Robert Adams (born 1937) is a photographer best known for documenting both the beauty and commercialization of the American West. Born in Orange, NJ, he grew up in Colorado, and earned a PhD in English from the University of Southern California. While Adams was teaching English at Colorado College, he began taking pictures of nature and architecture with a 35 mm reflex camera, and learned photographic technique from the professional photographer Myron Wood. His earliest series The New West (1968–1971) depicts the uniform housing tracts that were part of suburban development in Colorado. The series Los Angeles Spring (1978–1983) focuses on the remains of citrus estates, which were transformed into housing developments during the 1950s. Although Adams seems to criticize the degradation of the natural landscape, he emphasizes that his work is primarily a study of light. The series of nocturnal landscapes Summer Nights Walking (1976–1982) depicts sidewalks, trees, and fields lit by moonlight and street lamps. Throughout his work, Adams challenges romanticized and idealized landscape photography, and seeks to create a new vision of landscape that encompasses untouched nature and human presence. Adams received a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1973 and 1980, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1994, and the Hasselblad Award in 2009. In May of 2014, Adams was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. He lives and works in Astoria, OR.
These photos by Robert Adams remind me of the deadpan aesthetic as they are taken straight onwards and have little to no emotion within them.
Analysing:
I like Robert Adam’s style of work as it has high contrast which is shown in this photo. This photo appears to be of a fairground ride at night time where the lights are bright. There is a lot going on in the foreground of the image whereas in the upper half there is hardly anything going on which balances out the photo nicely. I like how bright the lights are as it causes the image to stand out and almost glow. I think the photo captures the movement of the ride due to it being taken at the time where the live was active.
‘New topographics’ was a term invented by William Jenkins during 1975 which was used to describe a group of American Photographers, for example Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz, whose photos all had a similar theme, they were all formal, mainly black and white, and were based on urban landscapes.
What are New Topographics?
New Topographics is a technique in which a scene, usually a landscape, is photographed as if it were being surveyed from afar.
Romanticism: Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. For most of the Western world, it was at its peak from approximately 1800 to 1850.
Romanticism emphasized inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. Romanticism is linked with landscape and the sense of romance of the landscape features its spirit in full bloom.
JMW Turner- Hannibal Crossing The Alps 1835
What is the meaning of Romanticism Style?
Romanticism is characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism and has an emphasis on imagination and emotions.
Romantic artists depict their nostalgic sentiment through their work.
Effects that were used in Romanticism: Small, Close strokes of complementary colours to create brilliance and vivid visual effect.
Subjectivity:
One main significant elements of Romanticism was increased emphasis on the personal and subjective power of the individual artist. Romantic artists began to explore different psychological, emotional, and mood states in their works. The Neoclassical obsession with genius and hero transformed into new ideas about the artist. Artists were able to express themselves fully, free from the tastes and rules.
Romanticism rejected the Age Of Enlightenment and Neoclassicism
What was the Neoclassical Period?
The Neoclassical Period was an art movement that sought to evoke the style of classical antiquity in writing, painting, sculpting, and architecture found in Greek and Roman culture. It was very popular between late 18th century and early 19th century.
Neoclassicism was a movement which involved idealized form. People were perfected not as they necessarily were but rather as an idealized version would. Romanticism hated that idea. Romanticism believed that the obsession with idealization led to a lack of emotion.
The Age of Enlightenment
Also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and philosophical movement that occurred in Europe, especially Western Europe, in the 17th and 18th centuries, with global influences and effects.
Started in 1685 and ended in 1815.
The main idea for it was that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy. So, it was an emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.
3 major ideas from the Enlightenment was the values of scepticism, reason and individualism.
Sublime:
Sublime means the high quality of greatness and beautiful through physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual and/or artistic. Also means, extremely good, beautiful or enjoyable.
“It is beautiful but terrifying at the same time due to its own power.”
Sublime in the 18th century was a concept first introduced by the philosopher Edmund Burke in the eighteenth century to describe art that is truly extraordinary, invoking a powerful mix of awe, wonder and terror.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke was known and remembered for his support for Catholic emancipation, the impeachment of Warren Hastings from the East India Company, and his staunch opposition to the French Revolution.
He had a famous quote which says, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.
John Constable
John Constable RA was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.
Constable is famous for his landscapes, which are mostly of the Suffolk countryside, where he was born and lived. He made many open-air sketches, using these as a basis for his large exhibition paintings, which were worked up in the studio.
The Hay Wain
The Hay Wain – (1821) John Constable
The title, The Hay Wain, refers to the wooden wagon (wain) used for transporting cut and dried meadow grass (hay). The empty wagon is making its way through the shallow water to cross to the meadow on the other side where haymakers are at work.
The view is of the millpond at Flatford on the River Stour.
Flatford Mill was a watermill for grinding corn, operated by the Constable family for nearly a hundred years. It still survives and is about a mile from Constable’s birthplace at East Bergholt, Suffolk. The house on the left also survives; in Constable’s time it was occupied by tenant farmer Willy Lott.
It was created in the artist’s studio in London. Working from a number of open-air sketches made over several years, Constable then made a full-size preparatory oil sketch to establish the composition before painting the final picture.
The painting by John Constable depicts a tranquil countryside life. There is no sign of the Industrial Revolution going on at the time. People turned to his painting as an appreciation of rural life, away from the cities that were booming at the time.
Romanticism is a movement in art and literature that organised in the late 18th century emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity and the primacy of an individual.
Romanticism came about as a response to the disillusionment with the enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French revolution. In romance art, nature has been a big part of the movement because of its uncontrollable power, unpredictability and the potential catastrophic extremes.
Romanticism is the attitude, ideals and feelings which are romantic rather than realistic. Romanticism is the celebration of an individual and the glorification of nature.
What is the Romantic Sublime ?
The sublime is both beautiful and terrifying in its power or potential darkness. Artists explored the sublime in depth through art using paintings and drawings of the imagination, however they could often turn into nightmares. Natural landscapes were mighty and nice to look at and people admired the aesthetics but they were always dangerous.
Humans respect nature and admire the natural land that has been made and we also feel connected to nature, which some people think it is through our historic past. But we also destroy nature for example by cutting down trees and polluting the air, we as humans, do not take enough care for the beautiful world we live in and we take it for advantage which therefore ruins what nature gives us. This could be an argument whether humans have enough respect for the nature that it deserves or whether we take it for granted.
Include Edmund Burke was known from the sublime “the strongest passion” he took an extreme liking to romance and belittled the idea of beautiful. Edmund Burke’s theory about romanticism was that he claimed it was merely an instance of prettiness.
John Constable
Who is John Constable ?
John Constable was a very famous English landscape photographer in the early 19th century. He was best known for his paintings of the English countryside, especially paintings of the River Stour which was an area that soon after became known as “Constable Country”.
John Constables art was known for having natural appearances
Landscape is all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal. Landscape commonly involves daylight photography of natural features. It is a broad genre that includes many different styles and techniques.
16th Century
Landscape emerged as a genre in Western culture during the Renaissance (A period of time in between the medieval and modern times) in the 16th century.
Albrecht altdofer – 16th century
Add details of how Landscape developed as a genre from:
After the fall of the roman empire, the tradition of depicting pure landscapes declined, this meant landscapes changed, and they were only seen as purposeful and meaningful if they were a setting for religious and figural scenes. This continued until the 16th century until photographers began to view landscapes as their own subjects.
– 16th Century during the renaissance,
– through to 17th century when classical landscape evolved
– and through to 18th/19th century when it became more popular. Add images from relevant artists to break it up.
There is everything you need for this in this link
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. For most of the Western world, it was at its peak from approximately 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of the past and nature, preferring the medieval over the classical.
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (c. 1818) by Caspar David Friedrich – presents a man against an eerie and mysterious backdrop, demonstrating his diminished power in the vast magnitude of life.
Romanticism came after the age of enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason). which was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith. People who where with this art movement believed in science and facts, which likely helped lead to the very quick change in parts of the world caused by the industrial revolution. The romantics directly opposed these views.
The industrial revolution was the biggest influence in sparking the popularity of this art movement. Romanticism revived medievalism and juxtaposed a pastoral conception of a more “authentic” European past with a highly critical view of recent social changes, including urbanisation, brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience. It granted a new importance to experiences of sympathy, awe, wonder, and terror, in part by naturalizing such emotions as responses to the “beautiful” and the “sublime”. Romantics stressed the nobility of folk art and ancient cultural practices.
Many Romantic paintings had colours that tended to be soft and warm, with a focus on pink, red, and pastel shades. Techniques like blending, layering, and brush strokes can create a dreamy, romantic effect, as well as expressive compositions, vivid colours, and dramatic contrasts of light and dark. This created a focus on individualism, an emphasis on nature, emotion over reason, freedom of form, and an exploration of the Gothic and unknown.
John Constable
John Constable (born June 11, 1776, East Bergholt, Suffolk, England—died March 31, 1837, London) one of the first artists of the Romantic movement to create landscape paintings drawn directly from nature rather than the idealised and dramatic depictions favoured by other artists of the period (the age of enlightenment). Constable moved away from the highly idealized landscapes that were the expected norm of the period and instead favoured realistic depictions of the natural world created through close observation.
the hay wain – 1821
In this oil painting Constable has constructed the painting so that the viewer stands on the near bank of the river and the size of the image (it was another six-footer) in conjunction with the carefully rendered fall of light enables the viewer to feel that they could enter the scene. The image highlights the glory of nature without resorting to artifice or exaggeration and reflects Constable’s determination to paint the truth of what he saw.
The image here is really pleasing to the eyes, with its leading lines from the river, the wide open space of green, brown and yellow meadows that run of the frame, the blue sky that reflects a nice tint on the river, and more. The image gives a feeling of safety , making the views want to actually be there, instead of the grimy, melancholy towns and cities.
Niagara USA – Thomas Cole
The American painter Thomas Cole makes his name as a painter of sublime scenes, vast landscape of the American interior showing nature at its most dignified and impressive.
Distant View of Niagara Falls – 1929
This painting shows the vast Niagara falls with very small native Americans in the foreground. He does this to show a diminished presence in scale and reinforces the false idea of the “vanishing Indian” and is meant to signal impending transformation rather than acknowledge their stolen sovereignty. The people here look almost lost and puny in the vastness of there environment. To be a romantic is to find relief from the pressures of modern industrial life through nature, which this painting displays very well.
The Sublime
The Sublime definition is of very great excellence or beauty. However, in Romantic art it means something slightly different – Sublime Art is Edmund Burke’s 18th-century theory that defines art as that which alludes to an immeasurable greatness beyond comprehension.
In “A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful”(1757) it noted that there were certain experiences which supply a kind of thrill or shudder of perverse pleasure, mixing fear and delight. He shifted the emphasis in discussions of the sublime towards experiences provoked by aspects of nature which due to their vastness or obscurity could not be considered beautiful, and indeed were likely to fill us with a degree of horror.
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), A Ship against the Mewstone, at the Entrance to Plymouth Sound
We are observing something that is potentially dangerous, but we can gain pleasure knowing that we are observing it from a place of safety – meaning shows the sublime. There is an initial feeling of fear or distress, followed by pleasure, once the subject realises that the object that is posing these feelings is not a real threat. Burke claims that the most powerful passion is that of fear because it comes from an apprehension of pain.
Roger Fenton
(28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers.
The most compelling of his views of the English, Welsh, and Scottish countryside call to mind the paintings of Constable and Turner as well as Romantic poems by William Wordsworth that celebrate man’s ties to nature. Fenton possessed a particular sensitivity for the play of light and atmosphere in the natural world, a subject he explored throughout the decade of his career with as much determination and success as he did architecture.
A landscape is any area of land that can be seen it can be both man-made things like buildings and natural features like mountains. The look of landscapes can change because of things like the weather, geography and things that humans create. Landscapes are important in culture, the environment and for enjoyment. Artists, photographers and people like going outside normally take inspiration from different landscapes and locations. Landscape photography is a genre of photography which focuses on taking photos of natural landscapes and views. Landscape photographers usually show the strength and drama of the world through there photos. landscape photography can be a common hobby however it can also be done professionally.
Classical Landscapes
Classical Landscapes are a unique style of painting which became known during the renaissance and gained its popularity during the 17th, 18th century. Classical landscapes usually include imaginary landscapes, sometimes influenced by the countryside of Italy and other countries. Most classical landscapes include hills, lakes, ancient ruins and trees. Some artists who are known for their classical landscapes are Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin, Albrecht Altdorfer, Pierre-Henri De Valenciennes and Gaspard Dughet. One of the earliest artists of classical landscapes was Giorgione in the early 16th century. One of Giorgione’s most popular piece of work is “the tempest” which had a more poetic approach to landscapes.
Giorgone, The Tempest
Landscape Photography
Not too long after Photography was created/originated, landscape photography also created, originating some time around the 1820s and 1830s (19th century). examples of photographers who were taking photographs of landscapes during this time are: Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, and William Henry Fox Talbot. However Nicéphore Niépce is the photographer mainly associated with the creation of landscape photography. The earliest landscape photograph was taken by Nicéphore Niépce. Nicéphore Niépce`s first ever landscape photograph was called “View from the Window at Le Gras” which is claimed to be the first ever landscape photograph still existing. The photo shows the view from Niépce`s window in Burgundy France, This is one of the first moments where a camera was used to capture a landscape.
“View from the Window at Le Gras” – Nicéphore Niépce
During the 19th century, landscape photography was rising as well as creative photography technology, for example the creation of more portable cameras. In the 20th century photographers like Ansel Adams took landscape photography even more popular and influential, this was done by taking classical landscapes of natural scenery, these photographs still are inspirational in the modern day.
The Hay wain is by far John Constable’s most famous and well loved painting. Originating from one of his summer series of paintings, it is now displayed in the National Gallery in London. Picturing a rural scene in between Essex and Suffolk, on the river Stour which boarders Essex and Suffolk, essentially separating the two. The scene shown could have easily been created from imagination, however it is known that in fact the house on the left is a neighbours house as the Constable’s fathers’ house was just out of the frame, which was on the banks of the River Stour. Willy Lott was the neighbour and was a tenant farmer, more than likely the one pictured in the painting. The horse and cart were used as transport and for farm work, but in the heat of summer it was common for the horse and cart to be led into the river for the horse to drink and for the iron on the cart wheels to cool down after spending all day in the summer heat. Interestingly enough, Willy Lott’s cottage still stands undamaged today but none of the trees in the photo exist in modern day, which links perfectly with what romanticists were trying to ‘warn’ people about in their love and need for nature over urbanisation. This is greatly linked to the romantic movement as it was the beautification of nature and seen as the ideal. However this is not likely true with the farmer likely working dawn till dusk. This brings it back to the point that the entire Romantic movement was predominantly originated by those of a higher class and with easier lives fantasying about the ‘simple, happy country life’ believing people who were poor, were happier even though they had significantly less money, time and freedom. He was revolutionary in many different ways for example, he was one of the first people to paint trees green as previously landscapes were done by people living in the centre of the industrial revolution with smoke and smog instead of green trees they just reflected colours they saw everyday. He did this by not only having his won memories of the landscape but he also got people to send quick sketches of parts of the scenery as he was working from his own sketches and memories. He went against the time period even more by instead of being detail originated which was what was deemed as correct for the time, with some amazing artists painting each individual leaf etc, Constable used expressive brush strokes and close to mark making techniques to create this painting in a very short space of time. The brush marks instead of precise detail show the passion and emotion put into the work, like a flurry of homely colours and patterns appealing on the page rather than a more documentative art style. Constable even put the workers in the background to further how the beautiful the place, again contrasting the time but fitting in the romantic idea with most farm workers being drawn to the bigger cities and being replaced with machines instead. Having originally studied weather and Meteorology clouds were a large part of Constable’s work, in this one particularly with it’s name actually being ‘Noon’ (rather than ‘Hay Wain’ as we have come to know it) links to the romantics movement with the dramatic and important weather changes. However it is also great for the modern day historian’s as with his background and the painting name, Constable was more than likely and reflected throughout his work the clouds and weather gave an accurate idea of what time and season the painting depicted.
Landscape photography is used to show spaces in the world, sometimes vast and unending but other times microscopic. Landscape photos typically capture the presence of nature however they also capture human-made features which have disturbed the natural landscapes. The four things which make a good landscape photo are fantastic lighting, strong composition, appropriate sharpness and optimum exposure. One of the downsides of landscape photography is that you have no control over the weather, for example you may want to take a photo of the sunset however it is rainy and there is no sun visible. Landscape photography is done for many different reasons. One of the most common reasons for landscape photography is to be able to hold on to a memory of what you seen whilst being outdoors, especially when travelling. Others choose to pursue it as an outdoor lifestyle to feel involved with nature often to escape the artificial world. Majority of landscape photography has little no to human activity and are created to show the pure, undisrupted image of nature. Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky, and waters, usually these photos are taken from a distance. However some landscape photographs may involve subjects in a scenic setting nearby, or even close-up, and sometimes at night. Photographs of unnatural scenery such as farm fields, orchards, gardens and architecture may also be considered as ‘landscape’ photography as well. Even with the presence of man-made structures, such as buildings, or art, for example a sculpture, may also be considered as landscape if presented in an artistic setting or appearing in an artistic style. Landscape is arguably a form of ‘still life’ due to its relatively still subjects. A positive of landscape photography is that it has contributed to tourism and became a large part of local economies throughout the world. Countries such as Scotland and Canada are very popular with the photography tourists and welcome many people from all over the world. Due to this, landscape photography workshops have became a large business technique in these countries.
Examples of landscape photography:
There are many different types of Landscape Photography however these are some of the ones which people mainly focus on:
Cliff path photography:
Cliff path photography tends to consist of leading lines which bring the viewers attention to certain areas of the photo. They also more often than not include greenery, like many other landscape photography.
Beaches:
I particularly like beach photography due to the sunset/ sunrise photos and the way the sky changes to a warm tone. They often also include photos of the ocean making contact with the sand whilst the tide comes in. This will be a good thing to photograph especially in Jersey due to its many beaches.
Sand dunes:
Sand dune photography is full of texture and movement due to the ripples in the sand. They also tend to have warm tones. This will also be good to photograph in Jersey due to the large area with sand dunes.
Fields:
Photography of fields is full of vibrant flowers and greenery as well as some wildlife and animals.
Country lanes and paths:
Country lane photography consists of many leading lines which almost makes the viewer feel as if they are there due to the viewpoint at which the photograph is taken at. Martin Fry is a photographer which is particularly good at this type of photography.
Woods:
Woodland photography often has a dark tone to it as well as different viewpoints such as the tree tops. The interesting shaped trees make interesting photos in woodland photography as they are unique every time.
Valleys:
Valley photography often have rivers or streams along with many different types of greenery such as trees, grass and even flowers. Some are dryer valleys which is shown by the lack of greenery and water.
The origins of Landscape Photography
The first landscape photography was created by a French man named Joseph Nicephore Niepce between the years of 1826 and 1827. This photo was not only the first landscape photograph but also the first ever permanent photographic image. Niepce is now considered as one of the most important figures within the invention of photography. Niepce was born in France in 1765, he was an amateur scientist, inventor and artist.
Since this landscape has evolved into a widely used genre of photography due to its beauty yet simplicity, with many people sharing these photos using social media. The photos have also gotten much clearer and sharper over time and they even have colour.
Romanticism was an era in which people started to appreciate nature and revolt against the urbanisation of the world around them. While in literature the time frame differs slightly, in art the romanticism era began in the late 18th century/early 19th century this was around the time that the industrial revolution was changing the natural world and country side people were used to. Along with this the introduction of scientific explanations and research of nature started to appear. This added to the start of the romanticism era as people, Like Edmund Burke, who wanted people to still be in awe of nature while still being scared and afraid at the sheer vastness of it. This was a similar feeling to a modern day adrenaline junky. As the era continued to develop and appear it was also used to revolt against social norms at the time with it being the age of enlightenment, which is to favour reason and scientific reason instead of blind faith and superstition which came from religious backgrounds and held the power of nature in high regard. Freedom was created within this era as it allowed people to express their love for things (nature) with no reason again breaking the progressive movements into the world around them, giving people an escape from modern realities. This is still common now- people using nature as a means of escape and a break from the ever developing world. Typically in older works of this era it also depicted women normally in the middle of a battle field, waving flags or looking mis places this was that start of the idea of things being out of place in such a terrifying place that in fact beauty is domineering in the environment.
Characteristics of Romanticism
The main traits seen in romanticism work, whether it be photography or art, are that they show things against all reason, like a unbelievable storm with people just standing watching it, tiny in comparison. The work tries to produce a strong emotional reactional over anything rational and reason based. To create this the producers of the work use dramatic imagery, in art particularly it was large storms, where as in photography it can be similar things (imposing weather conditions) but it can also be sheer cliff faces, the vast expanse of fields anything that is imposing and dramatic causing awe in the viewer and slight fear rather than immediately jumping to reason the work. The work askes people to search for the subjective truth which is opinion based than than logical reasoning, this celebrates the individual rather than rewarding following and industrialisation.
The Sublime
The sublime is a very subjective and personal idea for each person. Often used to describe food when food is amazing. However for the romantic movement ‘sublime’ means an array of things from terror, fear and danger to soft, beautiful and powerful which actually falls into both definitions.
Joseph Mallord William Turner Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth exhibited 1842
To differ the most common idea of ‘sublime’ as for a romantic, sublime can be used when nature over powers man. When man in puny in comparison to the strength and size of the nature, an example being big storms. This was common in older landscape paintings, if there was a person, people in the painting they tended to be tiny in comparison to the nature around them. This has carried on throughout history to modern day, where people in the face of nature are common, dramatic photos.
Edmund Burke
Burke’s prominent work was in the late 18th century just as the French revolution began and places became more urbanised. While this was happening it was also the age of enlightenment where people tried to explain everything, however Burke wanted to just prove you can like nature just because of its emotional impact, saying that Burke went onto become incredibly important to the sublime in Romanticism.
Burke an Anglo-Irish statesman who was also a philosopher. Spending most of his career in the UK, while born in Dublin and spending most of his career in the UK he was an MP between 1766 and 1794. He published multiple books one being, Reflections and revolution in France in which he became the modern founder of conservatism in 1790 in which he showed his mistrust in the rationalism of French Revolutionaries. After and during his time as an MP he criticised the British Government for its treatment towards Americans as well as wanting to express the importance of manners and religious institutions for ones own soul and morality. He is often linked to the sublime and romanticism because he produced the book ‘A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful’ in 1757 which was the base for the English romanticism movement as it was a description of the sublime and what counts almost like rules and regulations for the sublime in romanticism. This gave English romantics a reason and proof of their movement. As Burke’s career continued he stayed as a modern empiricist philosopher, which is when people believe our knowledge of the world has come from sensory experiences, completely contrasting the idea of rationalists thoughts. Burke chose to, as common among empiricists, use scientific method to explain different uses of our passion and used he evidence form his science experiments and studies to explain the power of the sublime.
Burke’s Thoughts on the Sublime
Burke thought the idea of pain was much more powerful than those of pleasure, and that in fact the strongest pain of all (terror) was the fear of death. Saying this the sublime isn’t entirely our ‘bad’ emotions so much as anything that ‘overwhelms our faculty of reason’ making us incapable of thinking rationally. This meant he concluded the sublime was our biggest and strongest passion. Interestingly enough Burke believed that painting was inferior to poetry as he though painting tried to harness a huge idea into a clear representation but he thinks they always fail.
