My favourite images:

I feel that these two images represent Romanticism well because the in the image appear small and weak in comparison to the enormous cliff edges behind them which highlights natures greatness and how much power it holds in contrast to mankind. I also feel as if it shows how such beautiful things go unnoticed, for example there isn’t a single person paying attention to the incredible natural structure behind them. This is a key feature of why Romanticism began and I think this image encapsulates that.

I feel that this image also has representation of the sublime due to the vibrant greenery and flowers towards the foreground of the image, whilst a dark looming cloud hovers over this beauty as if it is all about to be destroyed. This also reflects well as the eyes travel up over the hills, getting darker and darker further into the background.

I feel that this image represents Romanticism because over every hill and mountain, there are hundreds and hundreds of houses and buildings taking over this natural space, showing the large amount of urbanisation within this area. This indirectly represents Romanticism.

Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Black and white photographs and how he put his own style onto photographs with the use of Monochromatic photos.

What is Monochromatic?

Monochromatic means having or consisting of one singular colour. This is a style of photography that relies on the use of one colour, in one or more shades, to create an image.

The type of camera Adams used was called a Kodak Brownie Box Camera. The design of it is in the name ‘box’ with its square-like shape, very old fashioned but very modern at the time with it being a series of camera models made by Eastman Kodak released in 1900.

Ansel Adams was born in 1902, when he got his first camera at the age of 14, he also started playing piano at 14 but he knew he wasn’t going to become a musician. Him and his family went to Sierra Nevada where he took photos of the mountains and different ranges and was really proud of his photos, and that’s where he knew he wanted to become a photographer. In 1906 there was a very big earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 and during that earthquake Adams got hit and broke his nose. He left it due to the fact he didn’t want anyone to see it and thought it was alright until the fact he went to school and was so shy and insecure about his disfigured nose which made other kids look at him funny and he kept having to move schools because of this leading to eventually his dad pulling him out of school, home-schooling him and getting him a tutor. After that he was feeling a lot better but he still had this disfigured face/nose, but he really enjoyed walking through the forest and taking landscape pictures.

In 1927, he got a break that changed his life dramatically when he was named Sierra’s Club official trip photographer. The Sierra Club was one of the worlds oldest environmental preservation societies.

The Zone System:

Ansel Adams was known for pioneering the zone system to create dramatic tone in his photos.

Starts at grey which is on 0 F Stop. You change the aperture on your camera to change the shade of your photo.

The photo below depicts one of Adams’ first experiments with filters that enabled him to capture the drama he wanted.

History of Landscapes

‘Landscapes’ was a form of art where ancient artists drew and painted large spots of land such as gardenscapes which derives from the Dutch word ‘landschap’ The tradition of pure landscapes declined after the fall of the roman empire as landscapes became simply a backdrop for religious scenes. This tradition continued until the 16th century when the renaissance sparked a new interest in the natural world. The Dutch word became associated with the movement as the Netherlands was one of the first places that landscapes became a popular subject to paint. This need for large scenic paintings was born from the rising Protestant middle-class with houses in need of decorating.

Outside of the Netherlands, powerful art academies of Italy and France refused the paintings as they placed historical paintings (including classical, religious and mythological themes) above other styles as portraits, still life and landscapes were seen as inferior. Even as landscapes become more and more accepted, they were still only used as a backdrop for biblical or historical scenes. In the 17th century Landscapes took on a different form known as the ‘classical landscape’. French artists Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain perfected the classical landscape after devoting their careers to roman countrysides. Poussin found that the same emotions conveyed through a person in a painting could be conveyed through a landscape and elevated landscapes to a new, higher status.

The 19th century saw the industrial revolution which altered urban landscapes and the change of old hierarchies. Landscape photography also rose in popularity and influenced the way artists depicted their paintings. Revolutionary artists such as Gustave Courbet began to push the boundaries of a landscape and allowed for future artists to break from the rigid academies. This new generation were the impressionists. Courbet had a distinctive style of layering paint which influenced artists into the 20th century as well as Van Gogh. The 20th century saw photography accepted as an art form and artists embraced landscapes as a way to respond to fears such as ecological disasters and global destruction.

Romanticism

Romanticism was a movement in the 19th century (1800s) which was a direct reaction to the 17th and 18th century enlightenment. The enlightenment was all about embracing science and reason across Europe and America and moving forwards with technological advancements bought along with the industrial revolution. This ‘head first’ society is best shown through the slave trade where minimal costs were spent on labour which lead to large profit margins. On paper this was the perfect way to money making scheme however pulled innocent individuals from other countries away from their homes and families. The romantic era thought about feelings and considered the heart instead. It rejected science as a cold and heartless worldview that run purely by reason which was a dystopian nightmare. This reaction saw the slave trade not as a business reaction but instead as the horrific abuse of people.

Industrial revolution

Romanticism was the rejection of the Enlightenment which had sucked emotion from writing, politics and art. Romanticism cantered art around emotion; personifying them as untamed nature. The industrial resolution connected the Enlightenment and the Romantics, its was a result of the enlightenment and its focus on scientific progress and the root of all romantics problems. The industrial revolution succeeded based on the efficient exploitation of the earths recourses as scientific ideas and and theories were transformed into practical realities. Factories could mass produce products which required more work and provided the owners with more to sell and therefore more money for less effort. They destroyed the environment while offering a large number of jobs. The business owners with factories saw rapid growth in success and profits while putting in less and less work themselves. Despite making more money then they knew to do with, they’d have more time to reflect. Maybe it was guilt for exploiting workers or the environment or maybe it was the fact that their happiness didn’t increase at the same rate as their wallets, but these rich men found themselves idolising the simple farmer life. Since money means power, the romantic period was run by rich, privileged, educated men in large, growing cities who saw life in the countryside as the ideal. This life wouldn’t have smog filled streets or poverty ridden workhouses, instead a sulf-sustaining utopia. They believed that centuries ago humans were happier being closer to nature despite missing the obvious fact that life for the poor in the country side was hard physical labour with poor living conditions and overall shorter lifespans. This sentiment that money doesn’t equal happiness and that a poor family is closer and happier is still common place in the media today.

Despite the flawed outlook on privilege, the romantics appreciated nature which would have effected the art produced. With a growing appreciation of nature, artists such as John Constable created pieces such as the following:

John Constable: The Hay Wain

John Constable was an artist from the romantic period (1821). He documented landscapes for future generations in fear that the progress born from the industrial revolution would ruin them. Factories were filling the air with smog and taking up valuable land. Cities were growing in size and poverty and the land was changing. This piece shows a farmer using traditional equipment such as a horse and waggon walking through a small body of water just in front of a small traditional hut. The trees in the skyline help to create an image of a traditional English countryside witch looks completely different to growing cities showing the commentary on land use, the industrial revolution and changing times. The sky is a mix of blue skies and dark, heavy clouds. The dark heavy clouds are over the house while the bright clouds are over the open landscape using pathetic fallacy to show the farmers concerns or anger over change and the blissful sunshine over the romanticised open, natural field.

The Sublime

The sublime is a quality of grandeur that inspires awe or wonder where emotion is more important than reason. Its inspired by emotions and partially in relation to the natural landscape. The Romantic sublime shares experiences of awe, terror and danger over 1770-1850.The sublime utilises personification (giving an object human like features(in this case showing emotions)), glorifies nature and places an emphasis on aesthetic beauty.

Ansel Adams

Biography = Ansel Adams was a photographer and an environmentalist. He was born in San Francisco California. Ansel Adams had a joy and love for nature which made him different and some what solitary.

What was Ansel Adams known for ?

Ansel Adams was most known for his black and white landscape images of the American West. He designated his work to the countries remaining fragments of untouched wilderness.

What influenced Ansel Adams Photography ?

Adams was inspired by precursors in government survey and expedition photography, such as Carleton Watkins (1829-1916), Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), Timothy O’Sullivan (1840-1882) and Frank Jay Haynes (1853-1921), who worked with large, bulky cameras and glass-plate negatives.

Ansel Adams photography

Ansel Adams photography represented the sublime because he photographed these overwhelming landscapes that capture the raw nature of the environment. He often took very dramatic images and changed the colour of the filter on his photos to get that dark black colour in order to make the focal point of his image stand out.

Image Analysis

The colour in this image is in black and white and uses the Zone system which uses different shades of white, black and grey with 0 being the darkest and 10 being the whitest. The leading lines of the river lead your eye to the focal point being the mountain. The texture of this photo is very grainy and has a bumpy texture to it. The composition of this image is arranged perfectly because the leading lines and the focal point of the mountain are right in the middle and it fits the rule of thirds.

The Zone System

The Zone System was the colours that were in Ansel Adams photographs and each colour had an aperture in difference. The colours ranged from 0-10 with 0 being the darkest colour and 10 being the lightest.

Romanticism was an art and literature movement which had originated in the late 18th century in Europe. This movement was known for a new interest in human psychology, expression of personal feeling and interest in the natural world. It rejected the values and practices of the Age of Enlightenment and the church.

The difference between Romanticism and Enlightenment was that Romanticism supported and influenced the growth of creativity, emotion and an individual; believed that the universe grew in accord to the will of nature, On the other hand Enlightenment supports and influences the growth of science, industrialisation, reason and civil society; It is fixated by laws.

Edmund Burke’s definition of the Sublime: An artistic effect productive of the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling. He said the sublime comprises a state of astonishment, where “all its motions are suspended” and the power of reasoning is lost, coupled with the infinity of an object who cannot be seen distinctly, and therefore cannot be compared against others.

In other words, the Sublime is a term used to describe something that is extraordinary, invoking a powerful mix of awe, wonder, terror, and drama; something that is beautiful yet tragic.

This is an example of a painting that interprets what the sublime may look like. This shows how beautiful but also powerful nature can be; it is able to cause destruction and damage to individuals and it’s surroundings but can also be attracting.

Romanticism is the celebration of the individual and the glorification of nature. Romanticism was a revolt against the aristocratic social and political ‘norms’ of the Age of Enlightenment (the age of reason), which promoted reasonable and sensible decisions. It went against this, because romanticism promoted making decisions based on your emotions and not reason. Romanticism legitimized the individual imagination as a critical authority, which permitted freedom from classical notions of form in art. An example of art that used the ideas of romanticism was the sorrows of young Werther, which was written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1774. It was a story about a young man called Werther, who was in love with a women named Charlotte. However, Charlotte was already married to another, so he could not have her. This then caused him to end his life. This supports the movement of romanticism, because it is him following his emotions, no matter how unreasonable his decision may have been.

Romanticism also focuses on nature and how that ignites emotions in individuals as well, because nature can be admired, but also feared, as it is so powerful. Romanticism supports being in awe of nature. Romanticism embraces the uniqueness of the human spirit, which Romantics feel is reflected in and deeply connected to the untamed wildness of nature.

When did Romanticism come about? What was going on at the time?

Romanticism is a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century. The effects of the French revolution, which was industrialisation created the context from which the romantics emerged, because they did not like how nature was being demolished and turned into factories and buildings. The French revolution influenced Romanticism, which was in part about escaping from modern realities.

 As the revolution began to play out the French monarchy that had been in power for centuries had collapsed in just three years. This resulted in a complete transformation of society. A majority of the population was greatly in favour of this as the working class had been suffering oppression for many years. According to Albert Hancock, in his book ‘The French Revolution and the English Poets’: a study in historical criticism,

“The French Revolution came, bringing with it the promise of a brighter day, the promise of regenerated man and regenerated earth. It was hailed with joy and acclamation by the oppressed, by the ardent lovers of humanity, by the poets, whose task it is to voice the human spirit.”

“Writers and artists rejected the notion of the Enlightenment, which had sucked emotion from writing, politics, art, etc. and focused too much on Science, logic and reason. Writers and artists in the Romantic period favoured depicting emotions such as trepidation, horror, and wild untamed nature.”

“The ideals of these two intellectual movements were very different from one another. The Enlightenment thinkers believed very strongly in rationality and science, but the Romantics rejected the whole idea of reason and science. They felt that a scientific worldview was cold and sterile.”

What are some characteristics of Romanticism?

• Emotion and passion
• The critique of progress
• A return to the past
• An awe of nature
• The idealization of women
• The purity of childhood
• The search for subjective truth
• The celebration of the individual

An import characteristic of romanticism is emotions, such as fear, terror awe etc. Romanticists valued emotions and passion over reason and believed that people should make decisions based of their emotions and passions, no matter how unreasonable they are. This went against the age of reason. Romanticists believed passion was strong and one should do anything for the one they love. Eg the sorrows of young werther.

Romanticism was the critique of progress, because Romanticists critiques and went against industrialisation, as well as aristocratic social and political norms. They went against industrialisation, because it was destroying the nature of the world and they thought that the nature was more beautiful and should deserve more attention and admiration. They went against the aristocratic and social norms, because they believed people should marry for love, not for wealth or status, and should do anything for their emotions and passion, no matter how unreasonable it may be.

Romanticism tended to want to ‘return to the past’, before the French Revolution, and wanted to return to the Middle ages and medieval period, because they cherished the preoccupation with religion.

Romanticism was in awe with nature, because romanticists believed that nature was a source of beauty and truth. They believed nature was transfigured into a living force and held together as a unity by the breath of the divine spirit. This made them believe that nature should be admired by all and not destroyed by the French Revolution and industrialisation. They also thought that nature should be feared and create a feeling of terror, because of its strength and force compared to the human.

Romanticism idealised women, because women were seen as innocent and pure creators, who should be admired and respected. Many Romantic poets and novelists centred their narratives around celebrating the purity and beauty of a woman.

The child became a symbol of Romanticism, because the purity of childhood was admired by Romantics, because they saw children as innocent and free, with no worries and reason, which is what romanticism represents. The child is also seen as naturalness and proximity to nature, innocent, and sacred.

Romanticists believed that truth could be discovered in nature and imagination. They shunned the objective truths of science in favour of the more subjective truths of art.

The celebration of the individual, for the Romantics, goes hand-in-hand with the celebration of isolation. From their perspective, only when the individual is alone and, ideally, surrounded by nature, can he or she truly be free.

What is meant by the ‘sublime’?

The sublime applies to nature in Romanticism and means that while the nature is beautiful and can be admired, it should also be feared and create a sense of terror and darkness, because of how strong and powerful it is compared to humans. Different types of nature can create a sublime, such as storms, earthquakes, tornados, tsunami etc. All these events in nature are stronger and more powerful than any individual and are feared, but the individual will also feel a sense of awe, due to the vastness of the scene.

The sublime has five different principles, which are:

• great thoughts
• strong emotions
• certain figures of thought and speech
• noble diction
• Dignified word arrangement

The sublime was important to Romanticism, because they were obsessed with the idea of transcendence (going beyond normal expectations), with possible crossings between the self and nature, with the boundlessness of the universe.

What did Edmund Burke think was the ruling principle of the sublime?

Edmund Burke thought the ruling principle of the sublime was the feelings of awe, terror and danger. Anything could be sublime, as long as it excited emotions of pain and danger eg. a storm.

Burke claimed The Sublime was:

‘The strongest passion.’

‘Whatever therefore is terrible, with regard to sight, is sublime too, whether this cause of terror be endued with greatness of dimensions or not; for it is impossible to look on anything as trifling, or contemptible, that may be dangerous.’

Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry 1757, connected the sublime with expressions of awe, terror and danger. Burke saw nature as the most sublime object, because it was capable of creating the strongest sensations in its beholders. The romantic conception of the sublime proved influential for several generations of artists.

The late 18th/19th century

“Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling.” – Poet and critic Charles Baudelaire, 1846

The rise of Romanticism prompted the rise of landscape art. Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe that characterized literature, music, painting and architecture. This movement contained attitudes of a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature. This movement brought a new view of upon artists, believing that their creative spirit is more important than adhering to strict rules and procedures. This emphasized imagining a gateway to a transcendent experience and spiritual truth whilst having an obsessive interest with folk culture, looking at the exotic, mysterious and even the satanic. This movement emphasized the individual, the irrational, the transcendental and the spontaneous.

This movement originated in Western Europe in the 18th century during the cultural movement of Neoclassicism, inspired by the aesthetics of ancient civilisations; valuing order, self-control and promotes ideal values. Romanticism contradicted this, focusing on instinct rather than reason. The German poet Friedrich Schlegel defined ‘romantic’ as literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form”. In each separate culture across Europe this was interpreted differently. In England, William Turner was one of the artists at the head of this movement, painting surreal yet chaotic landscapes where he would blur areas of his work to give the impression of dream vs reality. In France, the artist is usually a failed poet, their work misunderstood and rejected in majority of society acting as a detached observer to express feelings freely. However in Spain, Francisco de Goya used a genre of ‘dark romanticism’, full of anxiety, imaginary and insanity, typically consisting of characters facing demons. This speaks out for how the romantics in this period did not hide from their suffering anymore but turned it into a source of imagination to inspire.

This was during the era of the Industrial Revolution where machinery and factories were constantly being built, so the interest in landscapes grew due to the lack of them and how they began slowly disappearing. These landscapes preserved the nature in time during this period. Romanticism offered an escape from the stresses of the early Industrial Revolution as it was a place of urbanization and consumerism, trying to show how nature is more important and powerful compared to mankind. After the French Revolution in 1789, François-Auguste-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand, and Madame de Staël were the chief initiators of Romanticism, by virtue of their influential historical and theoretical writings. This was a response towards the disillusionment within the values of reason and order, explaining why this movements key principles were emphasizing imagination and emotion. Such explorations of emotional states extended into the animal kingdom, marking the Romantic fascination with animals as both forces of nature and metaphors for human behaviour. 

The Sublime

The sublime played a part within Romanticism, discovered within the natural world’s wild and mysterious expanses. This was a concept that was beautiful and awe inspiring however to contrast, it could be terrifying due to the potential darkness in the image. Through paintings, romantic artists explored this by using the fluidity of their imagination however these could turn to nightmares with mysterious tones to them.

The theory of sublime art was put forward by Edmund Burke in ‘A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful’ published in 1757. He defined the sublime as

‘an artistic effect productive of the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling’.

The sublime was used to evoke emotion within the viewer, giving them and experience of self-forgetfulness through nature or natural events. For example, Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings typically infused mist, fog and darkness to convey an experience of the infinite, leading to the viewer feeling an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

The Background Of Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was an American landscape photographer, and environmentalist, known for his black-and-white images of the American West. When Adams was only four, an aftershock of the great earthquake and fire of 1906 threw him to the ground and badly broke his nose, distinctly marking him for life. He was not successful in the various schools to which his parents sent him; consequently, his father and aunt tutored him at home.The most important result of Adams’s somewhat solitary and unmistakably different childhood was the joy that he found in nature, as evidenced by his taking long walks in the still-wild reaches of the Golden Gate.

Monolith, The Face of Half Dome

The Story Behind The Image – On the chilly spring morning of April 10th, 1927, Ansel Adams set out along Yosemite’s LeConte Gully to capture an image of the striking sheer face of Half Dome, one of Yosemite National Park’s most iconic natural features.The photograph he made, shows the mountain rising from an ink-black sky, its face illuminated by a dazzling midday sun just out of frame. Though Ansel initially made an exposure using a yellow filter, he immediately swapped that for a dark red filter, which darkened the sky and produced the deep shadows and bright light we recognize in the final image. Today, the image stands as not only one of Adams’ finest works, but as a lasting and iconic depiction of one of the most unique spots in the American wilderness.

What Is The Zone System

One does not hear much about the origin of the Zone System anymore. Many of us shoot with digital cameras and no longer use a spot meter or full manual exposure mode for that matter. My advice is to take a bit of time and learn why this vital technique, formulated by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer in the late 1930’s, played such a crucial role in their work. Although the technique originated for use with black and white sheet film, the fundamental lessons can be carried through to digital work, and can help you compose for best results today.Ansel Adams wrote a deeply descriptive book detailing the Zone System called The Negative, which can be found on Amazon. It takes the reader on an in-depth journey into the Zone System.

How To Use The Zone System

The 11 zones in Ansel Adams’ system were defined to represent the gradation of all the different tonal values you would see in a black and white print, with zone 5 being middle gray, zone 0 being pure black (with no detail), and zone 10 being pure white (with no detail).  Theoretically, each zone represents one f-stop in exposure.  You’ll also notice there is then an 11-stop difference between pure black and pure white, with a 7-stop difference between the darkest black with detail and the lightest white with detail.

The American West

In his autobiography, Adams expressed his concern about Americans’ loss of connection to nature in the course of industrialization and the exploitation of the land’s natural resources. He stated, “We all know the tragedy of the dustbowls, the cruel unforgivable erosions of the soil, the depletion of fish or game, and the shrinking of the noble forests. And we know that such catastrophes shrivel the spirit of the people… The wilderness is pushed back, man is everywhere. Solitude, so vital to the individual man, is almost nowhere.”With increasing environmental degradation in the West during the 20th century, his photos show a commitment to conservation.

Group f/64

Group f/64 or f.64 was a group founded by seven 20th-century who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharply focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western (U.S.) viewpoint. In 1932, Adams helped form the anti‐pictorialist Group f/64, a loose and relatively short-lived association of like-minded “straight” or “pure” photographers on the West Coast whose members included Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. The modernist group favored sharp focus—f/64 being a very small aperture setting that gives great depth of field on large-format view cameras—contact printing, precisely exposed images of natural forms and found objects, and the use of the entire tonal range of a photograph. Group f/64 limits its members and invitational names to those workers who are striving to define photography as an art-form by a simple and direct presentation through purely photographic methods. The Group will show no work at any time that does not conform to its standards of pure photography.

The emotion his images make you feel

Ansel Adams images are generally dark and dim, he uses the zone system and takes photos of mainly the American West. He did this to express his concern for the loss. So he used his images to create a feeling, to portray to people his specific concern. He has used imaragy as a outlook, and as a way of processing what he is going through. He uses it to put his emotions on other people, he wants to make people feel how he feels. He is letting people in on his emotions in an artistic way.

What is a landscape?

Landscapes are all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.

Examples of landscapes:

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 human-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Landscape images align with the horizon line. The photo is wider than it is tall, to capture the vastness of a natural setting. This view is landscape orientation or horizontal orientation.

A lot of the reason photographers struggle with this is because unlike most other genres, you don’t get to choose what is in the scene or where it is placed, so you need to find new ways to be creative, whether that is through your choice of focal length or creative use of techniques.

 Landscape photography may include photos of artificial scenery, such as fields, orchids, gardens and architecture and human-made structures such as buildings, roads bridges etc. Landscape photography is capturing an image that embodies the spirit of the outdoors. It carries a sense of being to see something wonderful for the viewers.

Rural landscapes:

The rural landscape includes a variety of geological and geographic features such as cropland, forests, deserts, swamps, grasslands, pastures, rivers and lakes. The rural landscape provides natural resources, food and fibre, wildlife habitat and inspiration.  Rural landscapes provide both ecological and economic benefits to the region. They offer an escape from urban settings and provide valuable open space that allows for the preservation of natural resources. Additionally, they provide interesting cultural attractions and attract tourists.

 Rural landscapes are important for ecological reasons. They help to create biodiversity hotspots and preserve endangered species. They also provide habitats for plants and animals, and act as important carbon sinks.
In addition, rural landscapes can boost the local economy by providing open space for businesses, such as farms, wineries, and other agricultural activities. These activities, in turn, create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
Rural landscapes are also essential in terms of tourism. They provide a unique and attractive backdrop for tourists to explore, and allow for a more immersive experience of rural life.
Finally, rural landscapes are important in terms of culture and tradition. They are often home to traditional customs and practices, and are a valuable source of local knowledge.

Rural landscapes Mood Board:

What does landscape mean?

A landscape is a part of the earth that is captured in a singular photo. It consists of the geographic features that mark, or are characteristic of, a particular area. Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance. The word Landscape originated from the Dutch word “landschap” which was a name given to photos of a countryside. The word and technique was borrowed from artists, famous Dutch landscape painters include Jacob van Ruisdael and Vincent van Gogh. It is highly typical for landscape photos to involve naturalistic aspects such as natural mountains, rivers, fields etc. However, photographing human-made features can also be accepted as landscape photos. Landscape photos are very commonly taken in a non-human activity environment and therefore the photographer can devote their full focus so the scenery and not the people that could be involved. As well as art, the definition of a landscape photograph is broad and may include rural or urban settings, industrial areas or nature photography.

When did landscapes emerge as a genre in Western culture?

Although paintings from the earliest ancient and Classical periods included natural scenic elements, landscape as an independent genre did not emerge in the Western tradition until the Renaissance in the 16th century. Landscape painting eventually gained prominence in the late 18th century with the rise of Romanticism, and often continued to carry a religious significance. Additionally, it became a method of self-expression, with the emotions of the painter and their appreciation of nature demonstrated in the painting.

There is some evidence of a landscape tradition in Ancient Greece and Rome, but these paintings often featured other elements. Albrecht Altdorfer’s Landscape with Footbridge, which dates from the early 16th century, is considered the first true landscape in Western art history.

When did classical landscapes emerge as a genre?

In the 17th century the classical landscape was born. These landscapes were influenced by classical antiquity and sought to illustrate an ideal landscape recalling Arcadia, a legendary place in ancient Greece known for its quiet pastoral beauty. The classical landscape was ideally seen in scenes in the mythic and idyllic Arcadia of ancient Greece. The leading practitioners of the genre classical landscapes were the French-born-Italy- based artists called Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. Both artists spent their time in Rome drawing landscapes of the Roman countryside and Italy was the most common place for things like these because of the beauty of the country and unique sights. Into the 18th century, Italy kept its popularity for classical landscapes but the new centre focus was brought onto France and England.

What prompted the rise of landscape art during the late 18th/19th century?

Landscape painting eventually gained prominence in the late 18th century with the rise of Romanticism, and often continued to carry a religious significance. Additionally, it became a method of self-expression, with the emotions of the painter and their appreciation of nature demonstrated in the painting. The 19th century was a time where landscape art had gained much more attention and was beginning to be seen as a go to piece of art technique.  Romanticism was a particular movement or era in art that occurred towards the end of the 18th century during the first half of the 19th century. Romanticism often aimed to put much emphasis on emotion and individualism. Characteristics include a focus on individualism, an emphasis on nature, emotion over reason, freedom of form, an exploration of the Gothic and unknown, a return to the past, the awe and wonder, the idealization of women, the purity of childhood, and the search for subjective truth.

When did landscape photography originate?

This was allegedly the first landscape photograph ever taken, between the years of 1826 and 1827.  It was an urban landscape photo taken by a French inventor by the name of Nicephorus Niepce. This photograph took him 8 hours so it was sensible that he didn’t take a moving photograph. Due to landscapes already being a very famous and popular artistic technique, it was no surprise that landscapes also made its way into photograph once the uses of photographs were invented and gained their own popularity. Early photographers seemed to decide that landscapes made the perfect subject because they were static and so the danger of the subject moving was minimal.

Orgin of landscape

Originating between 1826 and 1827, landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance. This type of photography captures many elements of formalism within the composition, such as line, shape, colour, depth and texture. These images may aim to capture the essence and presence of nature around us that others may miss however it can also focus on documenting the disturbances in that specific area.

Landscape emerged as an art genre in Western Culture during the Renaissance period in the 16th century, an era that was trying influence a more modern, art appreciating society. Linear perspective was an advancement where artists were able to move towards a more realistic portrayal of an environment.

Common characteristics of 18th-century art in Europe include forms that give the impression of elegance as well as a renewed interest in classical antiquity and a desire to break free from tradition. Movements from Europe such as the Rococo, Neoclassical, and Romanticism were most prominent at this time.

John Constable

Born in East Bergholt in Suffolk, John Constable (1776 – 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.

Constable was one of the first artists of the Romantic movement to create landscape paintings drawn directly from nature. He inspired artists to work directly from everyday life and use nature as the main subject of their painting as he couldn’t use a camera he had to draw/paint the ideas that he thought or seen.

What did John Constable’s landscapes represent?

His landscapes represent an astonishing capacity to represent natural appearance particularly the dramatic effects of stormy skies and mountain’s. Such as this..

Constable’s most famous painting, The Hay Wain (1821). 

Constable is famous for his landscapes. He made many open air sketches, using these as a basis for his large exhibition paintings, which were worked up in the London studio today.

Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, Landscape photographs typically capture the beauty of nature but can also focus on human made features such as buildings’ and/or disturbances of landscapes.

Romantic landscapes are typically more about the subjective feelings of the artist, than an objective record of the observable world.

For the example the artist Ansel Adams.

Ansel Easton Adams was born February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. His family came to California from New England, having migrated from Ireland in the early 1700s. His grandfather founded a prosperous lumber business, which Adams’ father eventually inherited. Adams is most known for his stunning photos of the American wilderness.

Comparing romanticism v landscape

A heightened interest in nature and landscape, based on subjective experience rather than scientific objectivity, also characterized the movement. Landscapes of the sublime remote, dramatic, and even dangerous provided inspiration for the Romantics in literature, music, and art.

Romanticism focuses on the sublime, using high contrast and intense emotion to convey its subjects. Realism focuses on detailed, sometimes gritty depictions of reality. Both movements were important in America and Europe

Here are some of my images of landscape.