Who: I will be the photographer and wont include other people in my images so that my images focus on the landscapes them selves, rather than people.
What: I am going to take image inspired by different romanticist photographers such as Ansel Adams of the landscapes in Jersey.
When: I will take my images when it is fairly clouding and dull to add a dramatic effect on my images i.e., in the late afternoon with dark weather.
Where: I am going to go to different points of the island, as seen below, to try and recreate some of the artists images of different landscapes etc.
Why: I am taking these image to show my take on some artists work to see different landscapes of Jersey and find out what is was like taking images back then.
How: I will use a camera and a tripod to take my images and ensure that they are in focus and steady.
Jersey Island Geopark I mad a mind map of locations that I could go to, to take my images.
what is important to know is the age of enlighten witch is a period in Europe in the 17-18th century when many writers and thinkers began to question established beliefs, this could be religion where people started to question it and wanted more of an scientific proof of it. Soon after that there was the age of romanticism which was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. these 2 ideas were opposing each other, one the Enlightenment thinkers would believe in science and rationality, where as Romantics “favoured depicting emotions such as trepidation, horror, and wild untamed nature.”
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. His work was one of the early beginnings of the romantic era, that focused on the romanticism of nature, which he represents in his work.
the beginning evidence of romanticism:
1762-a swiss philosopher Jean-Jaques Rousseau publishes a book about the raising of children, which praised the wisdom, spontaneity and natural goodness of little children. it contains diatribes against the oppressive world of adults. He publishes this book during very sientific times when people would be drawn to logistics, but against this he emphasises the qualities a child has and glamrises their thinking, creativity ,pureness and outside of adult discipline
1770- A 17 year old poet Thomas Chatterton commits suicide because no one want to publish his poems, he becomes this idea of a sensitive, doomed artist that is rejected by the cruel society.
1774- ab author Geothe publishes a love story which is about the unconditional love one has for a married woman, where he kills himself and is labelled passionate and moved by love. this book becomes the most popular novel of the generation and gets a lot of recognition. this made people change the way they would think , they would side with outpouring of feeling rather then traditional rational thinking. making people believe that following your heart is more important and the outcomes of it are far less important.
There is also the importance of the sublime which is really important to understand and it goes in pair with romanticism. The word sublime that we use today means “of very great excellence or beauty” but in its history, it has a deeper meaning, reaching to something truly extraordinary, an ideal that artists have long pursued. This is pursued by artist to create awe and wonder by their artwork, throughout years there were different periods of time which each had specific generalised want and needs from the artwork being produced, as times change their needs did and so did the artwork. These are the key periods of time of the sublime: The Baroque sublime, The Romantic sublime, The Victorian sublime, The modern sublime, The contemporary sublime. Where this is is important is the link of romanticism and the sublime in a time period called the romantic sublime.
How it all started was when Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry (1757) connected the sublime with experiences of awe, terror and danger. He saw nature as the most sublime object, which created strong sensations, and emotion. This link to landscape photography today, as the landscape usually produced created awe but terror, by being dramatic yet beautiful, these photographs/artworks are so successful when they create a sublime feeling in a person, as then it moves the person and is more likely to create a certain feeling in one then other images that don’t have what a sublime image may create. Those sublime images may be:
His perception influenced a lot of artists, where they would look at nature in a different way, they would get inspired by nature, wanting to create artwork, usually paintings at the time, however this ideal of romantic sublime till this day inspires people. Because now there are much more different ways of creating artwork, like through photography, so many people explore these different areas, without knowing or simply not labelling it as romantic sublime, however this idea has lived on till this day .
There are many artists that have their work related to The Sublime, some of being :
John Constable Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831
John Martin The Great Day of His Wrath 1851–3
George Stubbs Horse Frightened by a Lion ?exhibited 1763
Rural= in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.
Rural landscape photography refers to “photography in the countryside” and covers the rural environment. While rural landscapes often contain architecture – much the same as urban landscapes – rural landscape photography is more about capturing the life and elements found in the countryside.
It is also the diverse portion of the nation’s land area that is not densely populated or intensively developed, and not set aside for preservation in a natural state.
Rural Landscape Photographers
Fay Godwin:
Fay Godwin was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast.
Fay Godwin first became interested in photography in the mid-1960s as a result of taking pictures of her young children. Alongside early portrait work, she developed a sophisticated landscape practice, often collaborating closely with writers to produce in depth surveys of particular rural topics or regions. Her photography has sometimes been linked to a tradition of romantic representations of the British landscape, in the manner of Bill Brandt or Edwin Smith. But, as a socialist and active environmentalist, Godwin makes the land in her photographs reveal traces of its history, through mankind’s occupation and and intervention.
I used photoshop to blend the bottom two images into one photo (at the top). Firstly I edited the two photos in Adobe Light room then exported the two images into photoshop, layered them, and then blended them together.
The photos above are images that I am going to try reference while doing my landscape homework. Many of these images above are by Faye Godwin. I like how they are very simple however, the weather/clouds create a really dramatic effect.
this is a mind map that I created for place’s that I could go to to take my landscape photos.
Landscape photography shows the 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. Landscape photography is done for a variety of reasons. Shooting landscapes forces you to get outside and find the beauty around you. Sometimes this means discovering places right in front of your eyes that you just never noticed were beautiful before. Other times this means exploring new places and getting out on a hike or nature walk.
Romanticism occurred in the mid 18th century as a reaction to the birth of the modern world. Romanticist hated anything mechanical, such as steam trains and factories, they were against the industrial revolution as they believed the modern industrial world was harsh and they wanted to escape from the modern realities. They wanted to focus on beauty and wisdom that came from love, nature and the natural world. Romanticist believed in the natural goodness of humans and the freedom of the mind, having an imagination, emotion and feelings. When looking at images they reflect how romanticists felt about nature and how it was powerful, beautiful and seen as pure and spiritual.
Poems, paintings and photography all started to contribute to the romanticism era. The main characteristics of romanticism were: Interest in the common man and childhood, Strong senses, emotions, and feelings, Awe of nature, Celebration of the individual, Importance of imagination. The paintings could be dramatic sometimes and still show the true beauty of nature and all they believed in.
JJ Rousseau was seen as the father of romanticism as he believed that man was good in nature and society’s influence has ruined mans essential goodness. He also stressed the importance of feelings and emotion which can be seen in his writing.
Ansel Adams is a famous American romanticist photographer whose images relate to romanticism as they revealed the raw beauty of nature and the outdoors.
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, 1934
Fay Godwin took photos which showed romantic element however, she rejected the concept of romanticism and stated that her images didn’t fit anywhere in the ‘sublime’ romantic era.
Sublime:
Sublime is an experience that is good but could make us feel insignificant, where we allow our emotions to overwhelm and overtake us as we experience the beautiful creation of nature. Romanticist saw the sublime as the meeting of emotion and the natural world. Sublime linked to romanticism as romanticist artists would use their own experiences with nature to transfer the experience of the sublime.
John Constable:
John Constable was born in Suffolk England, he was an artist in the romantic tradition. He is well know for his rural landscape paintings of England in the 1800’s, most of Constables paintings were based around where he lived which is now known as “Constable Country”
The haywain 1821
Constables image depicts a rural scene on the River Stour, it captures an image of rural bliss to show what rural England looked like before the industrial revolution to get rid of peoples stereotypical view on England during the industrial revolution, almost acting as an illusion. The image can be interpreted to show how there was tension between landowners and their workers.
who: since this project is about romanticism landscape photography, I will want to include some people in my photos. They will be both staged and natural, as I will try to capture people going about their day as well as create staged photographs using my family.
what: I will attempt to capture a mixture of landscapes, however I want my landscapes to consist of some man-made structures to create contrast with the freedom and wildness of nature. I will also photograph some abandoned structures to compare them to the everlasting greenery around them.
where: I will take photos of a beach, such as St.Ouens beach since it is a wide space allowing me to capture a large landscape with many details. I will also go to a location with an abandoned building near a farm to create an interesting comparison between urban architecture and nature. I will also go to other locations with similar concepts.
when: I would like to photograph the beach location at sunrise to capture the different colours in the sky as well as the different people going for walks since it is a popular time to go out. I will want to photograph the abandoned structures I find during different weather, sunny to further enhance the beauty of nature and contrast with the lonely buildings and windy/ cloudy weather to amplify the already gloomy mood the building creates.
how: I will use different settings on the camera, such as a higher aperture, to capture the different colours as well as making the exposure of the photo quite low. I will also attempt to create some long exposure photographs to capture the way nature reacts to the windy weather, for example a blur being created as trees move.
why: I think this will be a good way of creating some romanticism photographs, comparing the power of nature against the insignificance and short life of humans and our architecture. The different weathers and locations will vary the concepts of the photos, showing a wide variety of landscapes.
Stormy Coast Scene After a Shipwreck, French Artist (1830)
Romanticism is a classic theme within literature, a movement where the poets and artists were more concerned with the diversity and beauty within the natural world, as opposed to the new, ever-growing industrial revolution that was corrupting nature. Artists tend to focus more on their own emotions rather than rational thought and composure – justifying melodramatic, ridiculous actions with their own feelings.
“Civilisation is what makes you sick”
– Paul Gauguin
The theme of the sublime, however, is something a lot more extreme – the intense emotion of horror and insignificance, all the while in awe and admiration of ones surroundings. First truly defined in Edmund Burke’s 1757 novel ‘A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful’, the sublime is said to be an artistic effect productive of the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling.
Cathedral Peak and Lake, Yosemite National Park, California – Ansel Adams (1960)
A photographer that uses these ideas in his work would be Ansel Adams, taking high-focus images of grandiose landscapes out in the old American West during the 1900s. He captured scenes of vistas large enough to make anyone feel insignificant in comparison – creating a sense of the sublime.
