the drive down. The soundtrack and Moderat’s unique sound really inspired the visual. Eventually, I came to love being there alone. It's genuinely inspiring to be surrounded by nature and not another human in sight. The process of making the pictures was labour-intensive. I used two cameras and one video light. To begin, I would always set up a wide-angle shot of the scene I was looking at and set that camera off to record a timelapse. I was interested to see how the atmosphere was affected in the wider angle shot as I repositioned the light to shoot tighter scenes with the second camera. The movement of the light was a way to make the imagery more dynamic and more out worldly while creating movement within the time-lapse piece to reflect the soundtrack. It allowed me to shape the landscape in ways I couldn’t possibly achieve in the daytime with natural lighting. The landscape became a space that didn’t have so many parameters.

I was creating my own light, but the weather still played a big role. I wanted calm, mist, and also clear skies. Typically a shoot would involve me keeping an eye on the possible conditions before deciding to go. I would often arrive in the middle of the night and photograph all the way to dawn. Activity in the park and on the roads would just be kicking into gear when I was on my way home. There’s something satisfying knowing you are off to bed when everyone else is getting ready for work. The lights from the shoot would reverberate in my brain as I dropped off.

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Since I started shooting ‘In Different Light’, I have completed two separate personal projects.

The personal journey of finding my own voice and vision has been encapsulated by more than one thought, idea or experience. The catalyst can be found in these images, however. In a Different Light' lives in a space where no definitive reference points exist. In the dark, on your own, in the dead of night, trying to transform the darkness into light.
The personal journey of finding my own voice and vision has been encapsulated by more than one thought, idea or experience. The catalyst can be found in these images, however. In a Different Light' lives in a space where no definitive reference points exist. In the dark, on your own, in the dead of night, trying to transform the darkness into light. Trying to become sensitised again, to my imagery, to the landscape. To alter the formula. Eventually feeling completely at ease with solitude, with darkness, and simply switching on the light.

Exhibition Details

The project and exhibition are called 'In a Different Light': www.petergordonphotography.com

Venue: The MART Gallery, 190a Rathmines Rd Lower, Rathmines, Dublin 6,

Opening Hours for the Exhibition

  • May 17th – 27th
  • Opening May 17th – 6 – 9pm
  • Open 12 – 6pm
  • Sunday 12 – 4pm
  • Closed Monday 22nd

End frame: Autumn Pallete by Michael Bollino

None of Nature’s landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild.~ John Muir

Scroll. Scroll. Pause. Scroll. Pause. Scroll. Pause. I’m cruising through every image in the last eighteen issues of “On Landscape” eMags, with some pauses lasting much longer than others. It took several iterations before I narrowed it down to two images, plus a flip of the coin before I finally settled on the winner: the landscape image by featured photographer Michael Bollino on page 6 of issue 257. [In case you are interested, the runner-up was a closeup image, also by Michael, on page 10 of the same issue.]

I’m always fascinated by the role “extroversion” and “introversion” play in the process of transferring a landscape onto a crisp sheet of fine art paper or state-of-the-art LCD display.

On one hand, I, as well as most other landscape photographers, spend an inordinate amount of time fussing over an image’s composition. Starting out with camera placement, often with millimetre precision. And finishing with generous amounts of post-processing embellishments that best showcase the scene exactly the way we want to envision it. Clearly, an extroverted effort where the combined sensibilities of our logical minds, plus an abundance of landscape compositional rules, get projected onto the scene we hope to capture with our hard-earned photographic skill sets.

On the other hand, I know of many landscape photographers, including myself, who often use landscape photography as an excuse to spend copious amounts of time in nature. An extension of the therapeutic Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku, loosely translated as “forest bathing”. An introspective effort where we use the natural world to swiftly peel away layers of opaque multi-tasking stress, clearing the way for our rejuvenated senses to efficiently reenergize our tired aching hearts. And during those magical moments, we photographers cannot resist taking out our cameras, hoping to capture hallelujah images that do justice to the larger-than-life exhilarations sweeping through our very being.

Rhythm Of The Unseen

Rhythm Of The Unseen is a celebration of photographic expressionism and is the third exhibition by participants of the inaugural Abstract Rhythm and Blue Notes programme (see the article about the UK exhibition last October). This was an intensive year-long program exploring the intersection of photography, art, abstraction and creativity taught by British photographers Valda Bailey and Doug Chinnery.

Following exhibitions in 2022 at the Sohn Gallery Lenox Massachusetts, and The Horsebridge Gallery in Whitstable, UK, Rhythm Of The Unseen takes place at The Soho Gallery New York May 2nd -8th, 2023.

The exhibition will be showcasing the work of 11 international artists hailing from the US, Canada, Great Britain, Latvia and The Netherlands.

The title of the show, Rhythm of the Unseen, reflects the approach and vision of the exhibiting artists.

Like the abstract expressionist painters before them, their work is diverse and approaches photography in ways reflecting their individual and unique perspectives. They eschew the camera’s ability to capture reality and instead use techniques that challenge that reality. The results vary from visual distortion to impressionistic interpretations and pure abstraction.

They use a variety of in-camera techniques, such as multiple exposure and intentional camera movement (ICM), along with post-processing methods, as a way of abstracting shapes, eliminating detail and revealing the unseen in their images. They wield their cameras like a paintbrush, value spontaneity and improvisation and work in a way that, while controllable to a certain degree, retains a strong element of unpredictability and serendipity. The resulting works often turn the accepted notion of what a photograph is on its head.

The art will be presented on a variety of media, including aluminium, glass and silk, in addition to fine art archival paper prints.

There will be an Opening Reception on May 4th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM and an Artists’ Talk on May 6th from 3:00 - 4:00 PM. In addition, a series of talks and workshops by the artists are scheduled throughout the exhibition, including a special presentation by Stephanie Johnson of ICM Photography Magazine. All events are free but registration is required.

For more information and to sign up for the reception and the talks, visit https://rhythmoftheunseen.com.


Participating Artists

Jan Beesley

Awakening

Awakening

Based in Sussex, UK,  I use the camera as an artistic tool to capture my experience and feelings about the world around me. I believe that we experience the world as a series of fleeting impressions and emotions spiced and flavoured by our own memories and thoughts.  I aim to capture not what I am looking at but what I see and feel.

My other passion is for the written word, especially poetry, and I am particularly interested in the interplay between words and images.  My projects often involve both poetry and image.

In the same way that the dance of words in a poem can evoke a response, my aim is to capture the dance of colour, form and light.

Web: www.janbeephotography.com


Deborah Loeb Bohren

Deborah Loeb Bohren

The offspring of two photographers, my passion for photography was inescapable, having been imprinted on my DNA. I discovered the darkroom when I was about 5, and won my first photography contest when I was in the 6th grade. I don’t remember a time when photography was not an essential part of my life.

Today I approach my work as a visual alchemy, a transformation not of matter but of colour, light, line and gesture. With my camera as a paintbrush, I use a variety of techniques, including intentional camera movement (ICM) and in-camera multiple exposures to create iconic and abstract images that reveal the essence, emotion and soul of the places I’ve been and the things I’ve seen. Each represents a unique moment in time, space and, of course, mind.

I am honoured to have my work as part of private/individual and corporate collections across the US and to have had it exhibited at the Sohn Gallery (MA), the Katonah Museum of Art (NY), the Praxis Photo Arts Center (MN) and the ASmith Gallery (TX), among others. My abstract image, “Homage to the Cubists in Paris”, was recognized for Outstanding Achievement/1st Place in the Professional Abstract category at the 14th Annual International Color Awards last year. I also chronicle my global adventures in words and images as a regular contributor to Everett Potter’s Travel Report.
Web: www.deborahloebbohren.com

Linda Hacker

Linda Hacker Slurry Gray

I am a Brooklyn, NY based visual artist inspired by the built environment. It is in urban spaces that I feel most fully myself. My images explore and express the depth, complexity, and intimacy of the living city around me – the multiple ways any one thing can be seen/interpreted.

Using abstraction, I work to evoke a sense of mystery and ambiguity – moving between the material world as it is and what could be – the world of possibility I sense all around me. In creating these images, I am also exploring myself — my thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.

Web: www.lindahackerphoto.com


Dan Harnett

Dan Harnett Goldfish

Goldfish

Inspired by my long and close association with the sea, my work ranges from abstract to still life photography. Drawing on experiences and memories from my time in the merchant navy and my childhood memories growing up on the Kent coast.

My photography is an extension of my life’s voyage, creating works that explore human relationships with the sea, conjuring images, stories and reflections. Having spent years at sea, I am well aware of the harsh environment and the sea and the ocean’s hidden strength.

I’m keenly cognisant of the different ways we experience the sea – a seafarer who lives and works on the water has a different outlook and priorities to a landlubber experiencing it from the shoreline.

Web: https://danielharnett.co.uk

Laura Goin

Lauragoin Dawn's Embrace

Embrace

My connection to the land runs deep. I grew up on a farm in the heartland of the United States, a land of mystery and seemingly unlimited horizons. Life on the farm was tough, and money was scarce, but open fields and quiet places to explore were plentiful. Summer days were spent roaming through pastures and the evenings lying in the grass gazing at the Milky Way. There was freedom as far as the eye could see.

Today, I wander with camera in hand to discover new horizons that reignite my childhood connection to the land. Using the abstraction of intentional camera movement, I attempt to bridge what my eyes see with what my heart feels. In creating these images, I’m transported back to magical and wondrous moments in the countryside. And in those moments, I am back home again.

Web: www.lauragoin.com

Annemarie Hogwoud

Annemarie Hoogwoud A Fresh New Start

A Fresh New Start

By taking the time, I will see more and look differently.
Taking time is the common thread in my work. Both in my free work and my work on assignments.
Inspired by the beauty as I experience it in the story of a client, in the visual arts, novels, poems and music, I use my camera in search of the essence of what touches me, I see and experience. To discover what it is about for me. The inspirations often take shape and content in the landscape.

I use various camera en print techniques for this. This creates unusual images. Images that tell the story, images that ask to take the time, images that call for reflection.
By working in series, I get to the essence and I be able to visualize and articulate the story in its full scope.

In a sometimes hectic, restless and hard world, I hope that my art inspires you to stand still, evokes an emotion and invites you to reflect on what is seen.

Web: https://www.annemariehoogwoud.nl

Howard Rankin

Howard Rankin Warmth

Warmth

My passions include music, nature and travel, with photography the common thread that runs through them all. I love capturing the moment at a gig or in the company of precious wildlife, but also savouring the more considered times in the landscape.

But the greatest artistic satisfaction comes from trying to interpret what I see and what I feel, using abstractive techniques (ICM and multiple exposures) to create something new, fleeting, imagined and unique.

Photography leads me to engage with light, form, colour and moment, from which I hope to create an emotional impression, aspiring to art. I may seldom succeed, but often the dance itself is satisfying in itself.

It’s not what the Music says, it’s what the Music means.”

Web: www.howardrankinphotography.com

Anita Rama

Anita Rama
My imagery reflects the beauty and the connection I feel with the natural world. I like to photograph my surroundings in an abstract and impressionistic style. Creating images is often a self discovery process for me. I often use in camera multiple exposure technique and in camera motion to achieve these results. The freedom and creativity offered by abstract photography is both liberating and invigorating. My hope is that the same emotions carry and invigorate the viewer.

Web: anitaramaphotography.com/

Barb Kreutter

Fractured Expression

Fractured Expression

Barb Kreutter is a Canadian artist who began her career as a textile designer but has since discovered the abstract expressionist world of photography, creating images that enable her to explore her lifelong love of colour, texture and form.

The nature found in Alberta, where Barb lives, serves as her inspiration. She has been intrigued by how the environment surrounding her makes her feel rather than just how it looks. As a result, she incorporates the patterns and textures from her everyday life to create images that reflect her feelings rather than simply documenting what she sees before her.

Her images are inspired by the frozen mountain lakes, reflections in slushy puddles of melting snow, textures in the land and the subtle beauty of the ever changing colours in the sky above her head. Constructed Landscapes is the culmination of Barb’s reimaging of the world around her.

Web: https://kreutter.zenfolio.com/

Iveta Lazdina

Iveta Lazdina A Sidewind

A sidewind

Iveta Lazdina is a Latvian-based photographer. Photography, for me, is an inner conversation. The beauty and diversity of nature are the foundation for dualities; light colors and darkness, smooth lines versus sharp. These contrasts reflect the inner harmony of creation. Therefore, instead of escaping from imperfection, I will accept and incorporate them as an integral part of the duality.

Through multi-exposure and ICM (Intentional camera movement), I am looking to embed these varied layers of internal and external contrasts reflected in colors and shapes as a symbol of the creative processes. To catch the moment, which gives you a fragment of what might be an answer or at times provides an instant of truth, is nature’s greatest gift.

Web: www.yvettaphoto.com


Honey J Walker

Honey Walker Geisha Resized

Geisha

I am a London based abstract expressionist photographer. My background was in fashion, interior design and textiles, all of which still influence my love of colour and form.
All of my previous careers involved extensive travel, and that wanderlust permeates my work, along with an enormous interest and inquisitiveness for the human condition.

Within my photographs, there exists a converging of two scales; the physical world (things in themselves as they are) and the interior world ( that which lies hidden in all things). 
A synchronism of the eternal and the everyday.
My interior world is expressed externally through my lens, the layering of images that find me, that reveal themselves as I work.
My subconscious finding oxygen.

All of my work is in some way informed by an emotional response to the here and now or the past, not quite laid to rest.

Web: www.honeyjwalker.com

Somhairle MacDonald

Can you tell me a little about your education, childhood passions, early exposure to photography etc?

I grew up in the highlands of Scotland. Both of my parents were brought up in Lochaber and I enjoyed a free and adventurous childhood. I still walk up burns like I did when I was a child and still mountain bike, though not to the extremes I did as a teenager and in my twenties. I have explored vast tracts of land where I grew up on An Aird and my habit for exploring continues to this day. I have a deeply-ingrained tie to my home in the highlands and I am passionate about its landscape, people and culture. My Grandpa MacDonald was a shepherd in Glen Nevis at the foot of Ben Nevis. He kept his sheep on the high pasture of Stob Bàn, a sizeable and rugged mountain which is 998 metres tall. He was raised in Torridon and like him, I am drawn to the wilderness. It is in my blood, it is my home.

Rose The Boat Cuidhitinis, Harris

Rose The Boat, Cuidhitinis, Harris

I got into photography through my Father. He had a Canon FTb and we used to take photos at sporting events like Le Tour de France and the Scottish Six Day Trials. In my twenties, I played bass in an ethno-funk band called Croft No. 5 and through my involvement in the music scene I ended up designing album covers and taking photos for other musicians. I have done this for over twenty years now. I am also an artist and my photography feeds directly into my painting process.

Tell me about why you love landscape photography? A little background on what your first passions were, what you studied and what job you ended up doing

I love landscape photography because I love the landscape. Being outside and attentive is important to my everyday function, it’s like some sort of cognisant lubrication.

  • First passions… Black Sabbath, Mountain Biking, Bass, Heavy Drums, Art, Girls.
  • I studied Graphic Design at Glasgow College of Building and Printing… HND
  • I studied History of Art, Scottish History and Gàidhlig at Glasgow University… But dropped out after a disagreement about what Van Gogh was feeling when he painted ‘The Potato Eaters’ ...
  • Played Bass for 7 years in Croft No. 5
  • Quarter Life Crisis!!! Back to the Highlands. Tree Planter, Farm Loon, Live SoundCrew,
  • Bike Messenger, Glasgow. 5 years.
  • House Father to Brae and Struan… Part Time Web Design, Album Covers, Photography, Videography…
  • Self Employed Artist.
  • 2017- started painting again after a hiatus of 15 years.
Dimurborgir

Dimurborgir

How easy – or difficult – do you find it to fit your photography around work and other commitments? When you travel for work, are you able to devote any time to either photography or researching new places?

I lead a very alternative life, my economic dependency is fulfilled entirely by my creative endeavors. I do not respond well to systems of control. Being in a touring band in my early twenties I grew accustomed to a very creative and free life-style. Traveling the world and banging out our original brand of high-energy ethno-funk certainly made the world of conventional work look a little daunting / boring / pointless. After the wheels fell off the band, I worked as a bike messenger for 5 years in Glasgow, which in itself introduced me to a band of hardy and talented people. There was a sort of magical subculture around Messengers at that time and a lot of my fellow Messengers are now also full time artists. From Contortionists, to boutique frame builders and pro-level international musicians the courier scene in Glasgow has produced some amazing careers, I feel blessed to have been involved in it and the punk attitude it instilled in me. My nickname (call sign) amongst the messengers was ‘Teen Wolf’ and I still howl at my friends in the street when I see them.

Kinarris Quintet, This Too

Kinarris Quintet, This Too

Philip Hyde

My parents, Ardis and Philip Hyde, as a team, made a full-time living in nature photography for 60-years before many others did. They also not only helped to make national parks and other wilderness, they quietly and for the most part privately, helped pioneer the Post War wave of the Back to the Land Movement. Before sustainably became a trend, they lived a low carbon, low impact, self-sufficient lifestyle.

They lived in the wilderness, which not only surrounded their home and gardens in the Northern Sierra, but also became the typical destination for professional projects, many in national or state parks. They also made a point of traveling over back roads through the wildest places possible on the way to photography locations. They often parked for the night far from any towns, perhaps in a gravel quarry, on a side road or in a primitive campground.

Ardis, David And Philip Hyde Self Portrait, Capitol Reef Nationa

Philip, Ardis and David Self-Portrait, Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reef National Park

Though Mom grew up in Sacramento and Dad in San Francisco, both of them had roots in camping, farming and wilderness. Mom often spent weekends on her grandfather’s ranch. Also, her father took the family camping in the Sierra many times a year. Dad hiked in the hills of San Francisco, Marin County and beyond. He first backpacked in Yosemite National Park with the Boy Scouts when he was 16. He also backpacked the Yosemite backcountry with his father and brother. Part of what brought Mom and Dad together was a desire to be in the outdoors as much as possible.

Starting early in Dad’s career, going against the advice of both of his mentors Ansel Adams and David Brower, he and Mom decided to live in the wilderness, not just work there.

Starting early in Dad’s career, going against the advice of both of his mentors Ansel Adams and David Brower, he and Mom decided to live in the wilderness, not just work there. They took up residence in the mountains far away from the photography marketplace. They acquired 18 acres with National Forest bordering two sides of the property. Dad built what was originally only a 1200 square foot home with a garage, but he added a second bedroom and a larger studio later. The house sits about three hundred yards above Indian Creek on a shelf formed by an ancient rockslide from the precipitous rock faces of the peak across the creek called Grizzly Ridge, which rises 3,000 feet nearly straight up and is capped with snow most of the year.

1. P Hyde 4sf ? Piers, San Francisco Waterfront Bw 72x2048x1638s

Piers, San Francisco Waterfront (see the end of the article for captions for all photos)

Dad designed, drew the plans and built the house by hand. It took him two years because he did most of the work himself with some help from Mom in the evenings. A few other friends helped pour the foundation and hoist the large beams for the roof. Everything about the home, the large fireplace made from stones from the property, the flat roof, the solar hot water panels, the clerestory windows, the raised bed vegetable garden, the fruit trees and the whimsical stone lined pond and flower garden were all ideas adopted from other pioneers of conservation and low-impact living.

Mom not only taught kindergarten full-time in Greenville, California, she also became known for her knowledge of organic gardening, food storage and preparation. She became an expert on gardening to attract butterflies, bees and other beneficial creatures in the Mountain West. She planted Butterfly Bushes, Virginia Creeper, and Japanese Maples. She was an expert plant pirate and regularly gave other gardeners cuttings. She grew 4-5 varieties of Dogwood and many other colorful shrubs and dwarf trees. She also became highly skilled at canning, freezing, preserving, making her own soap, bread, cheese, butter, tofu and many other household goods. She grew strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb. When I was about seven, she and I planted a vegetable garden.

Riffle Through Woods, Northern Sierra Nevada, California (vertic

Riffle Through Woods at Rough Rock, Northern Sierra, California, 1983

For better harvest yields, Dad let in more sunlight by cutting trees at the edge of the forest for firewood, leaving me to dig out the stumps. From a young age I remember hauling straw, sand, topsoil, manure, gravel, sawdust, wood chips and peat moss for the garden, as well as the winter’s wood supply in many loads in our dark green dented 1952 Chevrolet step-side pickup my parents bought from photographer Brett Weston in 1955.

“When I left the city for good in 1950 to live in the mountains,” Dad said. “I knew that I was leaving behind the opportunity to make lots of money. I think that when I first chose photography, I was choosing the pleasures of creativity over the consolation of wealth. I define success for myself in terms of my lifestyle. Success is freedom and opportunity to do what I want to do...”
“When I left the city for good in 1950 to live in the mountains,” Dad said. “I knew that I was leaving behind the opportunity to make lots of money. I think that when I first chose photography, I was choosing the pleasures of creativity over the consolation of wealth. I define success for myself in terms of my lifestyle. Success is freedom and opportunity to do what I want to do. But some people seem to think that once you’re successful, you can just coast from then on. That’s certainly not true for me; I have to keep working hard, which is a good thing, or I might sit back on the oars and float downstream.”

He not only put in a lot of physical labor at home helping mom carve a home out of the wilderness, but photographed far from home for long months each year and sent out masses of press and show prints when he was home. He was working to get his nature photographs used by organizations and publishers before the market for nature photography had been established. However, by continuously sending out prints, negatives and transparencies, and because nobody could argue with their quality and power for illustrating nature, publishing credits and exhibitions gradually came. Also, his mentor David Brower began to expose his work and use it in the popular and widely known Sierra Club Calendars, the Sierra Club Bulletin, brochures, and other publications for many conservation organizations such as National Audubon and the Wilderness Society, as well as many more local groups all over the Western States. Sunset magazine and other expensive slick magazines started using more photographs solely of nature during the transition to color as image reproduction technologies improved. Sunset, Life and other publishing houses also produced books showing and selling the American West to new families after World War II, who were also newly automobile-mobile and looking for places to visit, explore, camp and stay in the burgeoning variety of motel franchises. Hyde’s photographs, by the end of his full-time career, had been the primary illustrations in a few dozen large picture volumes and appeared in over 80 other books.

Meanwhile, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and his sons Brett and Cole, Minor White, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange and other fine print makers became increasingly popular in the black and white collecting art world. They invited Hyde and his other classmates and a few others who had talent in the darkroom, to exhibit with them in significant shows all over the nation and the world. White curated a solo show of Hyde’s work at the George Eastman House Museum, which led to a Hyde solo show at the Smithsonian in 1956.

From the time of their marriage in June 1947 until Dad began to lose his eyesight in 1999, he spent an average of 99 days a year in the field. Mom accompanied him the most during the months of June through August when she had time off from teaching kindergarten. Dad traveled mainly between April and October in the Western United States; camping, backpacking, driving, riding horses, mules, trains, planes and boats to access wilderness for almost one third of every year of his more than 60 years of full-time photography.

The spring and summer of 1955 are good examples of how much the Hydes traveled in Dad’s early career. Even with this level of road travel, Ardis and Philip still averaged far fewer driving miles than the average American couple. Throughout a 60-year full-time photography career, the Hydes averaged together less than 10,000 miles per year. American couples average over 27,000 miles per year.

2. P Hyde 4prey 36 Drakes Beach From Hilltop, Pt. Reyes National Seashore (vert) Bw 72x2048x1638s

Drakes Beach from Hilltop, Pt. Reyes National Seashore, California, 1962

In 1955, after buying the 1952 Chevy Pickup from Bret Weston in March, Mom and Dad put a camper shell on it, christened it Covered Wagon and took off in it from April through September. They spent the last 12 days in April over 300 miles from home in the Coast Redwoods. Next Dad turned around and journeyed alone over 600 miles south for the first half of May to photograph Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite. Continuously for the next three months Mom and Dad backpacked, camped, river rafted and drove thousands of miles through Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. This included three river trips: 13 days on the Colorado River through little known Glen Canyon, 26 days on the Yampa River in Utah and Wyoming inside Dinosaur National Monument, and five days on the Canyon of Lodore on the Green River, also in Dinosaur. By August 16, after three weeks in Wyoming in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park on a Sierra Club Pack Trip, Mom got a ride home with participants, but Dad continued on to Glacier National Park way up in Montana for 10 days and Olympic National Park in Washington for two more weeks. Dad did not see home until September 10.

4. P Hyde 4glen 135 Cathedral In The Desert, Glen Canyon (horiz) Bw 72x2048x1638s

Cathedral in the Desert, Glen Canyon, Utah, 1964

Such a schedule makes it challenging to build much of a life at home. However, after I was born in 1965 Mom began to stay home from many of Dad’s photography trips and she planted a garden. Her gardening endeavors increased in size and scope until when I was about 10 years old, she had expanded the tenable area from one side of the house to three sides and her vegetable garden grew to approximately 15 by 20 meters.

Part of what moderated Mom and Dad’s push to achieve was a belief that life is meant for living and not just for work. My parents read Eastern philosophers such as Lao Tzu, who taught that happiness lies in being rather than doing. They read Lin Yutang, who in his large volume called The Importance of Living enlightens the reader with such chapter titles as, Human Life as a Poem, Playful Curiosity, Tea and Friendship, Enjoyment of Nature, and On Going About and Seeing Things. Many other texts of philosophy, art, culture and large picture books lined the walls of bookshelves in our mountain home.

Part of what moderated Mom and Dad’s push to achieve was a belief that life is meant for living and not just for work.

8 Replace. P Hyde K Gc 38 Near Water's Edge 72x2048x1581s

Near Water’s Edge, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 1964

Another book I remember seeing around the house, Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World by Helen and Scott Nearing, contained instructions on how to live an enjoyable, self-sufficient lifestyle. About two months before my mother passed on in 2002, I interviewed her about gardening for beneficial insects and wildlife for a magazines article. We also discussed a garden I planted at my own home near Pecos, New Mexico. At one point Mom excused herself from the dining table where we were talking, walked into her bedroom and came back with her own personal copy of Living the Good Life. With moistening eyes, she handed it to me and said, “This was our bible, besides, of course The Bible.”

Indeed, Living the Good Life had been the bible for the entire Back to the Land Movement that began in the 1930s and peaked in the 1950s. The Nearings left New York City and farmed on rural land first in Vermont, then Maine. After their book came out, they developed a national following of people who moved out of the cities to get away from Post War crowding, industrialism, pollution and competition. Also, for the first time in history, the human psyche confronted the possibility of mass annihilation with the invention of the atomic bomb.

Like the Nearings, the Hydes endured exposure to a wide range of rural and wild conditions and predicaments. Mom and Dad were survivors and minimalists who conserved resources, energy and money. Dad either repaired or jury-rigged water lines, oil pumps, motors, batteries, light switches and everything else in the house and vehicles.

Like the Nearings, the Hydes endured exposure to a wide range of rural and wild conditions and predicaments. Mom and Dad were survivors and minimalists who conserved resources, energy and money. Dad either repaired or jury-rigged water lines, oil pumps, motors, batteries, light switches and everything else in the house and vehicles.
He fixed flat tires and mended broken equipment with patience, ingenuity and often little resources. Mom planned the food and supplies for their travels and did the preparation and packing. She supported Dad emotionally, physically and spiritually, even when she did not go along on his travels. When she did go along she kept the daily trip logs, read the guidebooks and learned the plants, animals and birds in each area they visited.

In 1962, the same year Rachel Carson released Silent Spring, the Sierra Club first introduced color to landscape photography with the release of In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World with color photographs by Eliot Porter and quotes from Henry David Thoreau and Island In Time: The Point Reyes Peninsula by Harold Gilliam with photographs by Philip Hyde. While In Wildness was a well-planned art book, Island In Time was a rush project for which David Brower chose Dad as photographer because Brower knew Dad could quickly get enough artistically interesting, yet documentary feeling images to put together a book that not only helped raise the funds necessary to buy the land to establish Point Reyes National Seashore before the developers could subdivide it, not to mention it shared the Point Reyes story with Congress and President John F. Kennedy, who finalized the Bill making it part of the national park system.

12. P Hyde K Ytm 105 Iceberg, Snow Patches, Ellery Lake, Yosemite N.p. 72x2048x1638s

Iceberg, Snow Patches, Ellery Lake, Yosemite National Park, 1980

Tolkien’s Shire in Lord Of The Rings

We immerse ourselves in monstrous feature films that drive our imaginations to places we could only imagine are found in fairy tails. Mountain ranges that are bleak, baron and leave a chill running down the spine, deserts where life seems unimaginable to exist, but the odd creature clings to life. Endless oceans either so calm motion is not even visible, or the other extreme of 100ft waves and driving rain with wind.

But what about the quaint, peaceful rolling green hills that are cultivated to perfection, where orchards can be found with lush trees bearing fruit. The view of soft mist from the mornings cool air and the meandering river gently pacing itself while fish rise to take the early morning insects. And cattle grazing creating the mowed lawns, whilst the hedges create the patchwork quilt landscape viewed from the hills. This can mean only one place, Tolkien's Shire in Lord Of The Rings. A place where the film starts it journey by showcasing the simple lives of the Hobbits. Was this a place created in his imagination, or is there more to the Shire than really meets the eye?

End frame: “Bloom” by Peter Coskun

It is almost impossible to choose just one image to write about since I constantly find inspiration in many great photographs almost on a daily basis. After some contemplation, I decided to choose American photographer Peter Coskun’s image Bloom. It is one of those images that I immediately gravitated towards and keep coming back to. It is also one of those images that made me slow down and dig a bit deeper, trying to figure out why it leaves me a long-lasting impression.

Like many landscape photographers, when I started learning photography, I was initially primarily drawn to photograph the grand landscape and chase the ultra-wide-angle dramatic visual effects. In later years, I realised that this is not the only way to photograph landscapes, and I slowly expanded my interest and focus from grand vistas to smaller scenes. Smaller scenes or nature abstracts, although sometimes harder to isolate and extract, present a lot more or even endless possibilities for creativity and help develop a personal vision. I also think they can often tell more unique stories compared with grand landscapes.

Mastering both grand landscapes and intimate small scenes is no easy feat. Each requires a different mindset. I say this because I myself am going through the learning curve. Peter Coskun’s portfolio demonstrates his proficiency in both. Based in Arizona, U.S., Peter has an impressive body of work that is specialised in his beloved southwest deserts, canyons, and mountains. His grand landscape work is jaw-droppingly beautiful, and his nature abstracts are equally captivating.

LITTORAL

By early 2022 we had both recovered from the success of our previous book, “New Beginnings”, and the £1,500 which went to the Young Minds charity. We wanted to build on our experiences, but, this time, have three rather than six photographers. We liked the idea that black and white images might produce a more coherent final book and attract a different range of photographers. Our most radical idea was that we wanted some words included in the book that was more than those normally provided by photographers themselves – we wanted a “proper” writer to be involved who would weave a story throughout the book and, in doing this reach a wider audience. This was all a bit of a step into the unknown. We did know; however, that blending together images from three photographers, all working separately, and then adding the words from an author responding to those photographs was going to be a challenge. Also, like before, we wanted to use this to raise money for a charity.

In looking for a theme, a charitable cause and a figurehead who would champion the project, we soon came to the conclusion that we should approach master printer Jack Lowe for help. Jack describes himself as a documentarist using photography, audio, film and words to shine a light on the greatness of others. Since 2015 Jack has been working on a major photographic mission — The Lifeboat Station Project. After asking to look at our earlier books, we were delighted when Jack accepted our invitation to come on board and has been with us ever since.

Finding an author was totally outside of our comfort zone, but luckily, we struck gold when we approached Merseyside author Jeff Young, whose book “Ghost Town - A Liverpool Shadowplay” (Little Toller, 2020) had so impressed Paul. Again, we sent a sample of our work, and almost overnight, he signed up.

We advertised the launch of the project on our website and through social media, after which a large number of excellent photographers expressed an interest in taking part. Through their websites, social media and other sources, we looked at their work, had a telephone call and agreed on the three who we thought gave us the best chance of achieving the sort of book we were after. Lynn, Ali and Fiona all seemed genuinely pleased when we got back in touch with them, and we have all worked together since then.

The photographers were given two months (September and October) to each submit around 20 black and white images that, in their view, best followed the brief. We gave them no guidance other than the odd vote of confidence in their ability to produce quality work. The images came in on time, and then we were faced with the challenge of coming up with a shortlist of 35 or so, which were sequenced in a decent manner and ideally had no one photographer over-represented.

Jeff’s key role started when we sent him a hard copy of our first draft sequence of images just after Christmas 2022. We were absolutely blown away when we received Jeff’s words. His enthusiasm has been an inspiration for us, and we could not have been happier with how his words were such a significant addition to the book.


Lynn Fraser

Once the euphoria of being selected to take part in the project had subsided, reality set in - I was at a loss as to how to proceed, given the remit was so wide. After some considerable thought about the type of subject matter I like to photograph, I decided to incorporate man-made objects in my images, and this opened up a variety of locations and subject matter within easy travelling distance from home. The images were not pre-planned as I mostly visited locations that I had not previously been to. Setting my camera’s picture style to monochrome helped me to see and compose the images once on location, and I came back from each excursion with a set of images that I felt fulfilled the brief. Selecting which images to submit from the body of work I had accumulated became the hardest part of the project.

Ol Image 1 Lynn Fraser

Mermaid of the North (Pp 23

The “Mermaid of the North”, as she is called, sits just a few metres from the shore on a large rock. For a sculpture, she has an intense gaze, and I wanted to capture this along with the sense of serenity I felt as I sat on the beach watching the small waves roll around her.

Ol Image 2 Lynn Fraser

Lighthouse with marram grass (Pp 33)

Stories of drowning sailors are whispered here and you can hear the feral grief of the witness. ~Jeff Young

I find lighthouses fascinating structures, both from an aesthetic and an engineering perspective. Always situated in obviously difficult, or even seemingly impossible, locations, lighthouses rise up as a steadfast testament to the determination and skill of those who built them, the lonely and harsh environment for those who manned them, and the signal of potential danger for those navigating our coastal waters. All these thoughts went through my mind as I made this image.

Ali Lewis

Living in Shropshire, I am slightly landlocked! However, a week after I discovered I had been selected for the project, I was due to take a family vacation in Devon. I've always loved this area, and a friend of mine recommended a lesser well-known beach near where we were staying. The beach proved to be a wonderful location full of fossils, shapes, textures, rocks, seaweed and many more things to explore. During this time, it was also one of the hottest weeks of the year which provided excellent light and shadows.

Although I found my time in Devon successful, I wanted to make the very most of the time I had to complete the project. I choose to spend two days in Harlech in Wales, and these days were blessed with stunning skies, fascinating beaches, peace and calm. I'm grateful for the wonderful experiences and moments this project has given me.

I spent many, many hours with my photos and feel a very tight bond with them. I narrowed them down from several hundred to twenty. I'd like to think the photos chosen for the book represent my love of the smaller, simple parts of nature, which I am naturally drawn to.

Ol Image 3 Ali Lewis

Grass drawing in the sand (Pp 25)

Despite the magnificent view of Harlech Beach in front of me, I ran excitedly down to the shore to explore it in more detail. I was drawn to a section of dunes with pink flowers, and as I lay down on the sand, my eye was drawn to a patch of long grass. I realised the grass was being gently blown by the wind and making patterns in the sand. It felt like I was in a little bubble, and the rest of the world disappeared around me.

Ol Image 4 Ali Lewis

Lines in the Rock (Pp 37)

The lines in the stones resemble the lines in my body, lines like scars and wounds. ~Jeff Young

The beach in Devon was covered in rocks of all different sizes, many were smooth and slightly freckled, giving me the impression of skin or bodies with their smooth edges. After exploring for a little while, I found a rock with large white lines streaking down it. This automatically gave me the impression of veins and a lifeline within nature, representing how it is all connected.

Fiona McCowan

Mid-August. I have been selected for the Littoral project. Delight is quickly followed by mild panic. The brief - twenty new black and white images taken at the coast and ready by the end of October. I live in rural Gloucestershire, miles from the sea. I’m away from mid October. Can I meet the deadline? Will my images be OK? Frantically rearranging the diary to accommodate trips to the coast. An understanding and supportive husband, John. A friend, Carole, arranges a trip to Whitby. Cornish location suggestions from Richard. Trips to North Devon, Cornwall, North Yorkshire and Fife. Images edited, images selected, then discarded; repeat! Last minute day trip to Porthcawl. A final choice was made. Sense of relief.

Ol Image 5 Fiona Mccowan

Pier - Flowers (Pp 13)

Dead Flowers. I won't forget to put roses on your grave. At the end of the pier, a young woman sitting motionless on a bench, crying silently. Her anguish too private to photograph. A faded wreath tied to the railings.

Ol Image 6 Fiona Mccowan

The Sea (Front Cover)
"It is alright to feel lost and to not understand how we got here, to navigate without maps" Jeff Young

And the rain fell down. Early morning walk along the South West coastal path abandoned. Torrential rain and strong gusty winds. Now safely on the beach. Watching with awe. Thinking about the Japanese aesthetic of yūgen: a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe … and the sad beauty of human suffering.


The hardback photobook is available to preorder from http://littoralphotobook.co.uk and will be available from June.

  • Standard hardback book £20
  • Standard hardback book – signed £25
  • Standard hardback book – signed + 1 print £40
  • Standard hardback book – signed + 3 prints £55
  • Standard hardback book – signed + 6 prints £75
  • Limited edition (4) handmade book with slipcase – signed £180

Vanda Ralevska – Portrait of a Photographer

Beauty is all around us, but sometimes what differentiates our ability to notice is that beauty is a matter of perspective, shaped by everything that makes us who we are as individuals. Our childhood experiences, education, hobbies, adventures in nature, the people we meet, the books we read, and the trials we go through as human beings all factor into shaping us and making us unique. This uniqueness is our number one gift as photographers. It isn’t the gear we choose to purchase, the locations we decide to travel to, or the editing techniques we learn (although these are all important to one degree or another, of course). By focusing on what makes us who we are, we open the door for personal expression and allow the world to see how we see.

The subject of this article, Vanda Ralevska, is an example of how perspective can shape how we see the world and what we appreciate and notice about it as photographers. She grew up in the former country of Czechoslovakia in a coal mining area – shaped by that world and those times. Throughout childhood, she found herself surrounded by coal mines, blast furnaces, and chimneys. Her father gifted her a camera at a young age, which opened a whole new way of discovering the world around her. This unique upbringing in Czechoslovakia helped forge who she is today and what makes her gravitate towards the subjects she does.

Autumnalthames

A large focus of Vanda’s approach to photography and how she chooses subjects revolves around finding things of interest “close to her doorstep.”

Jeff Freestone

Where The Whild Things Grow
Sometimes I find that Matt Payne and I have independently been circling the same photographers (Matt featured Jeff in a Portrait of a Photographer in December 21). Since leaving the city and making a home in the High Country in the northeast of the state of Victoria, Australia, Jeff has dusted off his DSLR and found a new purpose in photographing the area. As many of us find, photography has been a means to see and experience much more, as well as a creative outlet. Some of Jeff’s most striking images are of the contorted forms of snow gum.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to do?

I currently live in a small remote town in the Victorian High Country (Australia) with my wife and three children. Originally both from Melbourne, we relocated to the high country in 2017, seeking a much simpler life for us and our kids away from the noise and chaos of city life.

Growing up, I had a love of drawing, mostly copying pictures and trying to replicate photos as best I could. I enjoyed all sorts of drawing, from portraiture to landscapes, basically, anything that I was attracted to, I would want to try and draw.

My interest in drawing carried on into school, where I relished art classes which then lead to me pursuing art and design subjects in secondary school. My love of the art and design field grew immensely in secondary school, and I began thinking about pursuing it as a career choice.

I went on to study graphic design however found it very difficult to secure a job after completing my studies. The industry was extremely competitive at the time, and I required further study to have any chance of securing a job. Consequently, the level of candidate selection for university was very high, and unfortunately, I missed out on securing an enrolment.

Past masters and expressive photography

My first encounter with Hasui’s work was like meeting a kindred mind as well as a mentor. It was a warm evening, and I had just visited the Museum Pompidou in Paris with my girlfriend and a visiting friend. Despite living within the limits of the Paris Region (called Ile-de-France), it is rare for us to spend time in Paris, but the occasion to see an old friend and visiting an exhibition was more than enough to convince us both. Towards the end of the afternoon, our friend left for the airport, and we kept strolling around Beaubourg Quartier until nightfall. A small bookstore had practically invaded one of the long paved pedestrian roads with his many book stalls. Parisian book stalls are renowned to have rare art books in quantity. As we both love books, especially art ones, without saying a word, we were already in compulsive browsing mode, and our sole preoccupation was if we had enough time before it closed.

After a short while, I happened to see a book with a marvellous illustration of a Japanese scene, just lying there on top of a pile of books. What struck me the most at first was the masterfully balanced composition and the exquisite colour choices, which conveyed an intense mood. I instantly felt the desire to see more from this book and to learn about its creator, whom at that point I didn’t even know the name of, but I recognised that what I saw was the result of decades of practice, passion and dedication to the craft.

As I opened the book and browsed through it, I was a bit let down by the almost complete lack of text as I would have hoped for information about the artist and his work, but I was pleased to see an extensive gallery showing his superb work. The richness of each artwork and the consistency in quality convinced me to buy the book titled in French “Le Japon Eternel” (“Eternal Japan”) by French publisher “Editions Langlaude”. Despite there being many other art books, this is the only one I bought. I knew it would have kept me busy for a while despite its lack of written explanations. To remedy that, I had to find out more about the artist’s life elsewhere.

After a long time contemplating the work shown in the book, I started to research the artist. His name was Kawase Hasui, and lived between 1883 and 1957. So called “poet of the emotions of travel”, he was the heir to the landscape painters of the Ukiyo-e pictorial school (approximately 1650-1890) and one of the main representatives of a long tradition of painters of Japanese woodblock prints in the first half of the 20th century. With his prints series "Twenty views of Tokyo" or "Choice of landscapes of Tokaido" he enters into the tradition of painters of famous sites of Japan, following the path already traced by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). Hasui was the most successful and prolific artist of the Shin-Hanga movement (1906-1950) and specialised in landscape views.

After a short while, I happen to see a book with a marvellous illustration of a Japanese scene, just lying there on top of a pile of books. What struck me the most at first was the masterfully balanced composition and the exquisite colour choices, which conveyed an intense mood.

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How were Japanese prints made?

The Japanese print uses the technique of xylography, a woodcut relief printing technique. Each print was entirely made by hand, no printings press was used. It comes from a very old process that came from China and arrived in Japan around the 8th century, used for writing books and copying sutras (Buddhist canons), then abandoned by lay patrons for painting or illustration. It was, therefore, only around the 17th century that images were made for non-religious purposes.

KINGDOM

There are places we have visited when we were younger that leave a lasting impression on our souls. Whether that is a yearning to go back to those places, to move and live immersed in their beauty or just a love of being out in the the vast landscapes.

For Norman, he spent holidays as a child around County Kerry, and it wasn't until he started photography that he realised the impact those memories had on him. Norman has devoted the past thirty years to making images around the area. His love and passion has not diminished, in fact, his connection to the sense of place has deepened and evolved.  I caught up with Norman earlier in 2023 to hear about his new book Kingdom and to hear more about his connection to this rugged and dramatic landscape.


We spoke to you last in 2019 was, when you had launched your book 'Beara' bring us up to date with your work since then.

It's been a hectic four years since BEARA came out, including the two weird years of Covid! However, that book led to many things, such as talks, presentations, and a lot of newly commissioned work. It also helped visitors to the gallery, and despite the pandemic, the last two years were our busiest ever. I began working on the new book KINGDOM almost immediately after BEARA was released. The success of that book and how it was received gave me the confidence to continue to work with a more personal approach to the landscape and continue to make the type of images I’m really enjoying.

Kingdom 1

Division

It was an obsession but one that drew me out into the landscape enough for me to eventually feel there was little else to learn but everything to see. As a result, I began to feel a deep connection to this place, which comes with familiarity, experiences and an understanding of all aspects, from history to geology.

Kingdom 2

Hawthorn

Paul Wakefield has written the foreword for the book. How did that come about? Is Paul someone who’s inspired you over the years?

I first met Paul at the Meeting of Minds conference in Rheged in 2014. We had been in touch before as my book came runner-up to his book The Landscape in the International Photography Awards, and I sent him a congratulatory email. As he is such a gent, he clocked my name tag in a coffee queue, introduced himself, and we had a few good chats over the weekend. As the central theme of my work is 'connection,' I thought of people who had a connection to Kerry in some way for the foreword. I asked Paul, as he has worked in Kerry before and has photographed some of my favourite remote locations that others still rarely visit. So he had a connection to Kerry, and of course, his work is inspirational, not just to me but to many landscape photographers out there. Working with him on it was a pleasure, and he writes as eloquently as he photographs!

End frame: Light Show by Sandra Bartocha

Art is the ability to generate sensations and go straight to the depths, touching the right chord. There is no logic or rationality in finding oneself akin to a particular song, a painting or a photograph that becomes special for us.

I am a nature landscape photographer and for me photography has always been a magic eye through which seeing reality in a different way. And, inevitably, the way I look into the lens over the years has followed my intimate and personal development, mirroring my moods and my inner growth.

For months, after the pandemic, I have not been able to photograph as I would like. I was closed in everyday loops, overcome by intense and sometimes claustrophobic fears. It was a though period, which marked us, leaving the concern of living normal relationships with the people and made us lose our self-confidence.

I know there could have been moments of standstill like these during life and I also know that we must get the most of them and begin again.

And I did realise there is not the perfect shot, there is the perfect light. The light within us.

I was asked to write an end frame on one of my favourite photographs for On Landscape; and, almost without thinking, I chose Sandra Bartocha's "Light Show”. It represents for me the simple beauty, the one that bursts into life always and despite everything.

The Evolving Beholder’s Share

Warp Speed In Slow Motion

First Shakespeare sonnets seem meaningless; first Bach fugues, a bore; first differential equations, sheer torture. But training changes the nature of our spiritual experiences. In due course, contact with an obscurely beautiful poem, an elaborate piece of counterpoint or of mathematical reasoning, causes us to feel direct intuitions of beauty and significance.~Aldous Huxley

Alois Riegl was a key figure in establishing art history as an academic discipline.

In this sense, beholders are not just passive receivers of meaning, they are also an artist’s partners, collaborators, and co-creators in the experience of art. Building on Riegl’s work, Ernst Gombrich, in his book, Art and Illusion, coined the term “the beholder’s share,” referring to what viewers bring to the experience of deriving meaning from art.
He was also among the first to recognise that meaning in art comes not only from the creating artist but also from how an artwork is interpreted by beholders—viewers, readers, listeners—who bring their own knowledge, sensibilities, culture, beliefs, and perceptions to their encounters with art. In this sense, beholders are not just passive receivers of meaning, they are also an artist’s partners, collaborators, and co-creators in the experience of art. Building on Riegl’s work, Ernst Gombrich, in his book, Art and Illusion, coined the term “the beholder’s share,” referring to what viewers bring to the experience of deriving meaning from art.

Minor White, in one of his last interviews, described what, in practice, is the beholder’s share in photography. Asked whether meaningful reading of a photograph requires more than just “a degree of self-awareness,” White responded: “The more knowledge (including technical, psychological, historical, and personal) that a viewer brings to a photograph, the richer will be his experience.”

The idea that viewers may interpret (or misinterpret) mimetic art differently from what an artist had intended is certainly not new. For example, Plato [see my article, “Transcendent Forms and Noble Lies”] worried that people may be tempted to believe mimetic images and confuse them for true reality, and Immanuel Kant suggested that those who wish to appreciate fully the artistic beauty of mimetic art must approach the artwork with “disinterestedness” [see my article, “Disinterested Interest”] (that is, without caring whether the items depicted in the artwork correlate with objects in the real world). Certainly, meaning in art and the role of the beholder’s share in deriving this meaning becomes even more complex in the case of abstract and other nonrepresentational art.

Ian Potter

Ianpotter Dsc08990 Copy 2
So often, when we go out, we look afar. It took the restriction of the first Covid lockdown in 2020 and circling the same loop of the lane that I’d walked for more than a decade for me to really start noticing the life and lines within the area between the macadam and the drystone wall. Consequently, I was intrigued when I came across Ian’s series ‘Beside Me’, which majors on the vegetation that is next to us. That’s not to say he doesn’t look beyond or above.

Ian describes his photography as “a personal exploration into landscape, stemming from a desire to reignite his own creativity in mid-life while trying to find a new way of capturing landscape, with a focus on how we as humans often inadvertently affect the aesthetic of our surroundings through commerce and other activity.”

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what led you to study and do for work?

I live in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, a small market town set within the open countryside beyond The Chilterns as you leave London to the west. It is here in around 2016 that I first started to think about and practice my landscape photography. I was raised in Sussex and spent most of my youth either cycling with friends through the local forests or dodging the headcases at school (pupils and teachers alike). The town of Horsham was, and probably still is, one the UK’s most ardent Conservative strongholds, with little time for the arts, let alone finance for it.

I was around 15 years old when I went with my mum to see a Bill Brandt exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which for me was a big deal. I remember being totally blown away by it. Until that point, photographs had only been things I’d seen in books or newspapers or in the family album. Suddenly they were printed in large frames in a grand gallery.
My mum and dad were very rare creatures, both being left thinking liberals and interested in culture; my mum was a gifted amateur artist. Thatcher was in her pomp, and my mother objected to her and everything she and the Tories stood for, so I grew up in a house which was very different to that of most of my peers at school.

I was around 15 years old when I went with my mum to see a Bill Brandt exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which for me was a big deal. I remember being totally blown away by it. Until that point, photographs had only been things I’d seen in books or newspapers or in the family album. Suddenly they were printed in large frames in a grand gallery. My Grandparents gifted me my first camera, an Olympus Trip, and my parents allowed me to turn my bedroom into a darkroom with black walls, black-out panels for the windows, an enlarger and all the kit for developing film and making black and white prints. It probably wasn’t the healthiest of environments to sleep in, with trays of chemicals on the shelf next to my bed. I learned the basics with the help of one of my secondary school teachers who ran a photography club; I developed and printed my own work and won a few local competitions.

After surviving the daily battles of comprehensive school and emerging with a pretty basic set of qualifications, things soon changed for the better. I went on to study A Levels at the local sixth form college, and it was here at Collyers where I first started to feel comfortable about enjoying and exploring the arts surrounded as I was by a brilliant mix of like-minded peers, many of whom are still friends now, and some inspirational teachers.

A Peculiar Apparatus

Imagine that one day, while out hiking alone, you come upon a peculiar device filled with little buttons and dials of different colours. Each one is labelled with something like “clouds, light angle, rain, light intensity, fog, etc.” After some experimentation, you realise that by pushing the buttons in different combinations, you are instantly able to command the weather, change the angle and warmth of the light, and even momentarily pause the movement of the sun. You now have full control over any scene you photograph and are able to create the “perfect” moment exactly as you envision it in your mind.

Bluedream

You bring this device along as you visit all different kinds of destinations. After settling on a composition, like some sort of wizard, you summon the snow and golden light or intense lightning and a double rainbow.
You bring this device along as you visit all different kinds of destinations. After settling on a composition, like some sort of wizard, you summon the snow and golden light or intense lightning and a double rainbow. Chasing the light is no longer of your concern because you can bring it right to you. Shadows fall wherever you wish, and the ideal light illuminates all the right areas. You are able to experience the most epic and unique conditions you can imagine, even in places where they could never occur naturally. Your portfolio begins to fill with images beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, larger-than-life scenes as no one has ever seen before.

Your incredible photographs quickly gain you recognition as an artist. People are blown away by your work, and it spreads all around the world. Many of your peers accuse your photographs of being “fake,” but you quickly shut them down by easily providing proof that you have indeed captured everything in camera. Your photographs win competitions and receive many awards. It’s not long before you’re considered one of the best photographers in the world.

Kelp

Kelp? Aye, right enough. Why kelp? I’ve no idea. I hate doing the zen thing. Talking about mindfulness and the like. I’m a rough-arse Scotsman. Thick-skinned and all that sort of thing. I’ll say it to your face, not behind your back. So why do I get so much enjoyment out of seaweed? Is it a sign that I secretly yearn to be thought of as a creative?

For people to look at my work and say in a genteel Edinburgh accent, “Isn’t that Mark Littlejohn wonderfully artistic”. Again, I have no idea. I have no idea about a lot of things as it happens. Truth be told I’ve never had a project before. And certainly not one that’s had me thinking that maybe I am a bit of an artist. Perhaps there is a wee bit more to all this talk of zen and mindfulness than I have previously admitted to myself. All I know is that I was wandering with the dog down at Far Away beach one morning. The tide was out. In fact it wasn’t just out. It looked like it was going on its holidays somewhere far off and distant. And as the dog and I wandered, I saw the kelp.

A multitude of shapes, all layered in the most elegant way by the outgoing tide. A sensuous swoop and sway to its curvaceous folds. It was everywhere. Sprouting from the sand like Camel Thorn trees in a Namibian Desert. Layered over dark boulders, each strand intertwined with the next. It was these strands that fascinated me. I’ve always said that if you see something that makes you smile or swear, then you should photograph it. So I did.

Why do I get so much enjoyment out of seaweed? Is it a sign that I secretly yearn to be thought of as a creative?

564a1344 Edit

Even on my dog walks, I have a camera. A jack of all trades sort of thing. In a little waist bag, swung over my shoulder like a bandolero. A bit like one of the baddies in The Good, The and The Ugly. When I looked at the photographs later, I realised I was showing too much of what had fascinated me.

Changed Priorities

I questioned my motives for writing this article and thought long and hard before putting pen to paper. Was I doing it for sympathy or engaging in self-pity? If either of these were the motives, it was time to rip the page from my notepad. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I wanted to try to explain how the biggest change in my life that I feared would put an end to photography but has, instead, lead me in a different direction and help me to improve. I think I also wanted to articulate how photography has been a respite that’s enabled me to escape from the challenges that since 2014 have been my world.

Approaching Fog, Sunrise , Barmston East Yorkshire

Approaching Fog, Sunrise , Barmston East Yorkshire

Let me explain. In late November 2014, my wife, Tracey, had been unwell for a few days and was admitted to hospital with what we thought was a bug. In fact, it was cancer. She had emergency, life changing surgery later that day, followed by chemotherapy in 2015. 8 years and 3 major operations, radiotherapy and 3 rounds of chemotherapy later, with more chemo to come in 2023, the physical effects are there for all to see.

Finding the time to make images and meet my caring responsibilities and work commitments has been difficult. After a period when photography was almost forgotten, I realised that I needed to pursue my passion for my own well-being. It was time for a plan.
She endures treatment with a remarkable stoicism and courage that is truly inspiring. Gone are the days when I could go away on photography trips or have time to travel to make images, caring for my wife takes precedence. It’s a form of lockdown that pre-existed Covid-19 and will continue, and the longer it continues, the better.

Landscape photography has been my passion for many years. Finding the time to make images and meet my caring responsibilities and work commitments has been difficult. After a period when photography was almost forgotten, I realised that I needed to pursue my passion for my own well-being. It was time for a plan. How could I fit photography into my life in the way I had before? I couldn’t. A plan wasn’t going to be enough; it needed to evolve into a whole new way of thinking. I had to find a way to stop feeling resentful of diminished opportunity and jealous of other photographers who were posting superb images on social media from wonderful locations in the UK and around the world.

I had to devise a whole new strategy. Travel was out of the question, and I knew I would have to fit photography around Tracey’s chemotherapy. Treatment was (and will be again) 2 weeks on treatment, with 2 weeks off. It takes around 7 to 10 days for her to recuperate before treatment begins again. I also knew from past experience that Tracey’s severe side effects would me to be on hand. Also, during the latter half of each previous round of chemotherapy, she has needed blood transfusions, adding to her care needs throughout the day.

Outfall, Mablethorpe

Outfall, Mablethorpe

Clearing Rain, Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire

Clearing Rain, Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire

The reality was I could only reliably plan for 1 Sunday morning per month for landscape photography and would need to be home for Tracey to get up. Shoot planning became a prerequisite. I couldn’t simply go out and see what I could see to make images; I didn’t have the time for this. Being born and raised by the coast, it’s unsurprising that I have an affinity with the sea and living near to the Lincolnshire coast made decision making about potential subjects quite easy.

Detailed shoot planning such as sunrise times and directions, tide and travel times (including how long it would take to walk for the car to the location), subject vantage points and accessibility were needed if I was to make the most of fleeting opportunities.

Locations are dictated by the time of year; during winter months, travel time was limited simply because the sun rises later, and I had to limit myself to be no more than 20 to 30 mins drive from home, which is just long enough to reach nearby locations. Summer months provide greater opportunity because I have more travel time available when sunrise is around 4:30 am. In effect this gives me around 2 hours travel radius, which brings East Yorkshire coast locations into play, including Flamborough Head, Withernsea, Hornsea, Bridlington and other smaller locations. Sadly, Spurn Point, one of my favourite places in the world, remains tantalizingly just out of reach because since its geography was changed in 2013 by the tidal surge access on foot and it now takes too long to walk from the car. Returning to locations has also allowed me to capture them in different conditions to create a selection of photographs of the same subject.

Being born and raised by the coast, it’s unsurprising that I have an affinity with the sea and living near to the Lincolnshire coast made decision making about potential subjects quite easy.

Broken Fence, Mablethorpe Lincolnshire

Broken Fence, Mablethorpe Lincolnshire

If I’m being honest with myself and those reading this, preparation and planning are vital tools in my photographic process, but working to overcome resentment of diminished opportunity and time and the jealousy of others was the game changer. I now look to distil time and embrace opportunity and celebrate the work of others. It’s not been an easy process, but it has helped me to resume my creative endeavours that now serve to bolster my wellbeing

The shortlisting of 8-10 images to submit with this article has been a difficult but affirming experience. I’m really pleased with so many of the images I’ve made and can see progression in my work, which I know comes from the additional application because each opportunity is precious and more keenly experienced.

I know what the future holds for my wife, and negativity around photography should not be part of that, but the positivity of engaging with my creativity should be, not only for my own wellbeing but to help me to care for her to the best of my ability.

End frame: “Sand Patterns, Laig Bay” by Hugh Milsom

My Endframe is “Sand patterns, Laig Bay” by Hugh Milsom. It is a beautiful image and its meaning to me comes from where it fits in my photography story.

As an amateur enthusiast photographer, my photography has evolved in bursts. The injections of pace were given by different things, some by equipment, some by devoting time to it, some by workshops. Wildlife photography was my favourite genre, and I enjoy capturing scenes that are very short lived, with a set-up and skills that need to be intuitive and achievable without taking my eye off the subject. Knowing the camera and a good understanding of the algorithms underlying settings/buttons is essential to capture a moment with emphasis on what you want to express.

I know now that I was amongst many who experienced a dissatisfaction with my photography after the transfer to digital. Fortuitously at that time, I was introduced to a camera club which proved a superb source for information and much better tailored help than my previous reliance on photography magazines.

Camera club photography competition is an interesting ‘beast’. There are several must-haves (like a subject?) and several must-not-haves (like burnt out areas). Learning the criteria and the skill sets to achieve them improved my photography immensely and I warmly recommend going through this process/apprenticeship.

However, my image making, whilst qualitatively hugely improved, became centred on how it might perform in competition. I had lost the art, or at least I was putting it second to the skills and the feelings.

Moon Connection

Full Moon

Landscape and our closest celestial body – photography paths leading through cultural meaning and Cartesian geometry.

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Moon Moonrise

There was a moon, and there was a mountain. The mountain had close relations with the Moon. Particularly with the Full Moon that visited her regularly and hung over her top for a while. When the Moon was supposed to appear, the sky got beautiful navy blue. The Moon was always on time, and the mountain was always on place. The Moon was not only bright but also preceded and followed by light. She was dark. Once just dark, once true solid black. They both were no-hurry types. Even when things went pretty fast from one point of view, they slowed down from the other. When rising, the Moon seemed to climb over her hillside like a point going along a chart of a math function. The mountain symbolised the Earth’s landscape. The landscape is reduced to a single form. The Moon symbolised a comer. One thing is constant, and the other one – is constantly on the way. One shape that dominates locally, and the second one - is in the Universe. Both are nearly perfect. A strong connection without a touch. When together, they became a story. When alone, each of them was a promise of the story. As far as their relations lasted...

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Simple Landscape With The Moon

This is how I saw the Moon in my home landscape between 2016 and 2019. The mountain is called Ptasznik (the word is difficult to translate, but it comes from the Polish word “ptak” which means a bird; Germans used to call her Vogelberg, which means a bird mountain).

“Full Moon” is inspired by many well known cultural meanings of our world and our closest celestial body, as well as it is a kind of geometry-play. I wanted to create a universal story placed in my local landscape and to propose a symbolic and minimalistic version of traditional landscape photography.
She is one of these very characteristic triangle-shaped peaks, so despite of being pretty low (717 meters above sea level), I have seen her as a well representative for all the mountains. The title of my project is “Full Moon”. It has seven photos, and I believe it will not be more. “Full Moon” is inspired by many well known cultural meanings of our world and our closest celestial body, as well as it is a kind of geometry-play. I wanted to create a universal story placed in my local landscape and to propose a symbolic and minimalistic version of traditional landscape photography.

The photo titled “Simple landscape with the Moon” is an antipostcard for me. A typical landscape postcard is composed according to the rule of thirds and presents pretty colourful landscape, including many eye-attractive objects. Often the thing aligned with one of the strong points is the Sun at sunset. Postcards are like dishes in a restaurant where everything – steak, chips and salad – looks tasty and has its place on a plate and stimulates joyful feelings. My photo is also composed in such a manner, but everything else is in opposition: the colours are only a few, the landscape is reduced to a single simple shape, and there is the Moon instead of the Sun. I do not think it is sad etc., but it is not joyful as well. The other photos in the project are kept in this convention however, major surreal effects appear. This series is put in order like most novels with an introduction (“Meanwhile”), action set up (“Moonrise”), a culminating phase (“Ptasznik and the Moon”, “Simple landscape with the Moon”, “Moon way”) and the end (the photos have not been titled yet). It is my only series in which chronology plays a crucial role.

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Full Moon Moon Way

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Full Moon, No Title

Semicirlcles

My second lunar project is named “Semicircles” and it could be described as an evolution of “Full Moon” however, it has appeared in my mind partly because of nature protection matters. The highest mountain I can see from my town is “Śnieżnik” (the word is also difficult to translate, it comes from the Polish word “śnieg” which means snow; Germans used to call her Schneeberg, which means a snowy mountain). There are no trees on the top of her which is hundred percent natural thing (1425 meters above sea level and severe microclimate). Śnieżnik has a beautiful look, especially in early spring when the forest under the top is seen from a distance as blue or black, and there is still snow on the highest part. No wonder this mountain became a heart of a landscape park. But it does not mean she is well protected.

The highest mountain I can see from my town is “Śnieżnik” (the word is also difficult to translate, it comes from the Polish word “śnieg” which means snow; Germans used to call her Schneeberg, which means a snowy mountain).

Semicircles Hill Pziemacki

Hill

Semicircles Dome Pziemacki

Dome

A few years ago, the local authorities decided to destroy this natural landscape by building a view tower (unfortunately, it has been done yet). When I heard that horrible news, I wanted to celebrate the Śnieżnik’s natural shape in some special way. I was wondering what was the key feature of her, and the answer was a semicircle-like shape, emphasised by the bald top. That is how I decided to put the mountain and the Moon in a first quarter one below the other.

A few years ago, the local authorities decided to destroy this natural landscape by building a view tower (unfortunately, it has been done yet). When I heard that horrible news, I wanted to celebrate the Śnieżnik’s natural shape in some special way. I was wondering what was the key feature of her, and the answer was a semicircle-like shape, emphasised by the bald top.
The photo is titled “Hill”. The project consists of three photos. All of them have the same basis of comparing the Moon in the first or last phase with some another semicircle or oval natural object. The other two photos have been taken in the Stolowe Mountains National Park, that is in my neighbourhood too. I have an idea to take the fourth photo, and I am still waiting for the necessary weather conditions.

The Moon, though often visible in the daytime, is strongly connected with night, so also spiritual and mystic things. I do not feel that mysticism dominates my photography, but it is present there for sure. One of the common lunar concepts from mysterious tales is an old forest to be crossed by a main character on a moonlit night (generally, doing something at moonlit is usually a magical experience). I have a standing alone photo which uses this motive. It is titled “Scary forest”, and it was taken on a peat bog – one of the most important nature preserves in my neighbourhood - where withered trees are a part of nature landscape. Literally, except for the sky, there are only the relict trees and the Moon so this frame is hundred percent magic.

Standing Alone Scary Forest Pziemacki

Standing alone in a scary forest

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Standing alone, postcard for Lynch

As an epilogue, I have a photo which I have taken being inspired by David Lynch’s films, “Twin Peaks” – probably my favourite series - especially. This photo is titled “A postcard for Lynch”. His films - or even the first season of “Twin Peaks” alone - have so rich symbolism that may be the best option is not to write here about it. Just want you to know I miss no owl wanted to sit in front of my camera. So there is space for a better postcard...

Full Moon

Semicircles

4×4 Portfolios

Welcome to our 4x4 feature, which is a set of four mini landscape photography portfolios which has been submitted for publishing. Each portfolio consists of four images related in some way.

Submit Your 4x4 Portfolio

Interested in submitting your work? We are always keen to get submissions, so please do get in touch!


Graham Meek

4 days in Sutherland

Graham Meek 4x4


Konrad Hellfeuer

Horse Play

Konrad Hellfeuer 4x4


Milan Gonda

Wetland of River Turiec

River Turiec, Slovakia.


Peter Conway

Autumn Groundscapes

Peter Conway 4x4


Horse Play

Konrad Hellfeuer 4x4

Horse Play is a visual metaphor disseminated across four photos, each composed of the subtlety to be found only in the stillness of nature. A state of grace, of existence and being without thought - without concept of any past or future - only the present, the eternal now. It is this infinite and boundless state that excites me as a nature photographer, to magnify on that stillness for my audience to (also) be witness to the stillness and grace of nature itself.

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4 Days in Sutherland

Graham Meek 4x4

Sutherland is an ironic name. It's origins lie in Old Norse, with it being the land south of Scandinavia and the Norse colonies of Shetland and Orkney. Sutherland is around as far north as you can in mainland UK and as different as you could imagine from the flatlands of East Anglia, where I live. Early in my adventure with a large format camera and film I took myself to Sutherland for four days to immerse myself in photography and suffer the joys of a midsummer sunrise so far north. These are four favourite images from that trip and they persuaded me to continue on my journey using the not so new technology.

Droman Pier Looking North Droman Pier To Ben Stack Beached Trees Oldshoremore Morning

Autumn Groundscapes

Peter Conway 4x4

This set of images illustrates the interplay between water – both solid and liquid – and leaves – on, above, and below the surface of the water. Covering early autumn to early winter, they highlight the gestures and contrasts found in nature as one season transitions to the next.

These images are a subset of a larger collection I refer to as "groundscapes". They represent an evolution in the subjects which have resonated with me over time – from the grand landscape to intimate landscapes and, finally, more abstract landscapes. As my interest in the abstract has evolved, I've found that I increasingly point my camera "down" at the earth, rather than "out" at the earth, as there are entire worlds, literally at our feet.

Autumn Ice Autumn Reflections 5 Early Autumn Stream Leaves On Pond

Astrid Preisz

Carried Away

Astrid wrote a beautiful article for On Landscape in 2021 about finding creativity and the difference that it makes to her. I very much recognise and agree with her assertion that the best course of action is to keep an open mind. The piece was accompanied by a series of personal and often intimate images, and two years on it seems a good opportunity to see what other fruits time spent in nature and an absence of preconceived outputs have led to.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to do?

I grew up in Graz, a medium-sized city in Austria surrounded by forests and mountains, so I was never far from nature. I was a shy and introverted child who always felt as though I didn't belong. We didn't have much, my parents worked hard, and I was an only child, so I spent a lot of time alone. I loved being outside in the forest, dreaming up my own worlds, writing fairy tales and poems. I didn't have many friends, and I always felt uncomfortable around other people - I saw myself as an oddball. As I got older, I tried desperately to fit in by putting all the things I thought were unwanted by society in a box and burying that box as deep as I could and putting on a mask that I wore for many, many years. I studied to become an interpreter and ended up working as a scientific coordinator in a research centre and being a caregiver for my elderly and sick parents - secretly mourning the imaginative child and plagued by anxiety and depression.

Gifts of the Well and the Field

Imagine you were forced to choose. Either you had to do all your future photography in just one single location, or every photo you take would have to be at a new place, for the rest of your life. What would you choose?

Thankfully, few of us are forced to make such a definitive choice. But all photographers must make some version of it. How wide or narrow should the scope of my photography be? Should I work within tight and well-defined boundaries – for example only particular types of images, in just some specific location? Or should I throw a wider net, trying a bit of everything? Maybe seascapes one day, macros of flowers the other.

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I call these two approaches The Well and The Field, going deep or going wide. I believe most photographers do a bit of both, and many of us probably are not even thinking about it. We just shoot things we are attracted to, and sometimes we are attracted to the same things and the same locations, and sometimes not.

Hans Gunnar Aslaksen – Portrait of a Photographer

I recently spent some time watching a bartender care for her patrons who were ordering fancy drinks that incorporated four or five ingredients that didn’t seem like they should go together. The bartender was taking care to use just the right amount of her chosen ingredients, utilising artful techniques that playfully blended each of them into a tasty and beautiful concoction. I admired how she was able to skillfully combine a shot of high-end bourbon, a splash of bitters, a small amount of simple syrup, a few ice cubes, and a dehydrated orange wheel into a glass that had been placed over a smoking pile of wood chips to create a “Smoked Old Fashion.” It reminded me of the way in which some photographers are able to craft their images using disparate elements that wouldn’t necessarily go together to create an image that is greater than the sum of its parts. It reminded me of the work of Hans Gunnar Aslaksen.

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I first became aware of Hans’ work because he submitted it to the Natural Landscape Photography Awards last year, where he earned a top 10 finish for his overall portfolio. There was something about his work that drew me in, wanting to more closely understand why it stood out so prominently amongst thousands of other photographers’ images.

When I learned that Hans had a graphic design background, it made me instantly realise why his photography works so well – he has formally studied the techniques necessary for creating appealing designs in his day-to-day life as an art director.
When I learned that Hans had a graphic design background, it made me instantly realise why his photography works so well – he has formally studied the techniques necessary for creating appealing designs in his day-to-day life as an art director. This includes composition, colour theory, the use of patterns and shapes, and using images to communicate ideas.

Discovering Purpose

Cody Schultz Plate Lii

When you find something at which you have talent, you do that thing until your fingers bleed or your eyes pop out of your head. ~Stephen King

What is the Meaning of Life?

Ah - the ultimate question. The singular ask which has led to more wars, more conflict in the world than any other question man has ever conceived. What, my dear reader, is the meaning of life?

According to the most intelligent computer in the universe, "Deep Thought" (https://amzn.to/3BRYwAK), the answer is simply 42.

Perhaps a better question than this, however, is why we as a species are so overtly concerned with the meaning of our lives. Personally, I have never witnessed my dog attempting to figure out the meaning in life; nor do I believe a fish swims in its bowl, pondering how it arrived there, wondering why it exists in the first place. And yet we often find ourselves wondering these such questions, and more, all of which revolve around the meaning of our lives.

The disappointing reality is that we are but a blip in the cosmos, something which the universe will quickly forget even existed. To be blunt, it won't take long before most people in the world forget about your existence, even. Simply think about the millions of people who lived just a hundred years ago; save for a few who built a sort of legacy for themselves, their names are largely forgotten.

So, if this is the case and we are not living in some sort of simulation, what is the point of trying to find the meaning of life?

In one word: purpose.

End Frame: Twilight Canyon, Glen Canyon, Utah, by Eliot Porter

In the 70’s and 80’s, many, if not most budding landscape photographers in the US were disciples of Ansel Adams. Adams was also an ardent environmentalist who spent thirty plus years on the Sierra Club board and had trained in another profession, that of a pianist. Many of my generation also championed another ardent environmentalist who also spent 30 plus years on the Sierra Club board and had been trained for another profession, that of medical research, and who had also left that training to become a photographer. That photographer was Eliot Porter. Through a love of nature and largely the influence of Porter and Adams, my life focus and profession also became the environment and photography. Eliot Porter is also honoured to have coined the phrase; ‘the intimate landscape” and the intimate landscape became my primary artistic expression.

Laurentiu Pavel

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We can thank the light – and work – for slowly but inevitably drawing Laurentiu towards photography. It’s interesting that this, rather than a love of outdoor activities, came first. I sense that Laurentiu is like many of us most comfortable behind the camera, but he’s been generous in sharing his thoughts, and his words make for a beautiful and evocative read that sits well with his images.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what that led you to do?

I grew up in a small town in Romania, where, at that time, the usual activities didn’t in any way include going out into the wilderness or into the mountains. One can say that from this point of view, things have looked pretty dull over the years.

What really comes into my mind as a clear picture is when I used to walk around the streets of the neighbourhood, and the weather looked fickle; the light in the sky and the clouds sometimes would become interesting. Those moments proved to be really fascinating during my walks in such weather conditions. And that was due only to the light that I was witnessing. It’s only after some years that the attraction towards the light proved to be actually an attraction towards photography. But at that moment in the past, I was just drawn by beautiful light conditions and nothing more.

After some years, I had to go to University, which happened to be in Bucharest. Things continued to be more urban. My whole life was somehow focused on the usual things, studying and trying to make a living. Still, there was no sign of photography or anything that might lead to my future passion.

Then I started out my employment in telecommunications which led somehow to a lot of travel throughout the country. Through the business, I had to wear a camera, and this came along with me for technical purposes and such, so my curiosity in photography arose in small portions. Besides doing my usual tasks, I began from time to time to foray into nature and its beauties. Like any other beginner in photography, there were lots of bad pictures and failures. My interest in photography was somehow starting to show up timidly. Something was drawing me towards making pictures, but things were far from being clear in this regard. Travelling from place to place, and seeing interesting sceneries, made me, in a way, curious and eager to capture moments.

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What part has photography played in your life so far, and how much time can you now devote to it?

When photography comes from your heart, it definitely plays a special role. It’s like an interesting book which you open from time to time. You put it aside when finished, and then, when the time comes, you open it and start reading again. Thus, the magic is always present and only waits to be revealed whenever there comes a proper time.

I am not a whole-time dedicated photographer. Photography is just a passion which brings me joy and relief. Whenever I have the opportunity to go out into the mountains, or just somewhere into nature, I will bring the camera along with me. I know that somehow something interesting might occur, and I don’t want to miss it.

When photography comes from your heart, it definitely plays a special role. It’s like an interesting book which you open from time to time. You put it aside when finished, and then, when the time comes, you open it and start reading again.

I might say that the camera is quite present in my life, although I get to spend time in nature only at the weekends if things are fine. It’s also true that sometimes one should take short breaks from taking pictures just to let your mind breathe in the normal way. As strange as it might sound, the mind needs moments of rest from the photographic work. Over time I’ve noticed that there are moments when you actually cannot produce a picture of good quality. One needs to breathe for a second. Then, everything comes to life again. I think that is true anywhere in art, be it in photography, music, writing, or painting.

But I strongly believe that in order to get to a certain level, one has to work pretty hard, and one needs to spend enough time in nature to get to know it. Only then can one speak about really good pictures.

Unfortunately, I don’t have this lucky life to spend so long in nature. So all the pictures I manage to make are during weekends, if I’m lucky, or during my trips throughout the country after I finish work.

In the beginning, I used to take all sort of pictures, from nature to urban, from macro to wide landscapes. Perhaps in those times, I was looking for something through photography - a story, a pattern, a vision, a different world. I don’t know.

I suppose things like these are happening somewhere at the back of our minds, and over the years, suddenly, something interesting comes up; with an inner desire and a lot of work, one can get at the essence.

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You started off, I think, recording your expeditions into the mountains. Did anything in particular prompt you to become more serious about the photography side of things – something you saw or experienced perhaps?

The truth is that when going into the mountains, it becomes quite natural to take pictures, be it for art or just for memories. Walking around, being with your friends, enjoying the views, the time, the air, all these bring along a certain state of mind which allows you to feel free and dive into photography.

Over the years, mountains have meant for me either a simple walk through the forests and ridges or climbing some parts of them. They have brought me a lot of peace into my mind and into my soul and taught me to keep calm in difficult situations.
Over the years, mountains have meant either a simple walk through the forests and ridges or climbing some parts of them. They have brought me a lot of peace into my mind and into my soul and taught me to keep calm in difficult situations. Mountains, through their roughness, teach you how to see your limits, how to deal with your fears, and how to see life in a different manner. They are beautiful and rewarding. That’s why some memories should be kept forever. And this is made possible by photography. Once you get to make an art out of it, the memories are even more valuable.

If anything made me look more seriously at photography, I really don’t know. It’s a long, long process which usually takes years after you realize that photography means more than just taking a picture. These days the internet is full of beautiful and interesting pictures, so it’s really difficult, if not impossible, not to carry all these into your subconsciousness. Perhaps we all take little parts with us whenever we see a good picture on the internet. That image, like others, leaves gently a trace in our minds. Subsequently, when the time comes, and we do photograph, the images we finally make may have delicate nuances from others. That’s a fact.

As for me, what made me look more serious about photography is probably the way I felt about shapes, colours, lines, light, shadows and so on. The human being has always been strongly attracted by beauty, whatever this could mean. Fortunately, some of us were given a special gift, one to express the beauty. In photography, this means making interesting, strong pictures with just a camera and your artistic mind.

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Who (photographers, artists or individuals) or what has most inspired you or driven you forward in your own development as a photographer?

As I said before, my journey into the vast land of photography began a long time ago. The first steps were very timid and without any clear conclusions. It’s only during the last few years that things have begun to look more serious. It’s also true that one must try a lot until one discovers the essence. This discovery sometimes has its share of chance: the chance to meet talented people, interesting places, and circumstances. In my early years of photography, I had the pleasure to get to know someone who is now a good friend of mine, Dorin Bofan, who happened to be a good photographer even in those days. Then we decided to try and go more often into the mountains, exploring places and seeing new perspectives. His photography was definitely something that I took into account to a great extent. As time passed by, I had the pleasure to get to know photographers on social media or in the mountains. This also gave me the chance to go ahead with my dreams and focus constantly on photography at a different level, wishing to create better and better images.

That was the start towards a more serious view of photography. But a more complex and profound process takes place in our minds and souls. Things begin to build up inside ourselves at such a level that the images that we create belong to us in spite of all the pictures we see every day on internet.

Definitely, I met a few important people in my life, photographers or friends, and that played a major role in my education as an image producer. But what comes in the end is an image that is the product of my inner self, my own beliefs, views and feelings. Thus, photography has become literally an inner conversation but without words.

Definitely, I met a few important people in my life, photographers or friends, and that played a major role in my education as an image producer. But what comes in the end is an image that is the product of my inner self, my own beliefs, views and feelings. Thus, photography has become literally an inner conversation but without words.

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Your images seem to change quite a bit around 6 years ago – from mountain views to more intimate details. The mountains are still there, perhaps in a more abstract or atmospheric form, but you become a wonderful observer of small details and quiet moments. There’s a sense of you shifting from looking at the landscape to seeing nature?

Indeed, it’s been quite a change for me. My vision has shifted discreetly from mountain views towards inner world views. The mountains have remained all the time in my soul and mind, but somehow I got to focus on other, different photographic subjects. There have been times when I could not go to the mountains for various reasons, and so I was facing a new situation in which I had to find something else.

The transformation has taken some time period in which I was literally taken by the wave and let myself ponder over the abstract and inner artistic world. Then, I think that the places I have been to lately made me think of photography a little bit differently. There is always a connection between life, things you are going through, and the images you finally get. As I have progressed in my later years, something must have triggered a change in my mind towards a more abstract view of things. Maybe I had this passion for abstracts well hidden in my mind, and it was just waiting for the right moment to emerge. At this time of my life as a photographer, I feel more attracted by patterns in nature. I see things in shapes, lines, and shadows, and I find myself very often trying desperately to put them into an image in the end. Everything around us brings a contribution to the way a photographer gets to see the world.

At this point, will you choose 2 or 3 ‘favourite’ photographs from your own portfolio and tell us a little about why they are special to you or your experience of making them?

There are many images that I really like or love, and I must say that it’s a rather difficult task to pick some. To make things easier, I will just choose 3 of them from the pictures selected for this interview.

Frozen Soul

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This image was taken in an area where I rarely get to photograph because it’s too far from home. The weather conditions which I found were so great that they finally allowed me this beauty. I was so lucky to be there at the right time. Everything happened on the frozen surface of a lake which was covered from place to place by little fallen branches, leaves and lichen. I had been walking carefully all day long on the frozen water looking downwards with the hope of catching something interesting within the icy frames. I finally found this little wonder surrounded by ice bubbles, and I saw it as a soul, a frozen soul. Since then, I have never had this photographic opportunity again.

Saying Goodbye

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During the last two years, I have been developing a curiosity as regards to water and what it can offer in different weather conditions. I have noticed purely by trying and playing with the camera that I can get some interesting images once I manage to put things in order. By putting things in order, I mean having a leaf or something else, a reflection, a certain pattern of the ripples arranged in such a way that the final image is really a success. We often hear that an image must have a message, and it’s true. But what is somehow beautiful about photography is that this message gets to us through the eyes. What an image stirs then within our minds is what I call a miracle. The image “Saying goodbye” is such a story.

So Close

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One strange thing about this image is that I usually don’t make macro photographs. It happens quite rarely and only in some situations. This one is made with an inverter mounted on my usual 24-70mm f4 lens. One very warm summer evening, I went out for a walk with some ideas in my mind regarding the way I would photograph, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to happen. The park that I visited had some high bushes hosting beautiful pink flowers. The type of flower was quite perfect for what I had in mind to do. I shot many images. It was hot and quite difficult to pinpoint the flowers with the camera. This type of photo is difficult because you need to stay very still when pressing the button, and you need to move millimetres to and fro in order to focus on what you want. When I saw the spider resting on a petal, I realised that I might have an interesting image. All I had to do was to wait for the right moment. Then an idea crossed my mind. What if I get the spider unfocused and the flower in focus?! The final impact was really beautiful.

Tell us a little more about your local area and the places that you are drawn back to? Do you need to travel far for your photography?

I have lived for so many years in a big city, surrounded mainly by concrete and only by a few parks; it’s something that I had to get used to. Living in a hectic urban area requires some adaptation, and some dexterity, to cope with everyday life. From time to time, one has to get away from it all, and that happens when visiting places, going out into nature or into the mountains. This is how I manage to breathe fresh air and give my mind moments of rest.

There are a few places where I can go whenever time allows me. Some of them are quite far from the city, around 2 or 3 hours’ drive from home, so this usually happens during weekends or short holidays. I often revisit a dear place for me, which is about 2 or 3 hours’ drive from home, where I can make abstract images; it’s called Muddy Volcanoes. It’s not really a large area. Although it’s not really a fantastic place, it gives me joy and rest to rethink some photo frames. Another opportunity for photography is when I go into the parks, and I use as subjects the water, the leaves fallen from the trees, and some reflections. These subjects in photography are not always easy to handle, but when I am lucky, I can get pretty interesting photos. The trees remain a constant subject in my images, no matter what season I am in.

But for most of my images, I do have to travel a few hours from my town. That’s a necessity if I want to have a complex and large portfolio.

I have lived for so many years in a big city, surrounded mainly by concrete and only by a few parks; it’s something that I had to get used to. Living in a hectic urban area requires some adaptation, and some dexterity, to cope with everyday life.

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What cameras and lenses do you currently enjoy using? Has this changed over time?

At this time, my usual equipment is a Canon 6D camera together with 2 lenses, 24-70mm f4 and 70-200mm f4. Besides these 2 lenses, I use an inverter ring for macro, but that happens quite seldom. During my time as a photographer, I’ve realised that these 2 lenses are pretty much what I need to make photos. I focus more on going out into nature than on trying to buy more and more equipment. I know it sounds like a cliché, but that’s how things have been working for me for some time.

I used to have different cameras and fixed lenses with good optical quality, but I had to sell them all and resign myself to very simple equipment. Just that, and the desire to photograph. Since I have been drawn lately more towards intimate photography, I have found myself many times taking pictures with just the 70-200mm lens, be it landscape or abstract photography.

And yes, things have changed entirely when it comes to photographic equipment. Now I keep only the bare necessities, so to speak, in order to get at least good quality images. I prefer to put aside some money for travelling to interesting places, which could bring me joy and satisfaction as regards photography prospects. One thing I would keep with me at all times is a good optical lens which I could use for an abstract approach.

How big a part does processing and editing play in realising your vision? Do you have an established workflow?

An important part of an image is the first camera shutter release. Then one can say that the magic can begin and makes its way to the final image.

Right after I come back from a short or a long trip, I download the images and have a quick look at them to see whether there is something good that deserves to be kept. Sometimes, when the conditions are right, I come back home with some good images. The ones which prove to be wrong would definitely end up being deleted.

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When I’m home, and I have some spare time, I get to work on some of the images that I chose as being interesting. The whole process of getting the final image takes, by and large, about 15 minutes, sometimes even less. The truth is that I don’t anymore make complex images which are supposed to have multiple exposure layers and which imply a lot of work for me. Now I use only one exposure frame, which I process in Photoshop. I use a few Curves and Exposure layers which I tune very, very carefully so as not to affect the final image too much. I prefer to make small and discreet changes because this way, the image gets to look natural and not over processed.

It is said that the final destination for a photographer should be a print of good quality which brings before the beholder’s eyes nature’s beauty. It is an interesting process which should be the final stage in our formation as photographers.
I don’t have a predefined or established workflow. It depends on the image I work on at that moment. Some are easy to process and don’t need much adjustment, while others are more delicate and need more attention and careful work. What I’ve learnt over the years about editing is that it has to be done very softly so as not to alter the image. Following very discreet steps leads to a better processed image.

Mainly, the workflow includes some contrast adjustments, luminosity increase or decrease, and some spot removal.

Do you print many of your images, and if so, how do you choose to print and present them?

Unfortunately, printing is not part of my life as a photographer. There is no demand for this, so I don’t print mine at all for sale my images. I remember that I made some prints some years ago for an exhibition, and that was all I did in this regard. It is said that the final destination for a photographer should be a print of good quality which brings before the beholder’s eyes nature’s beauty. It is an interesting process which should be the final stage in our formation as photographers. There must be an evolved market so as to be able to sell prints in large formats. Another way would be probably to make prints just to offer them as gifts to friends or relatives. One thing remains certain: an image will always look better on a print.

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What do you feel you’ve gained through photography?

Photography is my way of dreaming, it is my connection to a certain part of myself which doesn’t know how to speak otherwise. I remember years ago the way I was fascinated by light in the sky, and then I didn’t know how to translate it into something more definite. Years have passed by, and I have come upon photography which has proved to be an interesting way to translate beautiful nature into images.

Photography is a long and discrete journey which happens mostly in our minds and ends up changing us and our structures as human beings. It brings about soft changes for the better; it makes us appreciate the world, nature, and the things around us. The first stage in this journey is the subtle connection with nature, the joy you feel whenever you are out there. With time you realise that you can get to know lots of people with the same interest for photography. That’s another beautiful aspect when you get into this world. Most of my friends come either from photography or from travelling.

Do you have any particular projects or ambitions for the future or themes that you would like to explore further?

I would not call them ambitious projects but just themes to be explored a bit further. There have been places which I have discovered by chance over the years, places that have proved to be quite interesting and full of surprises. It’s about patches of forests which drew my attention pretty much and which offered me opportunities for beautiful images. All I’m looking for now are different meteorological conditions which could bring about some interesting changes to the way these forests can look. I find forests and trees a very fascinating subject for me as a photographer, mostly during autumn and winter times.

One season is brilliant for colour; the other one is perfect for minimalism. In wintertime, the forests tend to look more simple than usual, which makes them a good subject for minimalistic frames. That’s why I call these “themes to be explored”.
One season is brilliant for colour; the other one is perfect for minimalism. In wintertime, the forests tend to look more simple than usual, which makes them a good subject for minimalistic frames. That’s why I call these “themes to be explored”. Another place which I mentioned that I happen to visit from time to time – Muddy Volcanoes – is an area covered in muddy flows and crusty surfaces suitable for abstract approaches. Although photographically speaking, I feel tired of this area, I like to revisit it and lose myself within it. I like that I still find inspiration in spite of all the images which were born here. It’s a land with not so many opportunities but with some surprises, if you allow them to show up.

One thing that I crave is alpine photography which I’ve kind of neglected a bit. I have always been attracted by alpine, wild, remote areas, and I really hope that one day I’ll resume this kind of adventure. Although it’s obvious that the abstract style has taken me over in recent years, alpine photography will always find a special place in my heart.

So the next themes that I would like to explore are very simple and dear to me: abstract and alpine. Now it’s up to life or some luck to see if all these will come true.

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You’re good friends with Dorin Bofan, who we’ve interviewed previously. How helpful has it been to have a fellow traveller in planning trips and developing as a photographer? Do you have any more adventures planned together?

Yes, I met Dorin some years ago when I was very much at the beginning of my journey as a photographer. I remember he had at that time a website which looked very good, and I was quite interested to see if I could have a similar one for myself. With his help, I managed to bring some useful adjustments to my own web platform. Since then, we’ve become very good friends and have been trying to arrange our adventures together as much as possible. Firstly, we tried to get out into the mountains in our search for interesting images, each of us obviously in our own artistic way.

Besides being a talented photographer, Dorin is a good friend. We just happened to resonate with each other as regards our visions about life, about photography, and this has had a huge contribution to our journeys. He now travels a lot more than I do in different countries, and that’s an advantage for him as a travel planner and photographer.

Then followed some trips abroad in Norway and Iceland, in areas which proved to be very interesting and tempting, thinking about what these countries’ landscapes can offer. Besides being a talented photographer, Dorin is a good friend. We just happened to resonate with each other as regards our visions about life, about photography, and this has had a huge contribution to our journeys. He now travels a lot more than I do in different countries, and that’s an advantage for him as a travel planner and photographer. Since the pandemic and due to some other problems, we have had a break in our journeys, but I hope that we’ll resume the adventures and we’ll get to some interesting areas such as Iceland, Scotland, Spain, and Turkey. Anyway, I hope this dream is not too far-fetched.

If you had to take a break from all things photographic for a week, what would you end up doing? What other hobbies or interests do you have?

I have rarely felt the need to break away from photography for a long time because I never get to be overloaded with this kind of activity. Photography plays a significant role in my life, but just in small portions. I’ve only happened to feel the pressure of too much photography when travelling abroad, mostly in Iceland and Norway, places where I really made lots of images. There the amount of work as a photographer was quite huge, and I almost felt tired of taking so many pictures. Separate from these periods of travelling, I like to have the camera at hand in case something interesting occurs.

Another hobby that I had some years ago was alpinism, but I had to give it up for a bit due to some health issues.

Then, when time allows, I enjoy taking short or long day trips walking around the city, watching movies, reading, and talking to my friends.

And finally, is there someone whose photography you enjoy – perhaps someone that we may not have come across - and whose work you think we should feature in a future issue? They can be amateur or professional.

There are so many good photographers out there, and choosing some of them is a pretty tough task. Fortunately, I saved on my phone a link with some photos and now I’m able to offer an example.

I once found out about a photographer who caught my attention with his portfolio. He’s a very subtle artist who manages to capture the essence from time to time. His name is Manuel Enrique Gonzalez Carmona.

Thank you Laurentiu. I know readers will enjoy reading this, and will hope that you continue both dreaming and travelling.

If you’d like to see more of Laurentiu’s photographs, you’ll find him on Facebook

If you’d like to read the interview we did previously with Dorin Bofan, you’ll find it here https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2015/12/dorin-bofan-photographer. You can read other articles by Dorin here.

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Leaving the Cave

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While we feel sure that if we had stood beside the camera we would have seen the same subject in the same way, we carelessly mistake the photographic rendition for authenticity and rarely realize just how extensive a mental adjustment we make every time we look at a photograph . . . We adjust so easily that we permit the photograph with all its changes of the visual world to be the most convincing liar of any of the visual media. ~Minor White

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, included in his work, The Republic, is among the best-known thought experiments in Western philosophy. The allegory is told by Plato’s fictionalised version of his mentor, Socrates, to Plato’s brother, Glaucon. Over the years, several interpretations of the allegory were proposed. Rather than review all of them (which I recommend you do independently if you are interested in philosophy), I will attempt here to distil some of these interpretations into useful ways to think about photography.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, included in his work, The Republic, is among the best-known thought experiments in Western philosophy. The allegory is told by Plato’s fictionalised version of his mentor, Socrates, to Plato’s brother, Glaucon. Over the years, several interpretations of the allegory were proposed. Rather than review all of them (which I recommend you do independently if you are interested in philosophy), I will attempt here to distil some of these interpretations into useful ways to think about photography.

Try to visualise the following: a group of prisoners is held in chains in the deep recesses of a cave. Between the prisoners and the cave entrance is a wall blocking their view of the world outside the cave. The prisoners have been in the cave since childhood and have no direct knowledge of what the world outside the cave looks like. Between the wall blocking the prisoner’s view and the opening of the cave is a small fire causing amorphous shadows to be projected onto the upper portion of the cave’s back wall, where the prisoners can see them. Based on these shadows, the prisoners attempt to guess what things in the real world—the things casting the shadows—are like. This is Plato’s way of describing how most people experience their world: imprisoned in a cave, having no direct knowledge of true reality, either attempting to infer or accepting others’ inferences for what the world is really like based on vague and partial evidence and then accepting these inferences—amounting and somewhat-educated guesses and myths—as true reality.

The Bleeding Riverbed

I am so thankful for what I am able to do as part of my job, using my minds eye to be able to express a passion via creativity, using a sheet of film and a camera to catch my thoughts. The camera is an extension of my mind and when out in the environment I love the challenge of being creative. I am also fascinated by what others may interpret from what I see once the piece of work is complete. What emotion would it stir by viewing the image but also, does the writing that accompanied the image make the work more understandable.

Now I, for one, have no professional understanding of geology other than limestone, sandstone and the other basics, but when I noticed a small stretch of river bed I had walked past countless amounts of times before had the most amazing colour and detail, I wanted to explore this more.

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This stretch is no more than 40 meters in length, showcasing deep reds, which, when looking closer, could give people the impression that the riverbed was bleeding.

We all know that a bleeding riverbed of blood is not possible, but what is this sign of nature telling us about what is going on beneath the rock, or is the river expressing its concerns about health?
We all know that a bleeding riverbed of blood is not possible, but what is this sign of nature telling us about what is going on beneath the rock, or is the river expressing its concerns about health?

Having on only a few occasions photographed through water, mainly at wildlife, I wanted to use this opportunity to see what the visual outcome would be of a fast flowing river over such amazing rock. I also decided that I would like to use different films to create different outcomes, be it texture, tone or contrast.

Putting this together in my head at home, I was thinking about best times to approach this subject. I did not just want to shoot for the sake of it, but I was thinking mid-summer would offer me a better opportunity due to tree cover causing less flare. I also wanted to visit during either overcast conditions or clear skies early or late in the day. My film choice was between Kodak Ektarchrome, Ektar, Portra and Ilford Ortho. I love the Kodak films - chrome for its sharpness and Ektar for its dynamic range. I would not normally use Portra for this subject, but I was intrigued by what it would produce, and Ilford Ortho is the only black and white film I use.

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Over the next 6 weeks, I would venture down to the river, which was a good 2 miles from the truck once I was parked. Being accompanied by my son Gethyn on a number of occasions while documenting the stretch of river, we would discuss why the river was red. On one occasion, he noticed a large number of tadpoles in a large pool being fed by the freshwater of the river, which made his day. I get great pleasure in taking him out with me in nature, seeing his enthusiasm for being in the countryside.

Another issue would come with focusing on the bed of the river while turbulent water was flowing. It took a while to tilt and swing to get good coverage. I was always aware that some may not look as good as others due to water depth and some exposures which went over 2 minutes, taking into account reciprocity failure. I
Having said that, there are times when I think, why do I do this. Bringing out a six year old when trying to do work is not always the best idea, but this is one of the very few occasions.

I used a 2 week period of overcast weather to take a few exposures and then sent them away for development. I was quite pleased with what I had produced, but as the weather became more pleasant, it became much harder to compose scenes due to reflection and also losing possible detail in the darker areas. Shooting on my 5 by 4 camera, I found the best lens to use was my Nikkor 210mm lens with a polariser. On a 35mm camera, this is the equivalent of about an 80mm lens. I was able to get near to the surface to focus on small areas but was also able to use it for a wider view. By the way, using a large format, this was a little tricky, and my Harkila wellies often saved the day as I would be standing nearly knee deep in water at times.

Another issue would come with focusing on the bed of the river while turbulent water was flowing. It took a while to tilt and swing to get good coverage. I was always aware that some may not look as good as others, due to water depth and some exposures which went over 2 minutes (taking into account reciprocity failure). I am one to keep things as basic as possible, this way I feel it is down to me to correctly expose while also composing and focusing the view, I even count off the times for exposure.

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I will confess that I do use a great app which has been very helpful called reciprocity timer, it saves me from taking printed sheets advising on times to expose the film. I have at times forgotten to take my phone with me, though, which again can cause a real problem as you have to guess what the added time would be if needed.

This is where I would also prefer negative film over slide where I can get an overall better dynamic range. I would dabble with the use of Ortho black and white film just to see how the black and white film would react to the reds of the river.

Again the film went away to the soup factory for development and returned a few days later. I then scanned the film at home and started having a look at the collection I had created in just under 2 months. This is another process I love in shooting film, it's not straight back in your face, there is so much more to it, and it can take a long time until the process is finished. I was pleased with the work. Most were exposed okay, and I was very pleased with two of the slide negatives. My personal favourite was the Ektar image, the conditions were spot on for what I was trying to create, but the film handed it all really well. I also think the composition helped, though, with simple lines of red on a flattish surface of the rock.

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Back to why the river was showing these amazing colours in the limestone cracks. This particular area was once a prolific silica mine; the remnants of buildings and mines from the past are there for us all to see today. I was made aware that mining under the ground can open up cracks that could send water flowing in different directions carrying iron and minerals with it, eventually finding its escape routes through small cracks in river beds.

This particular area was once a prolific silica mine; the remnants of buildings and mines from the past are there for us all to see today. I was made aware that mining under the ground can open up crevasses that could send water flowing in different directions carrying iron and minerals with it, eventually finding its escape routes through small cracks in river beds.
To the north, the landscape is a large area of red sandstone pressing against the limestone, this may be this be due to the geology and topography of the area. To the south side of the limestone are coal fields that were heavily mined during the industrial revolution and even up until recent years as large open casts. Might it be the years of pollution into the rivers during this period causing these fascinating features. I have had many conversations with locals who remember how much poorer the water quality looked during that time period.

I do, however, like the idea of not fully knowing, it gives us the impression that the river has its own character, It shows us what it wants us to see. Eventually, it is up to us to take in what it is trying to say through how it shows itself to us. The environment is very good at expressing itself, although most of the time, we don't even notice. When we do, it can send us on a journey that we may not expect.

I can only hope that when we do notice things in the environment that were not always apparent before, it will also make us reflect on how we look after it, keeping the landscape in a healthy state for future generations to explore and wildlife to flourish. Just as important is how it allows us to express our own artistic expression; it is always changing. Documenting this is important and in many years times it may even be beneficial, but the landscape always offers us the opportunity to capture how it feels, and that is something I am very thankful for.

Thoughtfully Choosing not to Act

Most people with a strong passion for photography, like us, when we decide to turn pro, we have no idea where this road will lead us. Some may have an interest in teaching and decide to become a workshop guide, others may love to make videos about their photographic activities and open a YouTube channel, and others may want to see their work published so they build up a highly specialised portfolio to work for publishers or other clients. If we make it, we will surely reach a point where we’ll start to get offers to do high-profile and long-term commissioned projects.

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Hopefully, we’ll reject anything that will not be in line with our main interests. This is not easy to do, especially when starting out, but it is necessary to stay true to ourselves and persevere in chasing our dreams.

We may then experience periods where the type of projects we love doing are not available, so, like an amateur photographer, we decide to do such ideal projects ourselves.
As photographers, the more we will practice photography, the more our understanding of the ideal commissioned work will be specific, simply because by practising the same craft over many years, we’ll become more aware of what we truly like doing. So we find ourselves accepting more often the kind of work we truly like.

We may then experience periods where the type of projects we love doing are not available, so, like an amateur photographer, we decide to do such ideal projects ourselves.

End Frame: No Smoke Without Fire by Joe Cornish

It was Joe Cornish who wrote a series of articles for On Landscape in which he broadly divided his landscape photography into a number of categories, from the geographic landscape, through to the intimate landscape, all the way to the landscape of memory (see links to Joe's articles at the end of this end frame). “Ontological minestrone”, he called it (which did make me laugh), a “very rough” categorisation prompted by his work on a definition of landscape photography requested of him by a society. It was a fascinating series, headed with the thoroughly profound definition he proffered. Hinted at, but perhaps, not overtly explored, was the degree to which his categories were universal to all landscape photography and, to some extent, could overlap.

Against this background, No Smoke Without Fire is a thoroughly fascinating photograph (it featured in a joint exhibition,  Woodland Sanctuary Exhibition in July 2022), seeming to have nested within it several of Joe’s categories and concept of landscape and itself hinting at an extension to his definition, which is what it can tell us, photographer and audience, by appealing to our archetypes, about ourselves and how we might move through the world.

Aesthetically, it is an extremely pleasing photograph. There is a meta-design of two broadly interlocking and contrasting triangles, one of dark earth and one of light forest. Within that, there is a sub-design of triangles of tone, starting with a large dark one to the left, a lighter one to the right, then another darker one higher up on the left. Colours are within a limited and beautifully complimentary palette, and tones are well distributed and contrasted.

Time To Wonder by Joe Cornish

As Joe has already mentioned in his own overview of the Fountains Abbey project, it wasn’t really his favourite subject matter. In fact, as far as landscape goes, you couldn’t get much further away from his love of mountains and wild places. But a challenging job like this is just why you need someone like Joe Cornish to get the very best out of a landscape such as this.

This is, for me, why you can learn more from studying the work that Joe has done here than you can from a random collection of sublime landscape photographs. When the main tools that you have to work with are your compositional skills, knowledge of light and ability to create coherence in a body of work, those skills should be obvious in most of the photographs.

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Seven Bridges Valley

The book starts with a range of photographs of the abbey itself taken in a wide range of conditions. I see this as a context-setting introduction. The meat of the book starts with “Abbey Landscape” and a range of pictures that find viewpoints to show the built and natural landscapes balancing each other. There are a couple of pictures that I think are exquisitely constructed, which I’ll show below. They work together, almost like a cinematic ‘draw-back’, moving from the architectural images from before and slowly revealing the wider landscape.

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Summer Evening

Summer Evening shows the edges of the managed landscape so well, from the formal grounds of the nave and chapel leading via the great cloister to the infirmary bridge where the river banks overflow with reeds and grasses.

It’s the River Bank and Ruins photograph that really demonstrates Joe’s compositional skill and ability to find just the right place and moment.

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Riverbank And Ruins

Even without the Abbey, this photograph would have many of the makings of a classic. The strip of light on the ferns delineating the bank, the backlit trees, the cool blues of the river. But then we add in the warm and cool of the architecture, the play of light on the windows, the perfect positioning to frame the arched window between the trees. Every part of the picture working in close harmony.

This middle chapter continues these juxtapositions, offering the advantage to the man-made or natural as conditions fit.

You can almost feel the moment that Joe has submitted to his passion for the trees in the Abbey grounds. In the flip of a page, these sweet chestnut, beech, lime, horse chestnut and sycamore become the stars of the show and Joe is just the person to bring out their best features.

I’ll give you two of my favourite examples. The first is also Joe’s (I think) and shows part of the lifecycle of the trees. Joe found a way of showing this deadfall as organic forms, meshing with each other, almost moving together.

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Fallen Ancestors

The second, which Joe has title Primate, is the remains of a fallen branch, bark stripped and showing twisting sinew-like fibres. The composition places the ‘head’ of the branch against a glow of chestnut colour.

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Primate

The remainder of the book focuses on the features of many of these fallen trees, bringing out the spirit of the area through wounds and burrs.
The book works as both documentation of the Abbey site but also as introspection, a view of what Joe’s drivers are in his working practices and, as such, it makes really interesting browsing.

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I asked Joe a couple of questions about the project

Obviously, Fountains Abbey and the surrounding land aren't instantly inspirational in the way that the mountains of the Scottish Highlands might be, but do you find the limits on natural beauty place more onus on the photographer and hence can be more satisfying when your contribution to a beautiful end picture is more significant?

Because, yes, the relatively “minor” scale of the Fountains landscape would not ordinarily inspire someone who loves wild places, mountains and dramatic shores. But really, that was a big part of the challenge and, therefore, enjoyment of it. I learned to tune in to the place, and that proved creatively to be a great experience.

The water garden and abbey buildings were more challenging as they have an ordered quality, and also they have been painted and photographed continuously for well over a hundred years… some of those earlier pictures are known to me, and inevitably that is an influence, even if the influence is: ”To avoid plagiarism I had better avoid that perspective, or composition”. I even had to avoid plagiarising my own previously made pictures from before the commission!

When I go now, I do so with an enormous sense of freedom, partly from the obligation of the commission but also because my familiarity with the place is such that I have an idea of what and where might be interesting in many different conditions of light and season, and so can organise my creative efforts accordingly.

Overall I have found the experience really positive and liberating. Fountains has become an ongoing creative place for me.

Were there any pictures that got away because the conditions weren't right, or you wanted to refine them more, or they didn't fit in the book?

There were certainly some ideas that I didn’t fulfil because with the best will in the world you can’t be there every day, and the conditions required for certain ideas is usually very specific. In particular, none of my visits coincided with a really convincing fog event, although I had a misty morning at How Hill that gave the image on page 7 opposite Justin Scully’s foreword. Some I was fond of that didn’t make it into the exhibition of course, if only because of limitations of space. A couple of these made it into the book.

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Awakening

Since the exhibition opened (and has now finally closed) I have re-started visits from time to time and some unfulfilled ideas are starting to appear. I’ll include two here. But in the end all images tend to appear unpredictably, which is a part of the joy of landscape photography (for me, anyway).

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Panorama

The Book

The book itself is hardback, cloth covered and very nicely printed on heavyweight paper (72 pages of 200gsm). Joe has said it is one of the best litho reproductions he has had. It includes a short foreword and introductory essay by Justin Scully (Site Manager) and Mark Newman (NT Historian). It also has two short essays from Joe about the project and the exhibition.

You can buy the book from the Joe Cornish Gallery for £30

 

Minimalism in Infrared

The pages of On Landscape have seen, in both articles and comments, continuing discussions about the “natural” and the expressive and creative use of image modifications in producing images1. Those modifications might range from the choice of medium (paper, film or digital of different types) to extreme post-processing techniques (either in the darkroom or on the computer). Some of the most “unnatural” landscape photographs are also the oldest, when the photographer had no choice but to produce images in monochrome. Even after the arrival of colour photography, many photographers continued to work in monochrome for expressive effect, but also because of their knowledge and understanding of the black and white medium and processes, such as Ansel Adams (1902-1984) and the zone system for controlling exposures and contrast.

Ansel Adams Monolith The Face Of Half Dome

Ansel Adams, 1927, Monolith – The face of Half Dome

A good example of this is his story of the origins of visualising the final print in making the negative when he made the image Monolith – The face of Half Dome in 19272. Initially, he made a monochrome exposure with a yellow filter (on a 6 ½” x 8 ½” Korona view camera that he had hauled up to a rock slab called The Diving Board), then.

As I replaced the slide, I began to think about how the print was to appear, and if it would transmit any of the feeling of the monumental shape before me in terms of its expressive-emotional quality. I began to see in my mind’s eye the finished print I desired: the brooding cliff with a dark sky and the sharp rendition of distant, snowy Tenaya Peak.

To do so, for his last sheet of film, he used a dark red filter to darken the sky even further, and, having examined the developed negative, reported that

I had achieved my first true visualization! I had been able to realize a desired image: not the way the subject appeared in reality but how it felt to me and how it must appear in the finished print. The sky had actually been a light, slightly hazy blue and the sunlit areas of Half Dome were moderately dark gray in value. The red filter dramatically darkened the sky and the shadows on the great cliff. Luckily I had with me the filter that made my visualized image possible.3

Monolith – The face of Half Dome is one of Adam’s most famous images because of its link to the concept of what is now often called pre-visualisation, but in its processing (including the later printing in the darkroom) it is certainly unnatural in its treatment of the tones but perfectly acceptable to the viewer in giving an impression of the contrast of a clear blue sky and the light greys of the lit cliff face of Half Dome.

Using a red filter, of course, allows only the longer wavelengths of light to be recorded. Blues are filtered out, hence the dark sky. This can be taken further by using a sensor that is sensitive to infrared light and using a filter that passes only infrared wavelengths.

Using a red filter, of course, allows only the longer wavelengths of light to be recorded. Blues are filtered out, hence the dark sky. This can be taken further by using a sensor that is sensitive to infrared light and using a filter that passes only infrared wavelengths. The first published infrared landscape photographs were produced by Robert Williams Wood (1868-1955) in 19104. There was a Royal Photographic Society celebration of the centenary of infrared photography in volume 150 of the RPS Journal in 20105. These first infrared images were produced using an experimental emulsion that required very long exposures, but by the 1930s, all the major film companies (Ilford, Kodak and Agfa) were producing films sensitive to infrared wavelengths. These were still, however, also sensitive to some visible light wavelengths, so were normally used with a low pass filter to cut out shorter wavelengths. The most common filter used was at 720nm (89B, R72), but 695nm and the more extreme 830nm were also used. I have many images taken on Ilford SFX film using a R72 filter. This requires an exposure adjustment of about 4 stops and therefore needs longer shutter speeds (hence the blurred clouds or waves that were common in many infrared images taken on film). It also requires an adjustment to the focus since lenses will focus infrared light to a different plane than visible light. Many film-era camera lenses had red marks on the focusing ring to indicate the adjustment needed for infrared film (something it was all to easy to forget when only using infrared occasionally!).

Robert W Wood House 1908

One of the first infrared photographs was taken by Robert Williams wood in about 1908 of his summerhouse in East Hampton. This seems to pre-date the version published in the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine in 1910. Wood later published more infrared images taken in Italy in the Illustrated London News in 19116.

There are still some infrared films in production7, but there are also digital alternatives, including cameras developed specifically for infrared use (such as those used in assessing heat loss from homes and, for scientific purposes, the temperatures of volcanic lavas). Most digital camera sensors are sensitive to infrared wavelengths but are covered by a cut-off filter that does not pass those wavelengths. This means that to record infrared a conversion is needed to remove that filter and fit either a clear all-frequency filter (which would then require an infrared filter on the lens as for film), or a replacement internal filter at 695, 720 or 830nm. A number of companies in the UK provide such a service for different makes of cameras. Some of the Sigma cameras with Foveon sensors were designed with IR cut filters that could be removed quite easily8. The 3 layer Foveon sensors also avoided the softening effects of the Bayer array or Xtrans filters that still cover the sensors of other digital cameras after the infrared cut-off filter is removed. The autofocus on digital cameras still works in infrared when the focus is detected on-sensor or via the EVF, while modern lenses with APO elements reduce the focussing issue even more.

Paul Gallagher, in a previous article for On Landscape, gives a nice account of how such a digital conversion came to change his practice for black and white images, particularly in trying to avoid the stereotypical high contrast that often results from the use of infrared filters in bright light
Paul Gallagher, in a previous article for On Landscape, gives a nice account of how such a digital conversion came to change his practice for black and white images9, particularly in trying to avoid the stereotypical high contrast that often results from the use of infrared filters in bright light.

The high contrast effects of monochrome infrared images can often be used quite effectively to augment the minimalist feel of landscape photographs. There have been a number of celebrated landscape photographers who have worked in such a monochrome minimalist tradition but without using infrared film or sensors, most notably perhaps Michael Kenna and Hiroshi Sugimoto10. Since the availability of conversion services for digital cameras, both monochrome and colour infrared images have become much more commonly posted on the internet11. To my mind, they work best in monochrome; the false colours of colour infrared come across much more as just false (albeit that they have important scientific uses in remote sensing and astronomy, while judging by their ubiquity on the internet, clearly appeal to some photographers at least as experiments).

So for those readers who might want to think about giving film or digital infrared a try, then some recent infrared images follow, some in the minimalist tradition. For those who still have a film camera, that may be the cheapest way to start – you need only a roll of film and a low pass infrared filter12. If you happen to have a spare digital camera, then it may also be possible to get a conversion made for the order of £25013. Not all lenses give good results with infrared – some will produce a diffuse bright hot spot in the centre of the image, especially at smaller apertures14. The images that follow have been taken with a converted Fujifilm X-E2 camera with a replacement 720nm low pass filter. Some show the more muted range of tones preferred by Paul Gallagher; some the more extreme range of high-key and-low key elements, including the dark skies, that are possible in sunny conditions (when care must be taken to expose for the right of the histogram and not burn out the highlights – or at least not too much). The advantage of having such a camera is that it can provide an alternative view of the world; the disadvantage of course is that it is yet more weight to carry when walking!

Lammerside Castle, Mallerstang

Lammerside Castle, Mallerstang

Breuleux

Trees and contrails, Trans-Swiss Trail near Breuleux, Switzerland

The ready availability of infrared film and cameras also raises a question about how far the unnatural can be acceptable in making creative images. That question has been at the heart of some of the recent philosophical discussions in On Landscape15 and in setting up the Natural Landscape Photographer Awards16 (NPLA). Clearly, we are not going to prevent photographers and artists from using the full range of sensors and digital processing techniques that are available, in the same way that some still choose to use 19th Century alternative processes. Thinking about this issue suggested to me that a possible philosophy here is that of the philosopher of science Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924-1994). Originally trained in the Vienna school, Feyerabend became somewhat of an iconoclast in the philosophy of science. His most well-known book had the title “Against Method”; his most well-known phrase “Anything goes”. His position was determinedly relativist, and he suggested that any coherent system of beliefs could be valuable to those who believed in it (we cannot know what he might have made of conspiracist memes about climate and other issues on the internet since he died before such memes became so widespread).

Feyerabend had the view that this also held for current scientific theories, which would, in their turn, inevitably be replaced by new systems of beliefs as science evolves. Belief, including modern science, is therefore conditioned by social groups (and now by reinforcement on social media).
Feyerabend had the view that this also held for current scientific theories, which would, in their turn, inevitably be replaced by new systems of beliefs as science evolves. Belief, including modern science, is therefore conditioned by social groups (and now by reinforcement on social media).

We can perhaps make the analogy here with the appeal of different styles of more or less natural landscape images. “Anything goes” (in terms of choice of film, filter or post-processing), but some images might appeal to us (or our group) more than others. That this social conditioning also applies in Art is demonstrated quite nicely by a recent study of the value of paintings by male and female artists that showed that historical, social conditioning still controls responses to Art, it seems, though the influence of critics and galleries and the response of collectors17. But even if this surely ought not to be the case for landscape photography today (though some examples of highly priced male photographers come to mind), we will still respond to different types of unnatural image in different personal ways.

In the case of infrared images, unnatural, of course, is only from the point of view of a human eye with its limited range of sensibilities. Other eyes (for example, bullfrogs, vampire bats and many snakes) have eyes that are sensitive to infrared wavelengths. Such images are not, therefore, unphysical; they reflect the actual infrared emissions in different parts of the image in the form of tones or colours, but by revealing the infrared, they just provide a quite different aesthetic feel to an image in terms of tones and textures. In that sense, they might be considered more naturally unnatural than the monochrome representation of the visible spectrum, including the example of Monolith - the face of Half Dome above. It is just that such images are not necessarily considered unnatural since we have become used to interpreting and appreciating monochrome images from the very earliest days of photography.

Indeed, early photographic emulsions were more unnatural in that, before the development of orthochromatic emulsions, they had limited sensitivity to lower frequency wavelengths in the visible spectrum, being primarily sensitive to blues. However, we are much less used to seeing trees and grass glowing white because they have higher infrared emissions in sunlight than nearby rocks or tree trunks. Perhaps that is one reason why there have been relatively few articles containing infrared images in On Landscape. There has also been little presence in NPLA. There does not appear to be anything in the current rules barring infrared images, although in explaining the aims of NLPA, Tim Parkin stated that “the post-processing and interpretation of images [should] respect the inherent truth of the scene experienced, and photography aware viewers would not feel deceived by the end result if they were to see that original scene themselves18. We will not see the original scene in infrared, of course, but in being aware that infrared reflects relative tones of heat emissions, we might also not be deceived by such images. We could consider that they are consistent with a pragmatic realist philosophy19.

Or perhaps the aesthetic just does not appeal to many – as Paul Gallagher suggested, the extremes of contrast under sunny conditions are just too great. Perhaps there is less scope for the creative use of metaphors or representation of emotions in infrared, but such images can, at least, cause the viewer to think a little. If that is only to realise that, oh! that is just another infrared image (even if not labelled as such), then perhaps not much is gained. But if the “unnatural” appeals as a form of abstraction from reality20, or to reveal some aspect of reality that might otherwise go unnoticed, then perhaps the possibilities are greater. That is up to the viewer to decide.

Les Pommerets

Trees, grass and fence post, Trans-Swiss Trail near Les Pommerets, Switzerland

Lone Pine Zinal

Lone pine on the banks of the Tzouchdana River, Zinal, Val d’Anniviers, Switzerland

Obergabelhorn

Last sun on the Ober Gabelhorn and clouds, Val D’Anniviers, Switzerland

Alpage De Donin

Alpage de Donin, Anzère, Valais, Switzerland

Cloud Over Frilihorn

Cloud over Frilihorn and Les Diablons, Val d’Anniviers, Switzerland

Cloud On The Weisshorn

Cloud over the Weisshorn, Val d’Anniviers, Switzerland

Shadows On Long Crag

Shadows on Long Crag, Mallerstang

Howgills From Birkett Knott

The Howgills from Birkett Knott

Eden At Shoregill

River Eden at Shoregill, Mallerstang, Cumbria

Devils Mustard Mill

The Devil’s Mustard Mill, Stenkrith, Mallerstang, Cumbria

Ramsons At Stenkrith

A path through flowering ramsons, Stenkrith, Mallerstang, Cumbria

References

  1. See most recently https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2022/11/need-philosophy-for-your-photography/ and the links therein.
  2. See the description at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith%2C_the_Face_of_Half_Dome
  3. Ansel Adams, 1985, Ansel Adams, An Autobiography, Little, Brown and Company: Boston, p. 76.
  4. See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26752503/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Wood; and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_photography. Wood also experimented with ultraviolet photography beyond the high frequency end of the visible spectrum.
  5. See https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-150/755274-volume-150-page-258?q=Robert%20Wood%20infrared
  6. See https://www.infrared100.org/2017/04/professor-woods-slides.html
  7. E.g. Ilford SFX200, Rollei Superpan 200,
  8. These include the SD10 and SD14 SLRs and the SDQ, and SDQ-H mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (but not the Merrill and Quattro fixed lens cameras.
  9. https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2016/08/black-white-infra-red/ in Issue 120 in 2016.
  10. I have written before about the minimalist tradition in art and photography in Issue 180 at https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2019/04/reflecting-on-minimalism/ . An interview with Michael Kenna was published in On Landscape Issue 151 at https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2018/01/michael-kenna-interview/ There is also a Minimalist Photography Award competition, book and exhibition with a Landscape category (though this is differentiated from the Fine Art category) – see https://minimalistphotographyawards.com
  11. And in On Landscape, see, for example, the 4x4 sets of images of Churches in the Landscape by Michael Cant at https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2019/07/churches-in-the-landscape/ in Issue 260.
  12. Or see the article by Dave Powell published on 35mmc.com for some experiments in converting cheap early digital cameras at https://www.35mmc.com/03/08/2022/5-largely-unknown-digital-infrared-gems-by-dave-powell/
  13. For example, at, Advanced camera services at https://advancedcameraservices.co.uk/acs-digital-infra-red-photography/ ; ProTech Repairs at https://www.protechrepairs.co.uk/infrared_conversion_-_filter_choices.html ; or Alan Burch at https://www.infraredcameraconversions.co.uk/
  14. Some guides as to the best lenses for use with infrared are available on the internet, e.g. Rob Shea’s guide to various sources and for various mounts at https://blog.robsheaphotography.com/infrared-lenses.html
  15. See, for example, https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2016/07/oriental-philosophy-photography-rafael-rojas/; https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2020/06/landscape-and-the-philosophers-of-photography/; https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2021/07/ideas-behind-reality-photography/; https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2022/06/transcendent-forms-and-noble-lies/; https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2022/07/save-yourself/; https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2022/11/need-philosophy-for-your-photography/
  16. https://naturallandscapeawards.com
  17. Reported, for example, in https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/aug/02/painting-gender-pay-gap-recalculating-art. This revealed that prices for art by men are an average of 10 times greater than that by women, and that the value of female art can decrease if it is signed. This is despite the fact that when pieces are shown to collectors to decide whether it is by a male or female artist the correct identification rate was 50% (i.e. no better than random choice). The same was true for pieces of art generated by artificial intelligence, unless they were assigned to male or female names, in which case the male labelled works were again assigned greater value.
  18. See https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2021/02/the-natural-landscape-photography-awards/. Tim has confirmed that there is no reason why infrared images should not be considerd for NLPA since they represent an obvious ‘photographic truth’ that ought not to deceive the photography aware viewer.
  19. See https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2022/11/need-philosophy-for-your-photography/ again
  20. Though for a nice example of the use of the unnatural, see Guy Tal’s creative use of negative images in https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2022/06/transcendent-forms-and-noble-lies/

Roger Fishman

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Roger’s emails end with, “The risk in life is not taking one.” I wonder how many of us would, after a challenging start, secure career success and financial stability and then turn everything on its head to pursue a passion? Some of you may have done this; others may dream of it. Roger Fishman has embraced what he calls his ‘Life 180’ and seems to be doing quite well at it. I get the impression that he probably doesn’t do anything by halves. He’s clearly a motivated and high achieving individual whose life lessons have both prepared him well and generated considerable empathy for others. Beginning with a passion for wildlife, if not penguin poo, he now concentrates on aerial photography and videography, which highlights the effects of climate change on polar landscapes. We’ve all seen stunning aerials of Iceland, but it was Roger’s abstractions of water and ice in Greenland that first caught my eye and offered an introduction to his adventures and his passion for the planet.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what that led you to do? How much do you feel that your early experiences have shaped your approach to life and who you are now?

I grew up in a small town of 15,000 people in Orange, Connecticut, with my parents and two older sisters.

It was a charming tree-lined town where the main street was named Orange Center Road, which was a two-lane road with no traffic lights when I was very young, and only over time got its first stoplight at an intersection where my mom and I got hit by another car…and this was way before anybody wore seatbelts.

When I was growing up, there were lots of farms where one could get fresh vegetables and corn, as well as fresh milk from all the local cows.

Orange also had an annual fireman’s carnival with rides, games, grilled burgers and hot dogs, all of which took place on the town green.

And amongst all this beauty, history and charm (I mean, I did “win" the sesquicentennial contest for the person in the town with the most freckles), there were my parents, each with their own history and challenges. Which led to their unhappy marriage and ultimately led to a necessary and painful divorce.

There were many good times but also challenging times, as we encountered some extreme financial difficulty. After my parent's divorce, my mother had to buy groceries and pay bills while getting paid $2/hour and working 6 days a week as a dental hygienist. In fact, I was given food stamps in elementary school and refused to use them because I was embarrassed, as it would mean that other kids could see how financially poor we were.

However, many positive things happened from this experience that were amazing and impactful for my life. One is that the principal of the school (which was named after her) created a kind and dignified solution to my situation. She took notice of what was going on and had me come to the nurse’s office each day and get a quarter that I could use for lunch. She taught me the importance of kindness, dignity, and putting yourself in someone else’s position/shoes. Her name was Mary L. Tracy.

Jim Lamont – Portrait of a Photographer

Jlamont 16t1502

As I get older and the longer I create landscape and nature photographs, the more I yearn for my artwork to be about something more than just a beautiful view. Don’t get me wrong, I still think there’s tremendous value in conveying the natural beauty of Earth through our photographs, and this approach can certainly fulfil many photographers’ hopes and desires; however, there is something very compelling for me to aspire for my photographs to do more, to be more, to accomplish more. This has become especially true in our modern era of climate change, pervasive racism, gender inequality, and wealth inequality. These are all problems our societies face and are areas where art and photography can play a role in bringing these issues into the forefront of our collective consciousness.

10 years as a Professional Landscape Photographer

Introduction

This year marks 10 years since I left my law practice behind and took the plunge into professional nature and landscape photography. And yes, that is cause for celebration! Because the fact that I am still in this profession after 10 years means that it is viable and that I have managed to make my hobby my job. And most of the time, it actually still feels like 'living the dream'.

The anniversary is a great time to look back at the past period. What has changed? And what will the future bring? Although I am under no illusion of being complete, I would like to mention some developments in landscape photography that stand out for me. So herewith are some musings from a now fairly experienced professional landscape photographer.

Theo In Action 2022 (c) Paulien Bunskoek

The Business Side

When I started as a professional photographer in 2013, the digital revolution had already taken place. This meant that the market for photographers had already changed dramatically, with the main feature, of course, being that the value of photos plummeted dramatically. Although I would have loved to have experienced the financial golden age in photography, I think it was an advantage for me that I started when the market had already changed. Now I knew better what I was getting into. Today's landscape photographer no longer makes his money mainly by selling stock photos and publishing articles.

Greina Pass

It’s five o'clock in the morning. Outside my train window, I can see illuminated, modern cities passing by. Slowly, the alps begin to appear. The landscape here is idyllic. Old wooden barns in flowery meadows which roll up to beautiful snowy peaks which are lightly brushed with the morning light, it could be the cover of a chocolate box.

Suddenly I hit a tunnel, and everything changes. The ground is covered in shingle and rocks, olive trees and grapevines sit at the bottom of sheer precipices and towering peaks. What sits high above the tunnel separates not just the two languages and cultures but also the geography, vegetation, weather, and the North and South of Europe. Up here is where I am heading.

Dscf4914

Dscf4726.tif Layered.tif Fl

Except for the sheep farmers and hiker huts, the Greina pass is one of the places where nature still has a strong foothold in Switzerland. This can be difficult for farmers up there. I met one lady who had a small hut on top of the ridge. She told me how the eagles and the recently introduced pack of wolves often take her lambs, she was exploring the idea of getting a llama in the future to protect them. The elements can also be unpredictable and fierce.

The constantly changing climate has created a landscape that made me nostalgic for the mountainous areas of the UK. At certain points in the pass, you’d come across weathered mars-like rocky structures, boggy swampland and deep carved out gorges.

There is a back and forth between the Mediterranean and northern European climates along the pass. On the two occasions, I went up there to get these shots, there were storms on one side and 30c heat and blue sky on the other. The storm clouds on the northern side repeatedly broke off from the bulk as they went over the ridges running along the pass, they then rolled up the valley, bringing intense wind, rain and snow.

The constantly changing climate has created a landscape that made me nostalgic for the mountainous areas of the UK. At certain points in the pass, you’d come across weathered mars-like rocky structures, boggy swampland and deep carved out gorges. It's beautiful to photograph, you could easily spend a few days in just one of the valleys. It is also very quiet. Something that I very much appreciate about the hikers and photographers that you meet up in these remote areas of the Alps is their mentality; the need to be peaceful and respect nature is something which is quite ingrained in this hiking culture.

Dscf2979.tif Fl

I stayed in two different hiking huts when I went there; they somehow, miraculously considering the location, offer breakfast and dinner if you are there at the right time, which I never was.

There is something in the smell of the location and the soft sounds of running water and chirping groundhogs. Like a calmness which is almost thick in the air.
On both trips, I had the pleasure of beginning my days under clear night skies before the clouds and fog came in over the ridges as the sun lit up the valleys. As I made my way to my shooting spots before dawn, the rocks around me glowed in the starlight.

There is something in the smell of the location and the soft sounds of running water and chirping groundhogs. Like a calmness which is almost thick in the air. Occasionally, this was broken by a sudden storm that would creep unexpectedly around the valley, there was something very humbling in the unpredictable nature of it. Such an atmosphere was beautiful to photograph in, I plan to visit many more times in the future.

End frame: Earthrise by Bill Anders, Apollo 8, 1968

Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available, a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose.~Fred Hoyle, 1948

There are very few scenes that haven’t been gazed upon and photographed here on Planet Earth.

From the deepest oceans to the highest mountains, just about everything’s been done.

But there’s one very simple scene that the astronauts of Apollo 8 weren’t prepared for as they hurtled towards the Moon in 1968: what Earth would look like from space.

They were so intent on their mission, so focused on reaching the Moon, that they hadn’t thought what Earth might look like when they left home, but, boy, they were certainly about to be confronted with it.

It’s quite natural for that to happen, of course, particularly with their intense training and the focus required to achieve such a goal.

But there’s a lesson to be learned here about the human condition: we can be so focussed on a distant dream or goal that we often omit to admire and absorb the splendour along the way.

It wasn’t until the astronauts had achieved a major part of their task — to launch safely into space and inject into lunar orbit — that they were able to pause, look around and truly appreciate the beauty of their now distant home and everything they held dear within it.

Nasa Apollo8 Dec24 Earthrise

This phenomenon has a name. It’s called The Overview Effect: a greater, perhaps spiritual, appreciation of our planet when seen from space; that any borders are merely a human fabrication; an “instant global consciousness” that the planet is one system and that we are, in fact, already in space together on our very own magnificent spaceship.

The astronauts (and everybody around them) were dutifully machine-like in their approach to the mission, but it wasn’t until they were more relaxed that they were able to appreciate a different perspective altogether.

By pausing for a moment, they were able to lift their heads, to look up and allow new sights, experiences and thoughts into life aboard their own temporary tiny spacecraft.

Bill Anders humbly wondered if they should have sent poets on Apollo 8 instead of rigorously-trained astronauts. He felt that the three of them perhaps didn’t do justice to conveying the grandeur of what they had seen to their receptive compatriots who were now so very far away.

As they say, when you press the pause button on a machine, it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings, they start.

There even seemed to be a tinge of guilt that they were the people in that position when the unexpected greater purpose to their mission dawned upon them.

Bill Anders humbly wondered if they should have sent poets on Apollo 8 instead of rigorously-trained astronauts. He felt that the three of them perhaps didn’t do justice to conveying the grandeur of what they had seen to their receptive compatriots who were now so very far away.

However, I happen to think Anders was a touch self-critical — I rather like the very simple words he uttered when he looked out of the tiny window and described what he saw:

Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! There's the Earth coming up. Wow, that's pretty.”

To me, it’s perfect.

Anders then asked Jim Lovell to pass him some colour film, and he duly started clicking away. One of the exposures turned out to be 1/250th of a second that would change the world forever.

As Mission Control in Houston put it: “There’s a picture.”

More simple words to describe such a spellbinding sight. In those moments, the now awestruck people behind Apollo 8 found they’d gone to the Moon, but they'd actually discovered Earth.

The photograph became known as Earthrise — not only one of the most famous, most reproduced and indelible photographs of our time but also cited as ‘the most influential environmental picture ever made’ and for good reason: it’s an image that still resonates around the world, one that sums up both Earth’s rare beauty and vulnerability.

It’s also a landscape photograph that contains every landscape photograph ever made on Earth— indeed, encompassing every photograph you’ve ever made.

Every misty lake, every craggy mountain, every glistening waterfall, every windswept tree, every roaring ocean, every sprawling vista.

But more than that, as Carl Sagan regaled in Pale Blue Dot:

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.”

Amid our ever-increasing global turmoil, you hold a special gift that affords you the ability to remind others about the wonders on our doorstep.

So, keep making your stunning pictures with vigour and passion.

May they be a reminder to anybody who sees them that the good Earth, the only home we’ve ever known, sure is pretty and sure is worth saving.

Further reading, listening and viewing

A Look at AI Image Generation

By now, there can’t be many people that haven’t seen the other-worldly “photographs” generated by the various forms of artificial intelligence-based image generation algorithms. They’re typically of the ‘uncanny valley’ sort, almost realistic but slightly too fantasy book cover for their own good. Their progression from small objects of interest to high-resolution, realistic productions has been meteoric. But for all that they can generate ‘award-winning images’, what does their future hold for landscape photography? Firstly, what the hell is AI imagine generation anyway?

Uncanny

What is AI Image Generation

Firstly, a little context and background for just what artificial intelligent image creation actually means, and it’s quite different to how people might imagine it. It’s also quite disturbing because even the engineers who have programmed these algorithms don’t quite know how they can create a final image.

Most people imagine that the algorithms have scoured the internet for ‘components’ of images that they somehow composite/collage together to create a final image. This would have substantial and obvious copyright issues immediately, and the original photographers that have photographed people, buildings, cars, etc. would more than likely recognise their ‘sections’ of a final image, especially if it were publicised widely, as perhaps in the winner of the competition mentioned above.

Timparkin Collage Composite Landscape C209c0c0 18fd 4919 8efd 744fb451e9b8

AI Images are not collages (unless you ask for one)

In reality, the process of creating these images is as strange as anything I would have imagined possible from all I know about computers. Firstly, the system looks through many millions of images that have text associated with them, and it creates a ‘looks like’ database, essentially a bunch of fuzzy references that get stored in the brain of the computer (I use poor metaphors for creative effect). When it does this for many millions of images, the ‘brain’ has a system that can recognise images, and parts of images, and relate them to the text that was stored alongside them. Imagine this is a ‘savant’ child that doesn’t know anything about art or even about the outside world but can say “that curve looks like something Monet might do” and “that circle is a bit like a roundabout”, etc.

If you’d like an overview of how the two main AI image generation systems achieve these, have a read of the following, and please ask questions in the comments if it doesn’t make sense or if you’d like to know more. You can just skip this and go look at the ‘funny’ pictures below if you like, though!!

AI Types

There are a couple of main ways that AI systems work, one is called a Generative Adversarial Networks and the other is Stable Diffusion. Don’t worry – you don’t need to know these but it might help you understand some of the legal subtleties around copyright later in the article.

Generative Adversarial Network

From your perspective, as a user of the system, you supply a ‘seed’, a set of words that the computer can use to target source material and/or an image that is used to add visual cues. For our example, the phrase is “ten dollar note”.

The computer then creates a ‘generator’ and a ‘discriminator’. For our purposes, we can call them a ‘forger’ and a ‘detective’. The systems then sets them against each other – this is the ‘adversarial’ part of the Generative Adversarial Network.

Now comes the insane part. The forger generates a page of colourful noise. No numbers, no shapes, just noise. Like a hippy on their first psychedelic experience, the forger then looks at this noise and says “Now you mention ten dollar note, that bunch of noise over there reminds me of a face and those squiggles look like numbers” and it nudges the pixels around to make them look a bit more like the hallucination. The end result still looks mostly like noise but with a hint of ‘form’.

Here are a couple of pictures being generated by Midjourney AI. You can see something of the steps it takes to reach the final image. These aren't working from 'noise' but from Latent Spaces (see later in this section).

Midjourney Wip Ruisdael

Midjourney AI - Iterations (Jacob van Ruisdael)

Midjourney In Action

Midjourney AI - Iterations and final images (Loch Maree)

Once we have gone around one cycle, the detective then has to guess between this page of noise and an image from its data set of real “ten dollar notes” and have a guess whether the colourful noise is a real note or not. Like a savant child, the detective knows nothing about ten dollar notes but it knows when it sees something “familiar”. It guesses whether the forgery is fake or real.

Generator Discriminator Ten Dollar Note

Generator vs Discriminator (forger vs detective!)

But just as the forger is rubbish to begin with, so is the detective. Once they’ve had a guess, they’re told how they did they take a tiny step toward become experts on “ten dollar notes”.

After a huge number of iterations, the forger becomes a master but so is the detective. Because they were trained on lots of ten dollar note images, the results start to look more and more like what we have in our source material. But the result will be some strange combination of all the features of the ten dollar (an australian one, a canadian one, a US one, etc).

10 Dollar Bills

10 Dollar Bills (but AI's don't understand numbers)

Stable Diffusion

The other common system, Stable Diffusion, uses an inverted way of working out what is needed and is, fortunately, a bit easier to describe. It takes its source images, replaces them with noise and then works out how to transform the noise back into the image. It stores these transformations for every source image.

When you provide your text prompt (or image), it takes a set of these ‘noise-removing transformations’ and applies all of them in some balanced way. Gradually the noise transforms into an image (like magic again). I’ve kept this short so hopefully you’re still awake at this point.

Latent Spaces

There is another aspect of both Generative Adversarial Networks and Stable Diffusion Algorithms that isn’t mentioned much. In most cases, instead of directly using the source images as a collection of pixels, they use ‘latent space’ representations of the images. The latent spaces are a way of encoding images in something other than pixels. For instance, it may use a matrix of facial features (something that is actually used as a common sub-algorithm in many AI image systems). The facial features may be eye colour, nose shape, mouth structure, head angle, etc. A picture of a face can be deconstructed into these elements and, through this, images that are similar get stored close together in this multi-dimensional matrix. Any point in this matrix space represents a unique looking face. As you move around in the matrix, the face changes, eyes getting bigger, nose shorter, skin texture changing, etc. This is behind a lot of the clever manipulations of faces you might have seen on social media where one face transforms into another.

Face Arithmetic

Face Arithmetic

The ’aspects’ of a picture don’t have to be descriptive in the way that our face adjectives are. It might store aspects such as shape, texture, shadows, and aspects that don’t even have words that a system has recognised as a common feature of images. It’s this decomposition of images into latent spaces that has allowed AI to be so efficient in storing and combining disparate elements (for example, a fish on a bicycle).

Either AI system can create absolutely novel views that have never existed and that don’t exhibit any strong similarity with any “individual” source image. As Asimov said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” and this fits the bill perfectly.

What it isn’t, however, is an actual ‘intelligence’ (at least not yet). There really isn’t much that could be described as intelligent going on at all, at least not compared to human intelligence. What we’re seeing bears more in common with a savant child than a self-conscious artistic intelligence.

We’re still a long way from a system that can think abstractly and create novel ideas (rather than permutations on existing ideas). Some might say that most humans are the same, and perhaps they might not be too far wrong there. However, we’re still a long way from Terminator, SkyNet and the Rise of the Machines.

Some Examples

After an initial play at seeing how far I could push Midjourney AI into creating weird stuff (a penguin in an Edward Hopper bar, aliens playing cards in the style of Caravaggio, cats having a banquet in a red and black cave in the style of Caravaggio) I thought I’d see what it could create in terms of landscape photography.

Intial Experiments

First, lets see what it thinks is the best landscape photograph! Here’s “Award Winning Landscape Photograph”

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Award Winning Landscape Photograph

Whilst it’s definitely a landscape and capable of winning an award, it doesn’t exhibit any aspects of 'award winning' I would wish for. So it was time to try some ‘specific’ searches. Let’s try some location-based ones first to see what it thinks of photographic areas (excuse me that these are all British).

Timparkin Best Yorkshire Landscape Photograph Photorealistic Ph 552492e0 F707 4f7f B5d6 A72f3d2a8542


Yorkshire Landscape Photography

This has definitely picked up on some good Yorkshire cues. It has the broad glacial valleys, stone walls, sheep, stone built cottages with trees, etc.

Timparkin Best Lake District Landscape Photograph Photorealisti 6c5fa0a2 857a 4907 9933 61810bef568d

Lake District Landscape Photography

Again, the AI is picking up on location based cues and you can almost guess where photographs are from but they’re not quite right. I love how the AI thinks photography from the Lake District should be part of interior design though (reflects the targeting of art at the middle classes in Cumbira). But if you think the Lake District is all posh holiday cottages, Cornwall wants goes full interior design!

Timparkin Best Cornwall Landscape Photograph Photorealistic Ext Dfd2774a 2d71 4ddd Bf84 Beb11677eef9

Cornwall Landscape Photography

More very Cornish views, they’ve got the coastal geology right and the wide open beaches almost Marazion but also Watergate-esque etc…

I gave it something I though I might be a bit more familiar with so I'd stand a better chance of recognising things.

Timparkin Best Lochaber Landscape Photograph Photorealistic Ext 16b4955e 5258 42e9 A2f2 Ce5adb35e38d

Lochaber Landscape Photography

So Lochaber isn’t a keyword that is used very often, but it’s picked up on a more Highlands look (a bit Scandi I think perhaps). The mountains look like nothing familiar though. Perhaps "Glencoe" would be better term to use.

Timparkin Glencoe Landscape Photography Photograph Photorealist D64c461c 1d9d 44c5 8e09 5c35a0c37ae0

Glencoe Landscape Photography

All of these definitely look Glencoe esque but with a flavour of Glen Etive in them. But I’m struggling to see where they are. Some of the mountains almost look familiar. It’s that ‘uncanny valley’ again.

What I think we’re seeing is that the system certainly isn’t collaging elements into a scene but it is including elements that it thinks are important. For instance, it seems to think “I see mountains in all of the photographs that are associated with Glencoe so I’ll make sure I put some mountains in” with possibly some specific types of mountains – i.e. Terraced, rocky, etc.

If we ask it to make a picture of Scotland’s most famous mountain (at least visually) things start to look a little more familiar. Possibly because of the volume of images that match this description, the mountain has a classification of its own.

Timparkin Buachaille Etive Mor Mountain 7dd7c805 1a6d 453a A028 7fae761739a3

Buachaille Etive Mor

Finally we can see something recognisable going on. Randomly placed trees are appearing but at least in a couple of these images you can make out the differentiation between the North and East faces.

Let’s go full ‘photographic icon’ and try Buachaille Etive Mor with Waterfall and Trees

Timparkin Buachaille Etive Mor Waterfall Realistic 568ed4d6 B52c 4bb9 B09a F2bec3072838

Buachaille Etive Mor Waterfall

Oh yes!! That top left one is getting pretty damned close now and even has the right bulging rocks in the foreground. (for reference, see the image from David Mould below)

I fancied the top left one done as a larger picture and Midjourney allows you to ‘upscale’ an image it has created.

Timparkin Buachaille Etive Mor Waterfall Realistic 6697ab9f 6e62 4714 B862 596075e46ea8

Buachaille Etive Mor Waterfall

Interestingly, the painting above also has a signature on it. I’ve tried interpreting it but it makes no sense. This is quite common for text and numbers on Midjourney. It has a ‘savante’ like idea of what writing and numbers should look like but no idea what they are.

Again, I spent a while seeing what other iconic locations would look like and I’ve included the following for you.

Timparkin Fairy Pools Skye Landscape Photography Storm 4db501e2 D472 492d Bba5 2c02dd020861

Fairy Pools

Timparkin Durdle Door Northen Lights 5bc6f201 D52d 4b0b 9575 06923abef264

Durdle Door, Aurora and Bioluminescence

Whilst asking for upscale of a photo of Patagonia, I accidentally asked for it twice. It was very interesting to see that it copied the broad strokes of the idea but the ‘infill’ areas had lots of differences. Different peaks, different trees, clouds looked different etc.. You can see from this how Midjourney starts from broad outlines and infills things it thinks match the view.

Patagonia Comparison

Two Sequential Upscales of "Patagonia Landscape Photography"

It’s quite clear that, in order to generate something recognisable, you need to work with very popular photographic locations or ideas. For instance, if you want to ‘forge’ an amazing view of Kirkjufell with Aurora then Midjourney does a fine job

Timparkin Kirkjufell Aurora Landscape Photography Ice Waterfall 8db50a31 F06d 4373 A810 905f8a1f3804

Kirkjufell and Aurora

Or the Old Man of Storr at Sunset?

Timparkin Old Man Of Storr Skye Photorealistic Storm Sunset 6573f4df 766e 48fb 9fba 2c37cbbdb7ac

Old Man of Storr

Or even some more abstract but iconic ideas such as “icebergs on a black beach”

Timparkin Jokulsarlon Beach Icebergs Black Sand 7c7265c2 34da 47f7 9203 Ceef05a60233

Icebergs on a black beach

Or my particular favourite, rainbow aurora and snowy sunset

Timparkin Snowy Landscape With Sunset And Aurora Lightning And C9ada74d 7f19 4473 8fc3 B3d83bbbe704

Rainbow Aurora and Snowy Sunset

Is it Art?

Well, considering the problems we have working out if human-generated work is art or not, I’m loathe even to try to answer this. And I think the answer is more tied to the human aspect than people would like to think. If everything humans can ‘create’ should be considered ‘art’, regardless of its derivative or mechanical nature, then should we consider the same for the machines, unless we define art as ‘stuff humans make’, which is absurd if analysed at any length.

If everything humans can ‘create’ should be considered ‘art’, regardless of its derivative or mechanical nature, then should we consider the same for the machines, unless we define art as ‘stuff humans make’, which is absurd if analysed at any length.
If we’re not saying “all things humans make are art” then we must have some sort of distinction between different images in order to differentiate art from not art.

If we imagine a ‘black box’ analysis (rather like Turing’s AI test) then we need to be able to look at an image with no external information and say whether it is art or not. The chances of us doing this in a way that consistently rejects all AI images is virtually zero. Hence some AI images must be art.

That is unless we define art by the stuff that came before the generation of the artwork, i.e. art is in the thoughts and actions of the creator leading up and including the act of creation of a painting, photograph, sculpture or whatever. This would really screw things up as, without knowing how a piece was created, we can’t say whether it is art.

I personally like this idea that art is a symptom of everything but the artwork; that art is intrinsic to its creator and context. This does also mean that if I generate an AI artwork and use it in an artistic context, then the AI image can become art through the way I create and use it.

As you can see, the definition of art is like a manic cat being herded into a box on the way to the vet. It wriggles and writhes and refuses to be pinned down.

I do like the fact that the birth of new technology can challenge our perceptions of things we took for granted and thought we understood.

My own personal interpretation is now that art comes from inside the artist, from connections and relationships, from influence and synthesis. Storytelling, metaphor creation, etc. I still think the artwork itself is a big part of what art is but is insufficient by itself.

In this way, the future of art is probably more connected with the artist than the artwork and, if this is true, this is no bad thing at all.

The Influence Question

People often say that AI images are overblown, gaudy and cheesy, but they’re forgetting that these AI systems don’t have a taste filter, and they have been trained on every image found on the internet. And, not to be too blunt about it, the Internet is made up of mostly overblown, gaudy and cheesy images, and we shouldn’t be surprised that the current AI results reflect that.

What will be interesting is when systems can be trained on curated data sets. All modern art paintings, the back issues of On Landscape, the highest-ranking images in art competitions, etc. Some photographers are already experimenting with using their own photographs as part of the influence data set for their local AI systems.

There are already photographers out there creating their own data sets and extrapolating from them to create derivative works.

Will it put Photographers out of Business?

There is a long history of technological developments arriving and being accused of killing existing industries. And it’s true that many industries do die out because of new technologies - but for every industry dying, new opportunities arise. The introduction of photography was originally seen with horror by the painting establishment. They thought that it was the end of painting. In reality, it was the end of photo-realistic painting for most ‘consumer’ purposes but it was the start of one of the biggest ages of development in the history of art. Freed of the shackles of reality, artists started to ask themselves, “what else can we do” and the late 19th and early 20th Century developments in art all find their seed in this moment.

So what benefits can landscape photography take from the use of AI? The first answer can be derived from the fact that the AI has absolutely no knowledge of the subjects that it’s creating photographs from, and hence each image is a standalone, semi-random creation. This means that any photographic work where the veracity of the ‘subject’ and the emotional concept is important, cannot be easily generated. Also, any series of photographs on a concept that tries to evoke a feeling or idea will still, for the moment anyway, need to be conceived and executed by a human being.

I’m sure that some way of creating cohesive photographic series may happen at some point, it will be a lot harder to create than the current single images though. (we must add that once AI becomes indistinguishable from humans, they can inherently do whatever humans can do - I don’t see this as something on the horizon, and so it’s pointless reacting to the possibility).

Also, and this is important for landscape photographers, images that depict the real world with some level of veracity will be very hard for AI systems to create without actually going out and photographing them itself. So if your photography has its foundations in creating bodies of work from the real world, you should be well placed to continue as long as you can find an audience that cares (a perpetual challenge for any photographer).

However, if your photography relies on the perspective blended, aspect ratio transforming, dehaze applied, wowalicisous visual eye candy, then you might well have met your match, even with the current generation of AI. Time to find a new niche perhaps?

So what use is AI image generation to us?

So we’ve decided that AI image generation isn’t going to affect our livelihood (despite it affecting our blood pressure when we see them billed as “amazing moments” on the Internets) What use is it to us then?

One of the biggest uses I can see is as a way of tapping the internet for ideas. I spent a couple of weeks of evenings throwing prompts at the system to investigate what the systems would generate given prompts, including various artists, living or dead. For instance, I tried generating works by Claude Lorrain and was pleased to see it producing an image that included so many of his compositional techniques. I also used it to look at Turner, Ruisdael, Bruegel etc. It was really interesting to see which elements the AI had extracted from the range of images available to it for each artist. You could easily draw compositional or tonal tips from some of these distilled images.

Lorrain Compile

Claude Lorrain

Bruegel

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Turner Compile

JWM Turner

You could try this with photographers, but I don’t think there is enough work online for Midjourney to derive anything useful. It is entertaining to see what it conjures up and, if you apply an analytical approach to your browsing, I’m sure that some of its creations might trigger some creative ideas.

If I were a visual artist working in a more abstract sense or in mixed media, I think that the way that Midjourney conjures up creations that look like nothing you’ve ever seen before could be a fantastic way of sourcing new ideas. At one point, I had played with creating a Peter Lik view of the slot canyons in Arizona, but the work looked more like folded paper, and so I ended up working on creating standalone origami works that resembled desert canyons. If I were of a more practically artistic nature, I could imagine taking these ideas and using them as the basis of a project.

Timparkin Antelope Canyon Origami 5430266e 1f9b 460c 95d2 4e8f6bfd12d6

Origami Canyons

Where might it go?

At the moment, the seed pool of images is uncurated. In other words, it might have some good images in there, but it’s also full of crap. As mentioned previously, it would be very interesting to be able to pick a library of images to work from. It may be that all those skills keywording stock photographs will become useful again!

There will also, inevitably, be massive improvements in the way that you can work with images. The ability to specify how an image is laid out, ask the system to create a variation in textures, ask for specific objects (trees, grasses, etc), and supply ‘influencing’ images. In other words, be directly creative in the way a final image is constructed. There are already AI systems that allow you to make a rough sketch and they will interpret the shapes and make a scene from them (click here).

So the biggest changes will probably be in the way we interact with these systems. I can see an AI that generates a scene but also creates a 3D model that allows us to reposition the camera, for instance. Or we can manipulate items using some form of virtual reality tools - stretching mountains, for instance (oh dear). Here’s an example of just this.

For a range of different directions the Stable Diffusion model is taking, try having a look at this video from Two Minute Papers (a highly recommended subscribe if you’re into the geeky side of AI systems)

We’re not in Asimov’s World Yet

In Guy Tal’s article in this issue, he suggests that we may develop an AI robot that can travel to various locations and take photographs in a way that is ‘perfect’. An AI robot that, when told to take a landscape photograph, can find and interpret all the information on photography, interpret the perfect 2D photographs and try to find a way to position itself in ways that can recreate that perfection. That understands the cycles of weather and flora and can infer the way that secondary bounced lighting can change the way an item is interpreted by the human brain as three-dimensional. Etc.

I find this situation difficult to imagine without the AI photographer becoming so human-like that we might need to start thinking of such a machine as self-consciousness. And machines that could do something like this will be changing society so much in other ways, the fact that it might be able to reproduce an archetypal Peter Lik is essentially meaningless.

Before this happens, I can see situations where a drone can be let go, and it can go and search for compositional elements in an area using some of the visual formal devices (compositional components) and moving around to create parallax-driven relationships.

But the real answer on where this will go is “we don’t really have a clue”. When the Internet started being used, most futurists were so far out in their predictions of the possible (beyond the trivial “everyone will have access to the content of books) that it’s quite funny looking back. The same will be true for AI and image generation.

The Copyright Question(s)

The first copyright question is “are AI generated images copyrightable?”. I will be very surprised if some AI images aren’t considered copyrightable as most of them have some aspects of human intervention, and there doesn’t seem to be anything to say that the ‘prompt’ isn’t a direct creative control over the output image, even if that output image is automatially generated. It will probably take a few court cases before the law settles down, and those cases can only start when somebody ‘copies’ an AI-generated image, so it may be some time yet.

The bigger question is whether AI algorithms are breaching the copyright of the source images that it has scraped from the internet.

If you’ve read the overview of how the AI algorithms work above (GANs and Diffusion) you can see that the system isn’t really copying anything from the source images and is, in fact, acting in a similar way to how our own creativity is influenced by our past experiences. Nearly every artist in the world will admit that we don’t ‘create’ anything new, we use our own memory of everything we’ve seen to inform something new. In fact, many creatives collect printouts (or Pinterest boards) of the ideas they want to work around, particularly in the commercial world.

We may inject a small amount of our own ‘novel’ ways of working, but the vast majority of our work is a synthesis of many of our influences. So a computer generating an AI image isn’t copying the content it finds, it’s being influenced by it (for some definition of influence), and, as a human, at least, you can’t be prosecuted for being influenced by something.

It’s worth looking at a couple of the court cases surrounding the use of copyrighted source material in the generation of AI images and how the ‘prosecution’ is framing their motions.

In nearly all cases, they are trying to suggest that the AI systems actually make clever collages directly from the source material. This only makes sense as an attempt to fool a judge into a early motion in order to avoid analysing the issues more deeply. In other words, the prosecution already realise that they don’t really have a leg to stand on.

We have to remember that copyright law has legal pressure on it not to limit people who are honestly creating new art. Examples of this abound, some quite absurd. The most obvious is probably Richard Prince’s use of black and white photographs of Rastafarians where all he did is scribble or paste in a guitar and a funky face. The judges found in Richard Prince’s favour.

The open and shut case surrounding copyright is probably Google’s direct copying of images in the creation of their image search engine. If copyright allows this, then it’s hard to see how the obviousy transformative images generated by AI breach anybody’s copyright.

The images were clearly mostly copies of the originals, at least in terms of image real estate. However, the courts protected Mr Prince’s use of the images as transformative.

If this is protected, how can we possibly suggest that my picture of a Cthulu god MAGA knitted toy is somehow not transformative?

Maga

This harks back to the difference between ‘influence’ and ‘plagiarism’, and I can’t help but think of the results of AI algorithms as an ‘influence’ engine, probably more so than many humans.

Let’s say the law says that all of the images are derivative. We now have a potentially massively useful resource dead in the water (at least commercially). Plus we now have new legal precedent for claiming that transformative work could actually be illegal.

In human terms, each artwork is considered on its own terms. The artist perhaps knows what influenced them (however, there is precedent for people creating things that are very similar to things that they had previously seen but forgotten) but legally, each case needs to be handled separately and it’s up to the ‘plagiarised’ artist to sue.

There is an extra problem with AI image generators though. The end users don’t know if what has been produced is derivative or transformative because they have no clear idea where the influences came from. As a large company, would you trust images generated by AI to be ‘cleared’, I know I wouldn’t? This isn't restricted to just AI image generators though, your AI sharpening software also pulls in resources from elsewhere to 'comp in' areas of lower resolution. You didn't think all those facial details were appearing from nowhere did you?!

Epilogue

The story of AI Image generation is only just beginning and we don't know where it is going to go. Here's a couple of interesting tit-bits for you to chew on though. At the current rate of use of 'source material', AI's will run out in less than a decade. They'll not only start regurgitating the same old sources but with so much AI generated content appearing, AI's will also be eating their own creations.

Finally, AI's are only as good as image captioning and with SEO so important, images are no longer captioned for their meaning but for their commercial usefulness. Capitalism's noise is already the bane of the AI world!

QUICK ADDITION: I HIGHLY recommend watching from an artist talking about AI and art. So many good points made about what art means and how AI is actually a GREAT addition to an artists environment.

Artificial Art

A Desert Dream

Where there is delight in a process, there will be style, and the activity of production will itself have aesthetic quality. But when men assimilate themselves to machines and value only the consequences of their work, not the work itself, style disappears, to be replaced by something which to the mechanised man appears more natural, though in fact it is only more brutal.~Bertrand Russell

Several photographers of note have expressed concern recently about the increasingly popular use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate photo-realistic images.

The concern is certainly justified for those who earn a living by producing such images. Alas, such are the inevitable and ruthless consequences of the simple laws of supply and demand.
The concern is certainly justified for those who earn a living by producing such images. Alas, such are the inevitable and ruthless consequences of the simple laws of supply and demand: so long as any object is valued only as product and less so (or not at all) as the result—the byproduct—of some significant human experience, market forces will drive the production of this object toward the most efficient, quickest, and most cost-effective method of production.

Thus, the more important question is not whether AI can produce photographic images more effectively and prolifically than humans can (there is little doubt that this is, or soon will be, the case) but whether works of human-made art deserve some special consideration beyond that afforded to other manufactured objects: a consideration linking their value intrinsically with some desirable human experience inherent in the method of their creation. This is why many artisanal (human-produced) products, including such things as cabinetry, pottery, gourmet food, and portraiture, still persist and are highly valued even when technology exists that can produce them more cheaply and en masse. This likely will be the case for artisanal photography, too. However, as was the case with other artisanal disciplines, there is little doubt that the introduction of automated photographic technology will diminish greatly the number of people who may be able to earn a living from practising photography professionally, and these few will by necessity possess uncommon and difficult-to-achieve excellence in craftsmanship, creativity, and aesthetic sense.

Cath Gothard

Cathgothard 1 Crop

Many of us follow a cycle from creative interests through ‘sensible’ subjects and studies (often advocated by well-meaning adults) that inevitably brings us back to our beginnings. For Cath, a postgraduate degree unexpectedly opened up a creative career, and more recently, photography has become a big passion and has led to a great deal of her time in wellies and water.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to study and do?

I grew up in Lancashire, as an only child, in what was then a village between Preston and Chorley. From an early age, it was apparent that I had what would traditionally be seen as male interests. Train sets, Mechano, technics Lego. These, alongside soft toy animals, were my toys of choice. I was not interested in more traditional girls’ toys, such as dolls, and was probably considered to be a bit of a tomboy.

My dad was a keen fell runner, and as a family, we spent many happy weekends up in the Lake District, where my Dad would run in the various fell races. I always thought that the Lakeland countryside was magical. Growing up, I wondered if this was just nostalgia from happy childhood memories. Now I’m an adult, I feel lucky to have spent so much time in what I now think is one of the most beautiful national parks in the UK.

At school, I was good at art, but also very good at the sciences and maths. I was persuaded into taking science A-levels by my well-meaning teachers. I ended up doing a Computing Science degree at Stirling University. At the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I went through the motions and completed the degree. In doing so, it crystallised what I had felt throughout my academic career: I wanted to do something creative with my life. I went on to do an MSc in Computer Graphics, where one of the modules introduced me to an animation package called Softimage. Finally, I found what I wanted to do, and I’ve worked in the 3D computer graphics industry as a character animator ever since.

Bearing Witness

By temperament, I am not unduly excitable and certainly not trigger-happy. I think twice before I shoot and very often do not shoot at all. By professional standards I do not waste a lot of film; but by the standards of many of my colleagues I probably miss quite a few of my opportunities. Still, the things I am after are not in a hurry as a rule.~ Bill Brandt

The late November sun poked through the clouds as it slipped closer to the horizon, bathing the river and islands in the warm evening light. As I was commenting to my wife on the beauty of the light, I noticed a half-rainbow opposite the setting sun, its one end disappearing below the water’s surface. Rainbows are not uncommon where I live, but the combination of the late afternoon light and the rainbow dipping into the river made it particularly beautiful. My wife said I should get a photo of it, so I pointed my two index fingers at each temple and said, “click.” She gave me a look that only wives can give an idiot husband. I had no desire to photograph the scene, content to witness and revel in the beauty unfolding before me. After several minutes it disappeared, but the memory of it is forever seared into my brain. What more could a photo of it have offered me? What would my motivation have been had I photographed it?

Photography and the Arc of Human Progress

I am sure the next step will be the electronic image, and I hope I shall live to see it. I trust that the creative eye will continue to function, whatever technological innovations may develop.~ Ansel Adams

I feel very lucky to live in a time and place where I have consistent access to the necessities of life. I do not have to spend most of my time and energy trying to secure clean water, nutritious food, shelter, clothing, or an education as we had to in the past. I find it all too easy to take our modern technological conveniences for granted and forget that it is because of these things that I have the extra time and energy to roam freely with something like a digital camera. With this piece of kit, coupled with the means to travel long distances easily, I can pursue my interests as a photographer across Wales’ beautiful landscape and be on many of the summits in the south within a couple of hours of waking up.

Moel Siabod Snowdonia Wales (hop)

Consider the effort required by the earliest landscape photographers to achieve something similar 150 years ago. Their equipment would have been unreliable, cumbersome and difficult to use. You would have needed lots of different skills to fix the available light onto the surface of the film, which, back then were in their infancy and hard to acquire. They may have even needed a mobile lab – a horse drawn cart - to complete their photographs in situ, not to mention the chemicals required to fix an image, the lack of roads and the quality of the ones that existed. And accuracy was a word that wasn't usually associated with mapping. You would have needed lots of time and lots of money to be a landscape photographer in the nineteenth century, you probably needed several assistants too.

Now, the marginal cost of a digital image is close to zero, effectively the cost of the electricity to charge the battery for your camera. Cars are reliable enough to make significant trips away a feasible and regular thing to do, and perfectly good maps are available on every mobile phone (which are in themselves powerful computers). I have a very good single person tent, durable, warm clothing, and I can filter my own water if I run out on the hills. I am not trying to say that contemporary photography is a walk in the park, it can be very difficult, and it is not without its risks, but compared to what those early photographers had to grapple with, I would say we have it pretty good.

The marginal cost of a digital image is close to zero, effectively the cost of the electricity to charge the battery for your camera. Cars are reliable enough to make significant trips away a feasible and regular thing to do, and perfectly good maps are available on every mobile phone (which are in themselves powerful computers).

Boulder Cwm Tryfan Snowdonia (hop)

How did we get from there to here? Let us take two great photographers of the early to mid 20th century: Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter. These two were experts at pushing the boundaries of possibility with their approaches to the craft of photography. They were passionate, insightful, pioneering and skilled. However, in addition to those fine qualities, they were also the lucky recipients of certain technologies that became available during their time. This allowed them to discover new opportunities, opportunities that were not there before because the appropriate technologies were not in place. They realised what was possible through the novel combination of the technologies that existed during their time.

How did we get from there to here? Let us take two great photographers of the early to mid 20th century: Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter. These two were experts at pushing the boundaries of possibility with their approaches to the craft of photography.

Imagine leaping from the ability to make fire from sticks and kindling straight to the rocket ship. This is such a monumental leap that it cannot be taken seriously. The gap between discovering fire and using the combustion of refined fuels to send objects into space against Earth’s gravity is massive. So many discoveries are required to go from one to the other, making it an unfeasible prospect to achieve a leap like this without inventing a whole lot of stuff first. At a minimum, you would need time, extensive networks of people, writing, institutionalised science and maths, communications, computer technology and a whole host of other things before something like leaving earth is even considered a remote possibility.

The cooking of food, keeping warm in the cold, protection against predators and the lighting of dark spaces are natural progressions after the discovery of how to make fire. These are the ideas that are closest and easiest to find out; they are the logical, adjacent steps, and indeed the evidence in the historical record bares this out across different hominid species going back 100,000’s of years. People cannot help but share their ideas and we are excellent copiers, so innovation speeds up considerably when people settled, formed towns and cities and established connections between them.

Brecon Beacons Near Penderyn In Autumn (hop)

The idea that any given moment has within it a realm of possibility that makes certain discoveries much more likely is what the author Steven Johnson calls ‘the adjacent possible’. By that, Johnson means that ideas tend to come naturally, almost in a linear fashion, next to one another. It is much easier to make the adjacent step from, say, idea ‘c’ to idea ‘d’ once ideas ‘a’ and ‘b’ have already been established. To go from ‘a’ to ‘d’ is extremely unlikely, the ideas are not close enough to become apparent to people at the time and, therefore, not likely to occur. He says that ‘great leaps beyond the adjacent possible are rare and doomed to be short term failures if the environment is simply not yet ready for them’.

If you follow the process of small logical change from one idea to the next for long enough, you end up with ever increasing complexity. Adams and Porter were alive when the development of key technologies existed, like reliable portable photography, the combustion engine, the plane, road networks and long-distance communications. These are the ideas and the means through which the wilderness could be accessed by these two photographers for the purposes of making their landscape photographs. Also, photography itself changed rapidly too, film was well established in Adams’ time, cameras and lenses became more reliable and less cumbersome; colour film was also beginning to emerge, of which both Adams and Porter were early adopters. These technological convergences allowed Ansel Adams to explore north America’s vast national parks, as can be seen in his beautiful black and whites, and Eliot Porter to photograph breeding birds up close and visit some of the world’s most interesting and remote places like - Arizona, Iceland and the Galapagos.

Pen Y Fan From Mynnyd Illtud Brecon Beacons (hop)

With the right culture - one that institutionalises reason and constantly updates and questions itself accordingly - you end up with exponential growth. A quick look at the internet, and you will see the effects of exponential growth patterns everywhere. Millions of pictures covering every continent on Earth are shared across the internet every day. We send robots to the surface of Mars and the Moon, and we photograph the stars, nebula, and the Milky Way in remarkable detail. Of course, looking at big things far away is not the only direction we go in, microscopic organisms and their constituent parts are also visible to us now, the likes of which were very difficult to view just a few decades ago.

The last 20 years have seen more change to photography than the 150 years prior, and, with no sign of advancement slowing down, the next ten will yield just as much change as the last 20, and so on and so forth.
The last 20 years have seen more change to photography than the 150 years prior, and, with no sign of advancement slowing down, the next ten will yield just as much change as the last 20, and so on and so forth.

Several images in this book were made using a small but powerful drone. Drone technology is a recent development in photography, it is having a huge effect with its potential to explore new horizons allowing access to areas that were out of reach by anyone without a helicopter, wings, or a jet pack! It is just pure luck that I live in a time where drones exist, I did not invent them. I am the lucky recipient of this technology, and it has been made possible by many adjacent technological ideas, such as rocket powered spacecraft, GPS satellites, the micro-chip, very small digital cameras, electrical storage and advances in aerospace engineering. It is likely that drones would not exist if any one of those adjacent ideas were not in place first. I have the scientists and engineers who developed each of these technologies, and of-course chance timing, to thank for the fact that I have a drone.

What did I do before drones came along? Well, I walked up mountains and lived within the two-meter maximum height of my tripod to get a different perspective, like most photographers. It will be interesting to see what offshoots come out of such a powerful technology. What ideas come naturally after the creation of something like a drone? Surely it shouldn't be too difficult to scale it up and get the flying vehicles that were popularised in 20th century science fiction, who knows?

End frame: Colour transect #19, 57.868º N by Niall Benvie

The end frame series of articles has always been one of my favourite parts of On Landscape. All the agonising about which photographer to choose, which of their images to select, all the possible alternatives, how to explain the emotional impact of the chosen image, etc., etc.

It didn’t take me long to select my favourite photographer: the work of Niall Benvie has been inspiring and challenging me since I took up photography about 12 years ago.  My fascination started when a photographic society colleague and I experimented with Niall’s “Meet your neighbours” techniques as part of a worldwide network of people using the same protocols. The technique was valuable again during lockdown when we all reacquainted ourselves with our neighbours.

His work ranges, from what he terms “Classic Wild” through to his more recent deeply thoughtful and disturbing “Despatches from the Collapse”, is breathtaking. He features frequently in On Landscape, and deservedly so.  It is hard to keep up with him, his imagination, technical skill, teaching ability, aesthetic sensibility, thoughtfulness, care for the planet…

Choosing a single image from such a catalogue is an order of magnitude more difficult.  In the end, I decided it almost didn’t matter which image I chose. They are all my favourites, and any one would be wonderful.  So here is “Colour transect #19, 57.868º N”.

 

Wood, stream and pool

Wood Stream Poll 1

I was languidly enjoying this immense life of things, which is manifested in the play of light and shade. It was there, in such a wonderful place, that I had the idea to narrate the earth’s phenomena and that I immediately sketched the draft of my work... To know the earth, I studied not only books, but the Earth itself.~ Élisée Reclus

...we make our landscapes, and they make us.~ David Lintern

Despite the many years that have passed, I still have a vivid memory of a sunrise on a mountain pass 2,500 metres up in the Pyrenees, tucked inside my sleeping bag. In impressive silence, the peaks of the distant mountains stood out above an immense, luminous sea of clouds.

Despite the many years that have passed, I still have a vivid memory of a sunrise on a mountain pass 2,500 metres up in the Pyrenees, tucked inside my sleeping bag.
During my excursions of those years through the mountains of my homeland, I enjoyed these places and learned to admire the landscapes I travelled through, and this enjoyment and interest in landscapes led me to study geography.

As a hiker and geographer, I longed to visit the grand, beautiful landscapes of the Earth, but a lack of time and money prevented me from making such trips, and they were put off for the future.

Although I never dedicated myself professionally to geography, I continued to be linked to it through geographical associations, and I was particularly interested in what is called landscape geography. However, this interest waned as it seemed to me that landscape geography began to take up post-modernism as its epistemological foundation and started to be diluted into a kind of erudite hermeneutics, moving further and further away from real landscapes, which were being seriously affected by the disastrous consequences of our social and economic systems.

Wood Stream Poll 2

In spite of this, my interest in landscape brought me closer to landscape photography because, after all, as Élisée Reclus wrote in his preface to La Terre (1868), the immense life of things –including landscapes– is manifested through the play of light and shade, which are essential and constitutive elements of photography.

I first read about landscape photography in a second-hand copy of John Shaw's book, Landscape Photography. I can still recall my difficulty in understanding the Adams and Archer zone system and its relation to f-stops!

My growing dedication to this genre of photography coincided with my move to Germany. I left behind the harsh, dry, luminous landscapes of the Mediterranean to settle in central Europe, a region with wetter landscapes, ancient mountain ranges worn away by erosion, huge forests and wide plains with many lakes and pools, and innumerable rivers and streams loaded with sediments and myths. I began to photograph the ordinary landscapes around my new home with frequency and dedication. Despite the many years that have passed, I still have a vivid memory of a sunrise on a mountain pass 2,500 metres up in the Pyrenees, tucked inside my sleeping bag.

I left behind the harsh, dry, luminous landscapes of the Mediterranean to settle in central Europe, a region with wetter landscapes, ancient mountain ranges worn away by erosion, huge forests and wide plains with many lakes and pools, and innumerable rivers and streams loaded with sediments and myths.

Wood Stream Poll 6 Wood Stream Poll 3

However, I still longed to see and photograph the emblematic landscapes that were shown in photography magazines; Greenland, Iceland, Norway, the national parks of the United States, Scotland, Namibia, the Dolomites… For the most part, they were still out of reach for me.

The perverse effects of mass tourism were beginning to spread to photography, and the unhealthy need to publish photographs on social networks only accentuated the problem of overcrowding and damage to landscapes. What was the point of that?

At the same time as tackling the technical problems of photography, I started discovering the problems that were beginning to affect the practice of landscape photography; the masses of photographers in certain locations. Articles began to appear in which the authors described their experiences in certain locations, squeezed between dozens of photographers who, clinging to their tripods, struggled to keep their place, waiting for the right moment to press the shutter. The perverse effects of mass tourism were beginning to spread to photography, and the unhealthy need to publish photographs on social networks only accentuated the problem of overcrowding and damage to landscapes. What was the point of that? Where was the necessary calm, thoughtful relationship between the photographer and landscape to give photography a sensitive, intimate expression?

From time to time, I had the opportunity to take the occasional excursion to more distant places, but my photographic excursions mostly took place in the local area and were a sort of dogged exercise in improving my technique and my ability to “see photographically”, ready for the day when I would be able to visit the “great landscapes” and take good pictures.

Wood Stream Poll 4

I live in a densely populated region on the slopes of the Taunus Mountains. The city I live in used to be a farming town, and in the early 1960s, it was transformed practically overnight into a city designed to accommodate large numbers of people from many different backgrounds in need of housing.

IAs in many other places in the world around the same time, cement imposed its aesthetics on both private and public spaces, creating geographies of border-spaces, of non-places, transition or intermediate spaces which were anodyne, without apparent structure and badly designed (whether on purpose or not) for fostering collective life.
As in many other places in the world around the same time, cement imposed its aesthetics on both private and public spaces, creating geographies of border-spaces, of non-places, transition or intermediate spaces which were anodyne, without apparent structure and badly designed (whether on purpose or not) for fostering collective life.

In my city, lost between these ambiguous, transitional border-spaces, there is a small woodland that is barely 1 kilometre square, a stream about 4 kilometres long and a pool used by the municipal fishing club. These, therefore, are the three landscapes where I have carried out my photographic fieldwork; wood, stream and pool.

Then, when my personal circumstances began to allow me to travel to more distant places, the Covid pandemic started, and consequently, all my travel projects returned to their drawers. As David Lintern says in his article The Body Keeps the Score, at the same time, you work with what you have. So I continued with my wood, my stream and my pool.

Wood Stream Poll 7

As time has passed, the urge to take photographs has been relegated to the background. I think I have learned something about photography during this time, but what I do know for sure is that I have learned to enjoy the solitude of the wood on misty mornings, to be surprised by the hasty flight of a roe deer at my footsteps nearby, to be annoyed by how indifferent a family of wild boars rooting at the edge of the wood are to my presence, to perceive the change in the murmurs of the stream after the previous night’s rain and to marvel at the subtle elegance of the grey heron on the banks of the pool.

I still have a lot to learn about photography, true, but I think I'm on the right track; I’m starting to understand what Chris Murray says about photographers who primarily photograph in ordinary places with ordinary subject matter: they are seeking something inside themselves first, the subject matter is secondary.

Mieke Boynton – Portrait of a Photographer

Dendrites
One of the best parts of organising the Natural Landscape Photography Awards is that it has provided a mechanism through which I can discover and appreciate photographers and their work, especially those that adhere to a more “natural” editing style. One such photographer that immediately captivated me with her work was Mieke Boynton, a photographer living in the small mountain town of Bright, Australia. Mieke owns and operates a photography gallery there with her partner and last year’s winner of the NLPA’s Project of the Year, Matt Palmer.

In this article, I hope to convey how Mieke’s approach to photography has elevated her work, how her immeasurable passion and aptitude for aerial photography have differentiated her from her peers, and how her desire to honour the Aboriginal people of Australia has given her work purpose.
While Mieke’s work has not eluded the attention of other competitions in the past (she is the first Australian and first female to win the Epson International Pano Awards in 2019 and, that same year, was also named Victorian Landscape Photographer of the Year), I believe that her work has not yet been fully appreciated by her peers across the pond in the UK or in the USA. In my opinion, Mieke is a world-class landscape photographer. In this article, I hope to convey how Mieke’s approach to photography has elevated her work, how her immeasurable passion and aptitude for aerial photography have differentiated her from her peers, and how her desire to honour the Aboriginal people of Australia has given her work purpose.

Review of ‘22

My photographic modus operandi isn’t quite fire & forget, but I’m generally more concerned with the next photograph than my last. In the vast majority of cases, I’m more interested with the process of making an image rather than the finished product. The latter is rarely more than an incomplete, imperfect witness to a very enjoyable experience outdoors. Even the chore of fighting gravity, dragging my slightly overweight frame and 20kgs of camera gear up a hill, seems worth it. More still, I love the challenge of working out how to squeeze some recalcitrant portion of reality into a frame, hopefully resulting in an attractive and intriguing photo. Whilst I quite often feel an initial satisfaction with the products of those exertions, few of the photographs still move me 30 days later, let alone after 365.

This review of my best twelve images of 2022, therefore, feels like a slightly strange exercise. However, I can see that it’s quite the rage; at this time of year, there are dozens of dozens in my social media feed. Ansel Adams famously wrote that twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop. Significant is obviously the key word here. I am the kind of person who feels Eeyore is dangerously over optimistic. So, hoping that I will make twelve notable images seems very ambitious.

Obviously, some images that I have made over four decades have a deeper significance for me, and I have returned to a few of these again and again. (There must be some reward, or I wouldn’t keep doing it!) Realistically, few of the images here will ever make it into the list of my career best. Does that matter? Not really, we can never know when that wonderful mix of opportunity and resonance with a subject will result in a truly great image. Nor is it up to us to say which images are genuinely significant. Other eyes and the lens of time must determine that. I am content that last year’s crop has provided some likely candidates for my (almost mythical!) third book.

Footnote: I didn’t make a photograph I liked in every month last year, so the images are only “more or less” arranged in month order…

Submerged

01 Submerged

I love a chance discovery. Wandering across open moorland in Iceland, I came across this pebble. Sunlight through the ice had warmed the darker pebble enough for it to melt a little opening, like a present unwrapping itself.

After the Rain

Retreating rain clouds provided the intensity of colour and the soft sheen on the slate wall in this image from Dinorwic.

02 After The Rain

Retreating rain clouds provided the intensity of colour and the soft sheen on the slate wall in this image from Dinorwic.

Flow

03 Flow

I am fascinated by the systems that work behind the scenes to generate surface appearance. In this case, the patterns in the sky and on the beach arise from different kinds of flow. The similarities are more than coincidental. Self-similarity is visually satisfying, so that helps to hook the viewer.

Time enough

The way the colours and quartz veins flow through the rock is the product of unimaginable pressure over millions of years.

04 Time Enough

The way the colours and quartz veins flow through the rock is the product of unimaginable pressure over millions of years. The sea has then eroded the surface into softly complementary forms, revealing a beauty that was born from deep time.

Oscillations

05 Oscillations

Intriguing forms can arise from finding the right balance between time and light. In this instance, I wanted to compare the straight reeds with their oscillating reflections. The key here was finding the right shutter speed.

Graffiti

Earthquakes in 2016 devastated several villages and towns on the border of Umbria and Marche in Italy. Many of these are still awaiting help for rebuilding. This graffiti covered door is in a ruined building in Castellucio.

06 Graffiti

Earthquakes in 2016 devastated several villages and towns on the border of Umbria and Marche in Italy. Many of these are still awaiting help for rebuilding. This graffiti covered door is in a ruined building in Castellucio.

Ode

07 Ode

A freeform poem in light and colour, with a nod towards Monet. (I hope!).

Bergs

Alexander Fleming said that “chance favoured the prepared mind”. It also favours those who’ve already set up to make a photo when the sun unexpectedly peeps through the clouds.

08 Bergs

Alexander Fleming said that “chance favoured the prepared mind”. It also favours those who’ve already set up to make a photo when the sun unexpectedly peeps through the clouds. It looks like a serene experience, but there was some frantic resetting of shutter speeds!

Panning for gold

09 Panning For Gold

The golden birch leaves gathered in this dark, algae coated bowl in the rocks looked like bright treasures to me. The title was suggested by a friend, Dave Mead, and it’s much better than my original. A good title should ideally be poetic and enrich the image. Mine was sadly pedestrian.

Sunfire

Standing in a goatherder’s barn in the Picos de Europa, I was drawn to the molten orange light that spilled around the pantiles on the roof above.

10 Sunfire

Standing in a goatherder’s barn in the Picos de Europa, I was drawn to the molten orange light that spilled around the pantiles on the roof above. It looked as if they were being consumed by a furnace. The cool shades of the roof timbers also contrasted beautifully.

Fractured

11 Fractured

It’s perhaps an indelicate subject, but I have often found compositions whilst obeying a call of nature. On this occasion, this recently fractured slate caught my eye. I was drawn by the combination of geometry and colour. It reminded me of abstract paintings from the early 20th Century. I also liked how fresh it seemed; the colours were very vibrant and broken piece close to its original position.

Vase

Spoil from the nearby slate mine at Ballachulish has been scattered across the beach. I noticed that, serendipitously, time and tide had rearranged these few stones into a shape reminiscent of a vase with seaweed growing in just the right position.

12 Vase

Spoil from the nearby slate mine at Ballachulish has been scattered across the beach. I noticed that, serendipitously, time and tide had rearranged these few stones into a shape reminiscent of a vase with seaweed growing in just the right position. All it took was forty minutes of searching through the chaos before I recognised the pattern within.

Your favourite images

In our end of year issue, Joe Cornish wrote about his favourite images of 2022 and we also asked our subscribers to send in their favourite images from 2022.

We were overwhelmed by the response, with contributions from all corners of the world and almost 100 contributions. So in addition to David Ward's selection from 2022, we have a giant gallery from our subscribers below. Thank you so much for responding to our request, the images are amazing and we are so grateful for your support!

We've created an index of photographers at the top if you wish to find a particular photographer, they are sorted in alphabetical order by surname. Don't forget you can click on an image to see it larger if you wish.

Many thanks to you all and a Happy New Year from Tim, Charlotte, David and Michela.


Mikael Ackelman

First snow, Mikael Ackelman
It was the day of the first snow for the season. I really love the colours, tones and structures when snow falls on bare ground and always try to catch those moments.

Martin Addison

Untitled, Martin Addison
I have always loved photographing patterns in nature. Rock patterns, sand patterns, wood, clouds, trees, leaves and of course seaweed which is the subject of this photograph (in case you were wondering).I also take much pleasure in extending those patterns and transforming them into something else, through multiple exposure, ICM, kaleidoscopic effects and the like. In this case the patterns remain the same, but I have shifted the colours using Lightroom which has emphasised the beautiful textures in different ways.

David Ashcroft

Avenue of Pollarded Trees, David Ashcroft
Taken at National Trust Mottisfont, Hampshire, England

Jan Bainar

Untitled, Jan Bainar
Few days after reading Joe Cornish 's article about his favourite photos taken in 2022 I ventured out into the woods and hills of Carpathians mountains - the part of it that I have never visited before. I have found this steep rocky slope with tangled old oak trees which I have been shooting for almost 3 hours. This picture is the very last one, taken 20 minutes after sunset with 30 second exposure which blurs small branches moving in the wind. The tree somehow reminds me of this year that we are leaving behind. It was a year of many contrasts with our nice wedding in June and several beautiful travels without any Covid restrictions but with horrible geopolitical twists and turns occurring few hundred kilometres away from my home and this place.

Krister Berg

A quiet night by the sea, Krister Berg
I spend a lot of time in the archipelago of Stockholm. The barren islands and the sea has a lot to offer to the adventurous photographer.

Keith Beven

Peak of Le Besso in the Val de Zinal, Valais, Switzerland viewed from Cabane de Petit Mountet, Keith Beven
A narrow band of light was making its way up the rock face as the sunset, gradually turning more orange. This was taken just as it reached the base of the cloud surrounding the peak.

Robin Boothby

Badbury Hill Wood, Oxfordshire, Robin Boothby
Autumn seemed to be later this year, with some leaves clinging on into early December in my local beech wood. Add in the best fog conditions I can remember in a long, long time and this is the result.

Holger Broschek

Rowan Tree and Gorge, Snowdonia, Wales, Holger Broschek
I captured this photograph during a workshop with Simon Baxter in Snowdonia. We had been walking along the river with ever changing views for two or three hours, when we finally came to a bridge over the gorge, where the other photographers decided to take a rest before turning back. I arrived at the bridge a few minutes later and this composition immediately caught my eye. Since I made the photograph on my birthday, I consider it to be one of my favourite birthday presents ever.

Jim Bullard

The Stone Valley Trails, Jim Bullard
The Stone Valley Trails are just down the hill from my home. I hike and photograph there frequently. This vignette was on a smaller side stream.

Phil Castagneri

Red Rocks Park in winter, Phil Castagneri
This park west of Denver, Colorado is famous for its amphitheatre and the many artists who have performed there. Perhaps lesser known is the surrounding park and trails with views of interesting sandstone formations. While exploring the park, the winter light illuminating this tree at the bottom of a ravine caught my eye.

Alan Coligado

Dawn dreaming, Alan Coligado
On a recent trip to Turkey, I took the popular early morning hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia. Of the many photos that I took of that unforgettable experience, this is probably my favourite. I like its simplicity and dreamlike quality.

Melanie Collie

Waterloopbos, Netherlands. Reflection, Melanie Collie
Built in the early 1950's in Netherlands. Now open to wander and cycle on the trails through a forest dotted with hydrological models once used to study the behaviour of water. A fascinating piece of history.

Nigel Cooke

Untitled, Nigel Cooke
An image from our time spent travelling in the van down the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland. Not of course you would know from the image. A few moments of late evening light as I walked along Keel Strand on Achill Island. No time to think about the more expansive vista instead, as is often the case, looking down towards my feet. Perhaps an image that will find its way into my long-running personal project - Along the Strand Line - or maybe it will forever remain just a moment in time.

Andrew Cooper

Winterton Dunes, Andrew Cooper
Taken late in the day using a Lensbaby velvet 56, selectively focusing on the grasses in the front. It was only when I transferred to Lightroom I realised how soft the grasses behind had gone.

Giovanni Corona

Interstellar Salt Plant: Majestic Moments, Giovanni Corona
I have always been fascinated by the salt pans of Sant'Antioco, a semi-abandoned place. I've always imagined it, at night, as if it were an abandoned lunar facility, a projection of humanity's future in a place far from our home, the Earth.  Inspired by the film "LUNE".

Phil Crean

A Corner of Paradise, Phil Crean
I'm always exploring new parts of the coast near where I live on Tenerife and found this tiny cove with it's lovely colour in the rocks hidden between a hotel and an old village. It captures some of the essence of the wonderful volcanic landscape on my doorstep.

Anthony S. Crouch

Autumn Sneffels Emergence, Mount Sneffels, Colorado, USA, Anthony S. Crouch
Landscape photography has taken me on a journey to seeand experience scenes that I only imagined visiting in the past. Thebeautiful colourful Aspens of Colorado dappled with the light from theclouded sky, alongside the awe inspiring Mount Sneffels, was one ofthose moments where you had to put the camera down and enjoy thepeaceful scene out folding in front of you.

Michael Cummins

Falling, Michael Cummins
Hanging branches of an old silver birch tree in heavy fog at Bolehill, Peak District. Taken in December 2022 on a short trip back to the UK from south-west Ireland.

Mike Curry

Head of a Woman II, Mike Curry
I was leading a workshop on my reflections work and as such don’t normally use my ‘big camera’. I wanted to show everyone the sort of feeling I was looking for so whipped out my iPhone and snapped this. I think both I and the students were shocked when I caught this image. Nothing done to this image apart from a bit of levels and contrast enhancement. Serendipitous or experience? Not sure I am the best to decide! This is a reflection of a crane at Canary Wharf in London if you were wondering!

Frank Dalemans

Ice Abstract, Frank Dalemans
The shapes and details of ice structures stimulate the imagination and never get boring.

Dan Dill

A dawn twilight view from Moon Overlook, Hanksville, Utah, Dan Dill
 The textures and colours are otherworldly.

Andre Donawa

Hills and Valleys, Andre Donawa
I always look forward to visiting this location. Even though it’s mostly known for its grand panoramic views there are some intimate hidden gems when you take a good look around. This is a reef I always visit when I’m in the area; around this time of year, the moss is exceptionally green.

Tom Dornig

Calm Beeches, Tom Dornig
I was out early that morning, I wanted to photograph something completely different. My expectations were not met. On my way back, I decided to stop and take a walk through the misty woods. What I saw were these beautiful beech trees, stood in the fog.

Stuart East

Winter River, Stuart East
One of my favourite spots on a river in Sussex. I've photographed it many times but never seen it quite this cold before. The reflections, light, hoar frost and sky all came together at the right moment.

Christopher Edwards

Rocks, Pebbles and Sand, Christopher Edwards
titled it 'Rocks, Pebbles and Sand' although the story behind the image was how I had to rush the shot before a playful dog came into the scene - potentially ruining it. Photographed on a bright early Spring day on the North Wales coast, the clear blue skies somewhat forced me to look for the more intimate or smaller scene on the beach. About to call it a day and head back to the car, I suddenly noticed this interesting group of rocks and pebbles. I was acutely conscious of the incoming four-legged friend from the corner of my eye: I literally had about sixty seconds or less to frame and take the shot before the scene was plastered in canine paw-prints and undoubtedly ruining the image I had in my mind!

Hank Erdmann

Copper Leaf, Hank Erdmann
“Copper Leaf” was imaged in a eddy of a small stream behind a log laying in the stream.  The foam was created from a small water cascade in the stream.  The copper colour of the leaf matched the colour of the fringes of the foam which is what caught my attention.

Oleg Ershov

Winter morning at Stokssnes, Oleg Ershov

Franka Gabler

Morning Frost, Eastern Sierra, Franka Gabler
Every year I photograph fall colour in the California Eastern Sierra. I often look for past-prime fall color locations, where most foliage has abscised from the branches, revealing graceful, slender aspen trunks. I was drawn to this small, isolated aspen grove standing strong amongst bluish-purple willow brush. A thin layer of frost gave the vegetation silvery color cast, and made aspen branches glow. The sparse remaining foliage reminded me of a decorated Christmas tree.

Christoph Geiss

Rainy backyard, Christoph Geiss
My family and I took a few trips this year which resulted in more spectacular landscapes than this one. Throughout the year, however, our small garden was a source of quiet relaxation and joy. So I am quite fond of this one.

Franz Gisin

Getting a head start on spring, Franz Gisin

Derrick Golland

Door and Fern, Derrick Golland
The Return. The door, once black, hangs loose. The brickwork, once white, is peeling. The fern fronds celebrate the return of nature.

Morris Gregory

Frosted Trees, Strensall Common, Morris Gregory
Strensall Common is a short walk from my home and is full of photographic potential which I try to capture in ever changing weather conditions. This November provided some early morning frost for a few days so I visited several of my favourite locations on the common to get some shots that complemented the ones I had taken earlier in the year. I like the subtle colours of this composition and the way the leaves on the small, stunted tree, are holding out against cold winter weather.

Stewart Gregory

Godrevy Sunset, Stewart Gregory
It may be a honeypot location but I have chosen this one as it is an image that came together in a few brief minutes between heavy rain squalls pushing through and at the end of a very uninspiring day.

Ruth Grindrod

Mist at Somerleyton, Ruth Grindrod
November mist stayed with us in Norfolk and Suffolk for one whole  day back in November, making it a perfect time to visit some nearby woodland.  The greys of the trees coupled with the last bit of autumn colour on the leaves were portrayed wonderfully in this diffused light.

Fabien Guittard

Forestry Contorsions, Auvergne, France, Fabien Guittard
Magic forest mood around Pavin Lake, the trees seem to be struggling to escape the approaching winter. Maybe it's the unusually mild climate for the season that makes them want to cool off in the lake.

Claude Hamel

Overflow, Claude Hamel
I witnessed the creation of a new stream as the normal water passage (to the left of the picture) got blocked by ice flowing over the waterfall after a warm winter spell. A few days later, all was frozen and snowed over. Being “ haunted by waters”, I can still hear it glide down the slope!

Kay Hathway

Season of the flood, Kay Hathway
Widespread floods in the east of Australia in 2022 blighted the year for many. The Barwon River is part of the biggest river system in this wide, usually brown, land. The River Red Gums have prospered here for centuries, and more. This tree, usually on the bank of the Barwon River, is very old, very beautiful and very graceful in its slow flowing bath of floodwater.

Sue Hawksworth

Textures, Elan Valley, Sue Hawksworth
I took this photo because I liked the variety of textures and the colours were helped by the fact it was a rainy day. It was taken in the Elan Valley which is a large landscape and I wanted to find an intimate landscape in all that space.

Robert Hech

Three Gull Feathers, Robert Hecht
Photographed at Agate Beach, Oregon. As I was working, two women with their dogs came by and asked, “Are you one of those researchers looking for scientific data?” I laughed and replied, “No, just an old photographer looking for beauty!

Estelle Slegers Helsen

Painting the sea, Seascape, Back of Keppoch, Arisaig, Highland, Scotland, Estelle Slegers Helsen
"Spending some time in Scotland the past year for a photography and history project, there was not much time to take “off-topic” pictures.One evening, staying at a campsite at Back of Keppoch, Arisaig, I took my tripod and camera late in the evening to catch some light"

Phil Hemsley

Alderley Edge golden hour, Phil Hemsley
Gorgeous autumnal golden-hour light, as rain clouds retreated, catching the Cheshire Plains, looking out from the wonderful Alderley Edge to the Pennines. I had visited it that day (finally) for the first time, a place imagined vividly whilst reading Alan Garner's Weirdstone Trilogy - in my childhood. My Great-grandma had lived beside it. a magical moment.

Bruce M. Herman

Pretty But Invasive, Bruce M. Herman
Vetch is a pretty but invasive species of wildflower common in South Central Alaska.  I made this photograph at a recovered landfill as part of a self-assigned project, "The landfill: on and adjacent.”  The photograph was made with a Nikon D800E converted to infrared (wavelengths > 720 nm) and then converted to B&W.

Marc Hermans

Winter Woodland, High Moors, Belgium, Marc Hermans
While I find it impossible to pick a favourite image, this one will always remind me of a beautiful day of photography on the High Moors in Belgium

Trevor Holman

Black River. The Tarkine wilderness, N/W Tasmania, Trevor Holman
I was able to get away in May to photograph a beautiful inland salt lake in Victoria & early this month went on a photographic journey to the north west corner of Tasmania to an area known as takayna/ the Tarkine. An area of almost 450,000 hectares it is the largest Australian (and the worlds second largest) temperate rainforest, a wilderness of beautiful rivers & streams, forests of myrtle, leatherwood and manferns.

Robin Hudson

Southern end of Spittal Beach, Robin Hudson
I made this image at the southern end of Spittal Beach. I was initially attracted by the orange/yellow rock which contrasted with the cool blue tones of the barnacles. After that it was a matter of finding a composition with the shells that worked.

Neil Jolly

The Portal, Neil Jolly
My favourite image of 2022 happened along in the last week of the year. We experienced a day of snowfall at moderate temperatures. As evening approached the skies cleared and the temperature began to drop. Ground fog formed as the evening went on and when the crescent moon rose I was treated to my first ever moon bow!

Michael Jones

Human Spirit, Michael Jones
Inside each of us is a "something extra," more than the sum of our parts: a magic spark, a fountain of creativity. A backlit grape leaf in fall captures this light within. Fall 2022 - Fresno California Grape Vines

Katherine Keates

After the Rains, Katherine Keates
Spring rains and thawing winter snow can leave the loop road into and around Cathedral Valley, a remote district in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park, muddy and sometimes washed out. But, if the conditions are right and you are willing to hike a bit offroad into the valleys between the rounded Bentonite hills, you can find some of nature’s most interesting art right at your feet. The hills are made of silt, sand, volcanic ash, and bentonite displaying mounds of banded hues in shades of brownish-red, grayish-green, blue, and purple. This slippery mud that collects in the gullies, also produces a mosaic of colourful cracked textures once the rains subside and the thirsty earth drinks. And, as we all know, everyone loves to play in the mud.

Prashant Khapane

Untitled, Prashant Khapane
These birch trees caught my attention during this day-long walk in the local woodland. The fog just lingered all day. These trees reminded me of myself. I have been an immigrant in Europe for the past 20 years. Although I've managed to make great friends in Germany and the UK, assimilate and integrate culturally, as an immigrant people often tend to mix with folks from back home, make friends and strengthen bonds. Often criticised rightly or wrongly for the same. From where I was standing this group did remind me of my roots and the community. However, as I gave my perspective the wings I often should, I realised that this is an oak dominion and these birches are segregated. Human beings as species are part of Nature, after all.

J.A. Lamont

Reeds on a Newfoundland pond near dawn, J.A. Lamont
The silhouettes of the dried reeds (Eleocharis uniglumis) resemble hieroglyphics. Nature as always is meaningful yet ultimately inscrutable. 200mm, f16.

Bonnie Lampley

When Trees Dream, Bonnie Lampley
I don’t know if trees dream, but if they do, this is what I imagine it to be.  This tree is dreaming of lovely fall days along the Merced River in Yosemite Park.

Andy Latham

Black Bryony, Andy Latham
Black bryony foliage dies away and leaves strings of vibrant berries scattered in hedgerows and scrub. This image was taken hand-held on a compact camera in low light so is hardly an example of technical excellence but it represents the fun I've had this autumn photographing the abundance of berries in the Arnside-Silverdale AONB.

Harvey Lloyd-Thomas

M5 Viaduct, Gordano Valley, Harvey Lloyd-Thomas
An iPhone snap whilst out for a walk with friends; a walk that I'd last done many years ago as a child.

Adriana Benetti Longhini

Untitled, Adriana Benetti Longhini
The gorge of the “Orrido di Pré-Saint-Didier” ravine is situated in the Valle d'Aosta alpine area of northern Italy. A small path leads you to an ancient bridge over the Dora di Verney river, where there are two thermal springs originate. On the top of the small stone bridge water flows out at a temperature of 22 degrees, while a second source at 36 degrees feeds thermal springs and a spa.

Martin Longstaff

Our Roots, Martin Longstaff
‘Our Roots’ was taken on an uncharacteristically calm and warm, late afternoon last winter in the Cairngorms National Park. The roots and the trees, lit with a low, soft light, are undoubtedly the subject. But the reflection in the dark, still lochan and the winter grasses provide an essential supporting cast

Rob de Loë

Untitled, Rob de Loë
A thread of water flows over the edge of the Terra Cotta waterfall in southern Ontario during the dry summer of 2022. Millenia of flow have carved out a cave in the soft Queenston Shale stone under the hard cap of Dolomite.

Mark Luck

Early October, Hedley Hall Woods, Gateshead, Mark Luck
Its one of my favourite woodlands to photograph because of its mixture of new and older, established woods. On this occasion, the setting sun was filtering through the trees providing a warm glow and highlighting some of the detail of the leaves

Tony Martin

Untitled, Tony Martin
I feel a strong pull towards this image; in my mind's flight of fancy the main tree seems to float untethered, a feeling compounded by the ebb and flow of the sinuous limbs. The ethereal calmness is disturbed however by the unresolved darker limbs reaching in, purpose unknown.

Dave Mead

Setebos, Dave Mead
My favourite image of 2022 is 'Setebos', a three image stitch made in woodland away from the main paths in the Birks of Aberfeldy on a Ward/Cornish workshop in November. I included it in the final evenings 'show & tell' straight from the camera and Joe stitched it for me. It had worked better than I could have hoped for and the reaction of the other participants suggested it was special. I hope you like it too.

Ian Meades

Mt. Shuksan sleeps, Ian Meades
I was on an early autumn backpacking trip to Lake Ann in the North Cascade mountains of Washington State, catching an ideal weather window before the snow started in earnest. I woke in the middle of the night to an exquisite view of the west face of Mt. Shuksan, illuminated by a brilliant full moon. By far my most sublime experience of 2022, but also spiked with the subtle incense of distant wildfires that had been burning to the east.

Graham Meek

Llyn Coch and Cnicht, Graham Meek
A late summer's weekend camping trip to Snowdonia provided this view of Cnicht from above Llyn Coch just after sunrise.

Kieran Metcalfe

Mist on the Heather, Kieran Metcalfe
A truly surprising morning - the forecast was for clear skies and, being in the middle of August's heatwave, I certainly didn't expect there to be any moisture around for mist. It was an unexpected joy when high clouds and low mist caught some colour, setting off the purples of the heather. The lone birch sapling made for a pretty subject, which I framed in the crook of the hills.

Seshi Middela

Overshadowed, Seshi Middela
I just like the Turbine standing against the majestic mountains with forces of nature at play

Julia Moffett

Derwentwater Leaf Wave, Julia Moffett

Alfredo Mora

Snowball Fight, Alfredo Mora
As I was hiking around the Flatirons in Colorado, I heard thumping sounds nearby and then saw an "avalanche" of snow crashing down the ponderosa pine trees. I was fascinated by how the snow floated in the air dispersing in random order and interrupting the wonderful quietness of the forest. I observed the light filtering through the snow and trees. There was no way to predict where these huge snowballs (as I call them) would occur but I knew I wanted to capture this wonderful display of nature. Seeing the powdery snow falling in the forest made me smile. My imagination spins and I think that just maybe, the trees do have snowball fights when we are not looking.

Christophe Noel

Galician storm, Christophe Noel
This image was made in early January 2022 in the north of Spain. I drove to the seashore before sunrise, where 4 meters-high waves were crashing against the rocks. I spent more than 2 hours trying to capture the raging power of the sea and this is the best shot I got.

Gerard Oostermeijer

Coastal dunes of the Dutch Wadden Islands, Gerard Oostermeijer
My favourite landscape is the coastal dunes of the Dutch Wadden Islands. In this wilderness, dunes are being born, grow or are eroding or destroyed by the play of the elements.The dune structures, patterns and textures form excellent subjects for monochrome photography, so my two greatest passions meet and I am happiest here.

Annika Öhman

Untitled, Annika Öhman
This photo from Lofoten, that didn’t quite turn out as I had intended it to do, is one of the photos from that trip, that I am most pleased with. A bit of a mishap at first I made a double exposure by unintended  zooming while shooting. And it somehow intrigued me, so I made a few more attempts, zooming and moving the camera with a slow shutter. The light was a bit boring, so it was best in black and white conversion, I found.

Lorraine Parramore

Huisinis Dream, Lorraine Parramore
2022 was the year I stopped trying to please club photography judges and explore creative imagery. ICM can express the colours, shapes and moods of a place. For me, this image of island 'hills', sandy beach, and blue-green sea evokes memories of the Hebrides.

Matt Payne

Cold Desert Steel, Matt Payne
When the sun goes down, a whole new world emerges before our eyes and creates new opportunities for interesting photography. Here, sand dunes create depth, wonder, and scenic intrigue at blue hour, with sweeping lines and interesting textures providing compositional visual depth where light typically paves the way. Black magnetite, a heavier substance than sand, provides up front visual interest and an anchor to this cold desert landscape photograph taken in Death Valley National Park.

Geoff Pearman

The Uprising, Geoff Pearman
At the time when I created this image I was reading the book Uprising: Walking the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The story of an amazing series of treks undertaken by Nic Low as he retraced the routes the ancient Māori took as they criss-crossed the South Island. Here I was standing on a pass on the route between East and Central Otago. As I intentionally moved my camera during a long exposure and followed the ridge lines I had a strong sense of the land being thrust upwards as a result of geological activity.

Tim Pearson

Frosted, Tim Pearson
Woodland reveals itself slowly, over the seasons and years, and this constant state of slow flux means that capturing the essence of the place is a never ending but always rewarding challenge. This image is one of those rare occasions when I've felt close to understanding this very special corner of East Yorkshire.

Jason Pettit

Nexus, Jason Pettit
I wanted this image to depict my vision of the interconnectedness of the forest. Above ground the branches interlace with each other, under ground the roots mingle in a network of nutrient conduits. If one concentrates on this the perception of the forest shifts from a quiet inanimate thing, to a thronging entity of harmonious endeavor.

Lewis James Phillips

Temperate, Lewis James Phillips
Learning a new discipline, story telling about the environment, getting to know myself again.

Adam Pierzchala

Sunset at Rhossili, Adam Pierzchala
A standard eye-witness image, perhaps a cliché and certainly not a shot with great artistic merit. But, it’s from our first holiday with the children and grandchildren and it evokes memories of a beautiful evening and a joyous hush as we watched the sun go down. Hence its importance to me.

Paula Pink

Maelstrom, Paula Pink
I am particularly fascinated with rhythms and textures found in the natural world, and how to capture this photographically. "Maelstrom" is an exploration of form, shape, and pattern using ink and pigment in conjunction with light. The image is intended to be both abstract yet descriptive, evoking ideas of structure and chaos; calm and turbulence; beauty and destruction; endurance and impermanence

Paul Porter

Black Oaks in White Silk, Paul Porter
Rushing up to the Sierra for the potential visual opportunities presented of a big snowfall can be fraught with uncertainly and yet can be so rewarding as the snow in the lower elevations can be so transient. So I felt so grateful, standing in thigh deep snow, to experience wandering in the soft hushed beauty surrounding me and to call on some of my favorite Black Oaks displaying their white silk livery.

Abby Raeder

Be Dazzling, Abby Raeder
Look for the dazzling and wonder can't be far behind.

Julia Redl-Freigang

Lightshow in puddles, Julia Redl-Freigang
The last golden evening light is reflected in the small puddles. The discolouration of the leaves created the golden hue, which I admit I enhanced a little in post-processing.

Cesar Llaneza Rodriguez

Marine Treasure, Cesar Llaneza Rodriguez
I went out to do intimate landscape photography along the coast; that day I found a cluster of seaweed still wet; I set out to make an abstraction based on the combination of color and textures. I Use a cool white balance and light with a pocket led panel with a warm color temperature.

Raico Rosenberg

Untitled, Raico Rosenberg
The twisted and gnarly roots of an old Canarian pine tree (Pinus Canariensis) caught my attention on the roadside on the way to Teide volcano in Tenerife where I live. I simply love wandering around my natural surroundings with my Fuji X-T2 camera and seeing what visual delights serendipity brings me.

Maria Ruggieri

Rock Figures, Maria Ruggieri
The color and structure of this rock face evoke a cubist style of painting that invites the eye to explore the many figures hidden in plain sight. The way this rock broke is also reminiscent of the way a sculptor works to reveal its subject out of an amorphic surface. This artistic gift of nature demanded my full attention.

Herbert Schlatt

Wild Garlic, Herbert Schlatt
I was hesitant to submit, because I think this picture is nothing special when I compare it to the magazine content, However, to me it is, because when I am in this area I am feeling relaxed and excited at the same time.

David Southern

Deep Forest, David Southern
Standing at the furthest margins of a rocky shoreline at low tide can seem like being on the seabed. This is where I like to photograph the kelp forests that inhabit the cool waters off the Northumbrian coast. Watching the canopy of brown and gold fronds breaking the surface of the sea with each successive wave is both captivating and inspiring.

Peter Stevens

Lifebelt, Peter Stevens
This image was taken at Alnmouth. I came across the lifebelt and supporting wooden cross unexpectedly, and returned to the location three times before the conditions were right.I like it because it is visually attractive to me, but also because I had to work hard to achieve the composition. It took some time to juggle the focal length of the lens, the aperture, and my physical position to get the balance between the foreground lifebelt and grasses, and the beaches in the distant background. It was worth the effort.I had in mind that a black and white conversion would enhance the graphic nature of the image and this was confirmed once I got the file back home and onto the computer.

Dries Stevens

Skeleton tree, Dries Stevens

Michael Stirling-Aird

Autumn from Ben Alder, Michael Stirling-Aird
Some shapes in the composition appealed, but this is my favourite image because I was there with my wife and 3 children, including our 8 and 9 year olds (Ben Alder is not a short walk!)

Teddy Sugrue

Lough Leane, Killarney, Ireland, Teddy Sugrue
It was a very cold dull winter's day when I took this image but at times when the light broke through the clouds, it created a very dramatic scene.

Rita Swinford

Early Morning Congruence, Rita Swinford
I shouldn't have been alone, but the sun had promised to rise... the dunes are wonderful this early in Death Valley CA, I have been here before, but I never tire of the rhythm.

Alison Taylor

Branch Lines, Alison Taylor
It was the last afternoon of my week in Amble and although the tide was extremely high, forcing me into the sand dunes, I found this little branch resisting the sea which was hurling tree trunks and boulders about on the shore.The sun was setting and casting a lovely glow on the surface of the sea and the waves were roaring onto the beach. It was a wonderful way to end my week.

Chris Taylor

Tormented Beauty, Chris Taylor
This image was taken looking down from slippery rocks as the kelp swayed in the violent sea. Having smashed a camera body as I slipped in similar circumstances yesterday, I was torn between the beauty of the seductive hair in the water and the torment of the sea and rocks. If I could paint, this is what I would paint.

Kye Thompson

Sweet green and red, Kye Thompson
One of the interesting  discoveries was coming across the artist Valda Bailey Iand her way of working with multiple exposure. Though just beginning to experiment  I am delighted with how colour is emphasized. Like Valda I am avoiding the obvious and finding a new direction - brilliant beginning for 2023.

Gary Tucker

Untitled, Gary Tucker
French composer Olivier Messiaen was synaesthetic, and one passage in his “Quartet for the End of Time” features “cascades of blue-orange chords” for the piano. His evocative phrase came to my mind when I captured these lakeside reeds in a silent summer dawn."

Andy Turner

Garbat Forest mist, Andy Turner
Having climbed Ben Wyvis earlier in the day during a cloud inversion, the forest below was veiled in heavy mist on the descent. In late October, the trees were a riot of colour but in monochrome it creates a hint of a snowstorm.

David Wallace

Oak on the Water., David Wallace
The idea for this image came to me a few weeks prior while hiking in my favourite local park. The conditions weren't quite right yet as most of the leaves were floating on top of the pools of water along the Olentangy River outside Columbus, Ohio. When I returned 2 weeks later it was actually better than what I imagined it would be. These six leaves were floating atop the water while the rest had sunk below. A little bit of focus stacking and this was the final result. Some images work because the scene in front of you is such a universally agreed upon beautiful view that it seems like you could point your camera in any direction and something good would come from it. This is not one of those scenes. It’s nothing but a big “puddle” with leaves decaying. But that is exactly what I like about it and it’s what makes me so proud of this image.

Karin De Winter

Grey Matter, Karin De Winter
Abstract geology sedimentary rock pattern photographed on the Atlantic coast of Spain, 2022. I am very much intrigued by the wide diversity of lines, textures and patterns one can find in areas with sedimentary rocks, and try to depict them as small or tiny landscapes.

Gaby Zak

Untitled, Gaby Zak
Taking a peaceful walk in the woods and taking a moment with nature, I saw the sunlight shining through the trees, I just loved the way it hung in the air amongst the fog. I took this photo in Christmas Common, South Oxfordshire, on my Fujifilm x-t20.

Rene Algesheimer

Ralgesheimer Liquid Gold 1

If the sum of the whole can be greater than its parts, then René Algesheimer has plenty to draw on, with a skill set that encompasses music and mathematics, a highly relevant contemporary specialism, and considerable passion for both the visual arts and written word. Working almost exclusively on projects, René tends – contrary to what we are encouraged to do by social media – to hold these back and allow them, and himself, the time needed to fully develop. As a consequence, our interview gives you a taste of some work that is not yet on his website but which René has put forward to illustrate his answers. We also link to some of the work that Rene refers to, which is on his website but not illustrated here, and which exemplifies the different approaches that he takes in developing projects.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up and what your early interests were? You seem to have an interesting background, studying music in parallel with mathematics and now working with social structures and marketing.

I was born and raised in Bingen in, Germany. In my childhood, I spent a lot of time at the River Rhein, in a big nature reserve, and enjoyed going exploring with my friends. We have there a lot of old willows, beautiful big poplars and many orchards that let me experience the character of trees. I grew up very sheltered in a religious family, where togetherness, harmony, gratitude, and common work were very important. My grandfather owned orchards, and we were regularly outside after school, in the fresh air, in the fields cutting trees, harvesting apples, pears, cherries, plums, or whatever was in season. We told each other stories, discussed topics that interested us, and ate our breakfast, lunch, or dinner outside in the fields after the work was done. It was an almost perfect childhood for me in a wonderful family. Almost like in “Bullerbü” books by Astrid Lindgren. I have drawn much in my life from this time. First and foremost, humility; gratitude; a great deal of love for the world, its creatures and nature; hope; creativity; and resilience.

Photographic Glossaries

I recently finished reading Robert Macfarlane’s Landmarks1, a captivating book about the relationship between language and landscape. This relationship is explored through a unique interweaving of two components: chapters and glossaries, each pair focused on a different type of landscape. As I read Landmarks, I was struck by its relevance to modern nature photography. In particular, the book’s glossaries provide a framework for a new way to think about collections of images.

Before exploring this idea further, however, it is important to understand what Landmarks is and what it sets out to accomplish.

Each of its chapters examines the work of an influential author who was fundamentally impacted by the subject landscape, from Nan Shepherd and the rugged Cairngorm Mountains of northeast Scotland to John Muir and the diverse woodlands of the Sierra Nevada. Macfarlane’s nuanced narratives give the reader the context necessary to gain an understanding of how the landscapes captivated these authors, inspired them, and shaped their literary work.

Image 1 Borbhan

Borbhan (Gaelic)
Purling or murmur of a stream.

I am no connoisseur of British literature, which is the chief focus of Landmarks, so I will be the first to recognise that much of the subject matter in these chapters was beyond my immediate grasp. I read with the intent to enjoy as much as I was able to, with enough humility to know that I would not fully appreciate every detail that Macfarlane explores.

End frame: On the Nature of Things 2012 by Dr Les Walkling

Robert Adams, in his 1996 essay “Truth in Landscape”, opined that “landscape pictures can offer us three verities - geography, autobiography, and metaphor.” I find this is a useful framework through which to consider why an image remains in my thoughts.

A photograph in which an artist succeeds in posing a question is uncommon. An image in which the viewer is left pondering a moral response to the posed quandary is memorable. The skill required to pose a question rather than to just present one side of an argument is considerable. The easier option of presenting a single side of complex questions runs the risk of veering towards propaganda.

Such a memorable image, for me, has been " On the nature of things 2012” by Dr Les Walkling. This image has stayed with me since I encountered it seven years ago. It does not surprise me that it has been used commercially as an example of photographic excellence.

This composition visually illustrates the choices for the viewer of the uses and values of forests. The intact forest on the right hand side is separated by the disused rail line from the logged trees on the left. Between is a crossing leading to a locked gate. In the background, there is a built environment on a dead end road. There are no elements of awe inspiring beauty, so the viewer is left to ponder why this combination is being presented for their consideration.

4×4 Portfolios

Welcome to our 4x4 feature, which is a set of four mini landscape photography portfolios which has been submitted for publishing. Each portfolio consists of four images related in some way.

Submit Your 4x4 Portfolio

Interested in submitting your work? We are always keen to get submissions, so please do get in touch!


Christophe Noel

My Own Nature Reserves

Christophe Noel 4x4


Gaby Zak

Taking a Moment with Nature

Gaby Zak 4x4


Haydee Yordan

Photographing the Ephemeral

Haydee Yordan 4x4


Nick Becker

Sentinels of Tower Grove

Nick Becker 4x4


My Own Nature Reserves

Christophe Noel 4x4

I feel lucky I live in an area with several nature-protected areas. Within a radius of 20 km from my home, I count at least three nature reserves that I want to pay homage to in this selection. I took the liberty of calling them “my own” since, after so many hours spent photographing them, I have yet to meet another landscape photographer or find any significant body of work created in those areas.

The first nature reserve is a former sandstone quarry within walking distance from my house. It is also the smallest one: you can walk around it in less than 10 minutes and miss most of its beauty when in a hurry, as I did initially. It became my photographic playground during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, and I now have a whole portfolio dedicated to it. It’s incredible how much you can discover in a landscape when you immerse yourself in it long enough.

I’ve selected two shots of it. The first is a small area of backlit pioneer grassland. I took many photos of it, but only once was I lucky enough to witness a sunrise with morning frost. The second one is a hornbeam tree in all its blooming glory, bent in front of the old quarry working face.

I lived in the area for almost ten years before discovering the second reserve, known as “calcareous grassland.” Maybe it took me so long because it is not that well maintained or promoted. It’s a pity, given the biodiversity there; I found amazing trees and beautiful patches of colors during autumn, as in the shot presented here. It took me forever to organize the chaos of colors and shapes into a cohesive whole, but I’m thrilled with the result. Please view in full screen to enjoy all the details.

Finally, I must cross the Luxembourgish border to reach the third reserve, a former quarry as well. It is the biggest of the three and has multiple hiking and mountain bike trails, making it a popular weekend destination. The reserve is full of birch trees and pioneer grassland that thrives in these rough conditions for vegetation. The group of birch trees in this photo is a favorite spot of mine that I’ve returned to at various times of the year: here, they are portrayed in early autumn.

These nature reserves allow me to practice landscape photography all-year round; they are my go-to locations when attractive conditions present themselves. I find it very rewarding to create images I’m proud of in those places since they are so personal.

Noel 001

Noel 002

Noel 003

Noel 004

Taking a Moment with Nature

Gaby Zak 4x4

Taking a walk in the peaceful landscapes in Dumfries and Galloway, I wanted to capture the beautiful scenery that I was surrounded by. I never get tired of the stillness and tranquil views. With the weather constantly changing, there's so much to take in and never a dull moment to take a photo.

Gaby Zak 1 Gaby Zak 2 Gaby Zak 3 Gaby Zak 4

Photographing the Ephemeral

Haydee Yordan 4x4

This portfolio, “Photographing the ephemeral”, is about the light reflections emitted by glass. The images show forms, patterns and colours that are constantly changing and have a very short duration. The glass reflections are ephemeral forms that offer the photographer very little time for tripod planning and composition.

For me, details have always had a magnetic attraction. They have stressed the notion that the small parts form the whole, the same way the points form the line. From then on, I searched everywhere for details in all kinds of glasses: dark, clear, curvaceous, small, large, rough and smooth.

My interest in details explains my commitment to developing a photographic language that responds more to my intuition and imagination than to what I see with my eyes… all that is hidden, difficult to see… the ephemeral, which we often miss, but the camera can capture.

I published a recent bilingual photo book on this theme titled “Intimate experiences - Photography of the ephemeral”, where I include texts about my experiences and feelings when encountering ephemeral subjects and about my creative process.

I confess I became obsessed with the magic and versatility of all that is ephemeral around us.

H.yordan Glass Reflection 7129 H.yordan Glassreflection 0737 H.yordan Glassreflection 0761 H.yordan Glassreflection 5728

 

Sentinels of Tower Grove

Nick Becker 4x4

Last year, over the course of several weeks as summer yielded to autumn, I brought my camera with me on strolls with my wife and dogs at Tower Grove Park, a local park in St. Louis, Missouri. Ever since my first visit, the park’s diverse and characterful trees (about 7000 trees, spanning approximately 340 tree types) have captivated my imagination. When I began playing with some compositions, I became further entranced by their details, from the texture of their bark to their glowing leaves overhead. The personality of each tree slowly began to come into focus.

These four images represent only a small part of a portfolio I hope to continue growing for as long as I live near Tower Grove.

Becker 4x4 1 Becker 4x4 2 Becker 4x4 3 Becker 4x4 4