Landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Rural landscape photography focuses on photographing outdoor areas which are not densely populated, and have been left relatively untouched by humans. These photographs often include trees and greenery, wildlife, and different outdoor environments.
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Ansel Adams ( 1902 – 1984 ) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. Adams’s first photographs were published in 1921, and Best’s Studio began selling his Yosemite prints the next year. His early photos already showed careful composition and sensitivity to tonal balance. In letters and cards to family, he wrote of having dared to climb to the best viewpoints and to brave the worst elements. Between 1929 and 1942, Adams’s work matured, and he became more established. The 1930s were a particularly experimental and productive time for him. He expanded the technical range of his works, emphasizing detailed close-ups as well as large forms, from mountains to factories.
Nadav Kander ( 1961 – ) is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. Kander is best known for his Yangtze – The Long River series, for which he earned the Prix Pictet Prize. Kander never photographed further than twenty miles from the river itself. He was named International Photographer of the Year at the 7th Annual Lucie Awards in 2009 and has also received awards from Art Director’s Club and IPA in the USA, from the D&AD and the John Kobal Foundation in the UK and Epica in Europe.
Landscape photography requires thorough planning before a shoot, for example you must think about the location of the photo-shoot, the weather you want to capture in your image, including the type of natural lighting, the camera settings needed for these conditions and the viewpoint of the images. This style of photography aims to amplify the essence of natural or urban features for the viewer.
Landscape photography that showcases a rural setting often displays recurring features such as fields, lakes and woodland areas within the countryside, focusing on natural forms rather than man made ones. Below are influential examples of this type of photography.
Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He has been a visionary in his efforts to preserve this country’s wild and scenic areas, both on film and on Earth. Drawn to the beauty of nature’s monuments, he is regarded by environmentalists as a monument himself, and by photographers as a national institution. People say he was the most important landscape photographer of the 20th century, most widely known and beloved photographer in the history of the United States. The popularity of his work has only increased since his death. Adams’s most important work was devoted to what was or appeared to be the country’s remaining fragments of untouched wilderness, in national parks and areas of the American West.
This acute attention to the specifics of the physical world was also the root of his intense appreciation of the landscape in microcosm (a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger). His work expresses a remarkable variety of response, ranging from childish wonder, to languorous pleasure, to the biblical excitement of nature in storm, to the recognition of a stern and strict natural world.
Adams’ images have incredible texture, depth, layers, shadows, shapes, patterns and lines, mostly created by the use of grey-scale tones to create height and definition. All of his images were taken in natural sunlight and have a variety of highlights and shadows. In his images there is a heavy amount of contrast between the light and dark tones.
Adams preferred his photographs in black and white, he felt colour could be distracting, and could therefore divert an artist’s attention from the achievement of his full potential when taking a photograph, Adams said “I believe that a black and white photograph has a certain quality that colour will never have. By stripping the photograph of colour, your strip away distraction to the eye, and get down to the crux of the story, or uncover a secret moment that colours may have tinted too fiercely.”
In almost every photograph Adams took, he involved every tone from pasty white to the deepest black. Our eyes are drawn to areas that are bright, or areas that are sharply in focus, both forms of contrast represented in Adams’ photography. Our eyes use low level information to locate areas of interest. Adams accentuated the areas of light, pulling the eye’s attention to them. However, he creates areas of large contrast by increasing clarity and sharpness, which guides the eye in certain directions. He does this to get the eye to enter the frame at a certain point and then land on key areas.
Landscape photography is capturing pictures of nature and the outdoors to bring viewer into the scene. From grand landscapes to intimate details, the best photos demonstrate the photographer’s own connection to nature and capture the essence of the world around them. The most important thing to know , are the basic camera settings and technical information (like aperture, shutter speed, exposure, and sharpness).
‘Wynn Bullock was an American photographer whose work is included in over 90 major museum collections around the world. He received substantial critical acclaim during his lifetime, published numerous books and is mentioned in all the standard histories of modern photography.’ If you search his name online, you will find many black and white images like the ones below. They are full of natural structures, placements and show alot of contrast within them.
In 1948 Bullock met photographer Edward Weston (best known for his carefully composed, sharply focused images of natural forms, landscapes), who persuaded him that realism and tonal beauty were photography’s most valuable assets. Bullock changed his own style and strictly followed Weston’s teachings. Much of his work from that point on closely resembles Weston’s, especially in his choice of seascapes, landscapes, and nudes as subject matter. Bullock was very focused on the meaning behind such subject matter. He often intended his realistic images to be viewed as “equivalents,” photographic images that serve as visual metaphors for larger ideas, such as the passing of time and the inevitability of death.
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Sea Palms -1968
At first glance, I see the top of a tall mountain, its foggy, gloomy and looks quite miserable. It seems as though everything is relatively close, you can see that there is depth however the fog is in the way. The photograph was taken in 1968, US- however it doesn’t suit its location. It seems quite mysterious and almost mystical due to that. The photograph is called ‘Sea Palms’. This definitely changed my perception of the photograph, as it made me realise what it was and made me want to ask questions such as the a picture of a beach was taken that way. When I invision the name ‘Sea Palms’, I imagine a sunny, joyful places full of colour, a beach with palm trees. This completely contrast the photograph presented under that name. Its not sunny its foggy, there is no beach in sight, no sea, only palms trees that look like hurt people kneeling over. Saying this, if the image was in colour, it may even have been what I invision (colourful, happy) but this was most likely planned, as well as the time and place- I think the photographer chose to visit this sight during fog on purpose. The photograph has also not been manipulated yet looks so unreal- which demonstrated the capabilities of nature. When actually researching ‘sea palms’, you will learn that they are small plants, a type of seaweed that grows on rocks. This completely changed my perception on the photograph- when looking at it you may see a very large cliffside with a few trees and a forest on one cliff on a very foggy day. However you may also see a rock pool covered in sea palms. The reason we may mistake the water for fog is because the photograph could have been taken at a low shutter speed, keeping the rocks still and capturing the water flow, which made it look super smooth. This would also explain the slight shift/movement blurr you can see within the sea palms.
When looking at the image I see a diagonal form.
The photograph gives off a very disturbing and depressing vibe due to the darkness, fog and drooping trees. As you can see, the image is also black and white which adds to it. The image has both smooth and textures points as well as light and dark tones. Referring to Ansel Adams zone system, this images contains all from 1-10 on the scale. This makes the image even more successful.
Bullock talks about how his photographs serve as visual metaphors for larger ideas, such as the passing of time and the inevitability of death. In this particular image, I see a representation of inevitability of death. The way I see it, is the white and almost opaque fog is death, and the photographer and the palm tress (as people) cannot cross to any other platform in the image without having to pass through it. Therefore creating the idea.
About the background of the time in which it was taken, its described as a time of ‘Shocking assassinations, much hatred war and spirit of rebellion and the dawn of the television age.’ These were the assassinations’ of Robert F Kennedy as well as Martin Luther King Jr. These people of very high authority, which inevitabely caused chaos. Not only this, but U.S. troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of U.S. troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with the American spending US$77.4 billion (US$ 569 billion in 2021) on the war. The year also became the deadliest of the Vietnam War for America and its allies with 27,915 ARVN soldiers killed and the Americans suffering 16,592 killed compared to around two hundred thousand PAVN/VC killed. The deadliest day of the Vietnam War for the U.S. was 31 January at the start of the Tet Offensive when 246 Americans were killed in action. With all these things going on in 1986, all the news was broadcast thoroughly due to the dawn of the television age.
This could change ideas on the photograph. Already knowing that it may represent the inevitability of death, it can be portrayed in more detail. One idea is that the water/fog represents the tear gas used in wars and the dark, drooping sea palms could represent society (depression, helplessness).
Rural landscape photography is in many ways similar to photographing urban landscapes. The difference is rural photography is about capturing the “life” in the countryside. The term “rural landscape” describes the diverse portion of the nation’s land area not densely populated or intensively developed, and not set aside for preservation in a natural state. The rural landscape provides natural resources, food and fiber, wildlife habitat and inspiration. Some of the most important and celebrated landscape photographers have been motivated by an appreciation of the beauty of the natural environment and a desire to see it preserved.
Shooting landscapes forces people to get outside and find the beauty around them. Sometimes this means discovering places right in front of your eyes that you just never noticed were beautiful before. Landscape photography leads people to see the world in new ways, it pushes us to explore new places, but it gives us a push to get out during those times of day that we are often holed up inside, such as sunrise, sunset and nighttime. Getting out to shoot landscapes clears the mind and stops worrying, anxiety and distractions for most people.
Landscape photography is capturing images outdoors either nature or urban places that have an emotional connection with them or even a wow factor to them. For example, if someone was to go to some cliff sides on a windy day, they would be amazed by the scenery thats happening with waves crashing on cliff sides and you could take a picture of it because of how intriguing that scenery was. Landscape pictures are taken because the people who where amazed by the scenery want other people to see the scenery and want them to imagine what it would be like to see that picture for themselves in real life and see the reaction that a person could have to the picture giving it emotional value.
Moreover, there are different types of landscape pictures that could be taken, which are rural, costal, urban, industrial and altered landscapes.
Landscape photography is the study of the great outdoors, capturing images showing the essence of nature and the world around us. Usually, landscape photography will focus on the natural environment, however many photographers also capture industrial and man-made environments- showing the contrast between the artificial and nature. Great landscape photography really immerses the viewer into the image, allowing them to feel involved in the scene they are observing and transporting them to the location at hand.
Rural landscape photography focuses on capturing images showing the stories and life in nature and the environment around us, usually one not familiar to many people, possibly secluded or desolate. These images will use different perspectives, lighting and locations to capture areas of a landscape in a less obvious way than usual.
They can be huge rural spaces, peri-urban areas as well as small spaces within built-up areas. Rural landscapes encompass land surfaces, subsurface soils and resources, the airspace above, and water bodies.
mindmap of rural landscapes that you can photograph.
Rural landscape photography is where you photograph an outdoor area that is not quite populated- the photographs often include ‘natural recourses, food and fibre and wildlife habitat’. They are often full of life like fields, trees, flowers but also include beaches, sunsets etc.
