Constructive Landscapes
Initial questions
- What is your relationship to the natural world?
I do not have a very close relationship with the natural world, I like staying indoors a lot but when I do go to the park or a grass area it is usually to play football or when I am on a walk with my family.
- Where would you go to see a natural landscape?
My initial thought to go and see a natural landscape would be going to a park or the woods to see nature and photograph it. I tend to go on lots of walks when we are with our family so that is usually a good chance to see the natural world closer.
Why do people take pictures of nature?
I do not really know why people take pictures of nature really. I take pictures of flowers lots, or sunsets if they are really pretty but I think I do it because it looks nice not because I necessarily care massively about nature or what it's real purpose is in our lives.
Can photographs help us change the way we see things?
In my opinion not really because you take a picture and do not really think much about it however if you look at it closely then yes, sometimes you can see things you would not have noticed before like certain lightings, angles or things you thought you excluded from the photograph but now you can notice you did not.
I do not have a very close relationship with the natural world, I like staying indoors a lot but when I do go to the park or a grass area it is usually to play football or when I am on a walk with my family.
- Where would you go to see a natural landscape?
My initial thought to go and see a natural landscape would be going to a park or the woods to see nature and photograph it. I tend to go on lots of walks when we are with our family so that is usually a good chance to see the natural world closer.
Why do people take pictures of nature?
I do not really know why people take pictures of nature really. I take pictures of flowers lots, or sunsets if they are really pretty but I think I do it because it looks nice not because I necessarily care massively about nature or what it's real purpose is in our lives.
Can photographs help us change the way we see things?
In my opinion not really because you take a picture and do not really think much about it however if you look at it closely then yes, sometimes you can see things you would not have noticed before like certain lightings, angles or things you thought you excluded from the photograph but now you can notice you did not.
The ideas of a landscape
In the first photograph, the artist has decided to take an image of a noticeably barren piece of land. they have chosen to include what looks like a shallow valley, with rocks, stones and dust. I can tell the photographer has zoomed in so maybe they have decided to exclude things from the image such as any form of nature: trees, grass, people, animals or even weeds. This image is taken from a fairly low down angle at eye level with the ground so I would assume whoever is taking the photograph would have had to crouch down. In addition, the low angle makes the sides of the so called 'valley' look deeper than they probably are, meaning it might not be a shallow valley at all, but just an area of bumpy and uneven ground. This shows how deceiving an image can be. We can notice the image was taken a very long time ago and using my own knowledge I know that the cameras they had back then were no where near as brilliant and technical as the ones we have today. We can see the image is made from limited monochromatic colours making it a not very interesting image to look at. There are also no physical components to the image either. Due to the lack of colour and components the image has, the mood is dark and down unlike most images we are used to with colour.
In the second image, the artist has taken a photograph of a man on a horse, riding through some form of dusty land which is probably a desert of sort. The photographer has included much of the sky and a horse and a man. In my opinion, it looks like the photographer has zoomed in due to the grainy look the image has. At first I thought the image was actually a painting not a photograph because of how pixilated the sky looks. I can see the horses shadow and it's feet kicking up the dust on the ground.
In the second image, the artist has taken a photograph of a man on a horse, riding through some form of dusty land which is probably a desert of sort. The photographer has included much of the sky and a horse and a man. In my opinion, it looks like the photographer has zoomed in due to the grainy look the image has. At first I thought the image was actually a painting not a photograph because of how pixilated the sky looks. I can see the horses shadow and it's feet kicking up the dust on the ground.
The first picture is an image of the sea. It was taken by Gustave Le Gray and he used a glass negative to make the "Great Wave". He has chosen to include a container ship which we can see in the far left of the image and he has possible chosen to exclude maybe an island or other boats. In the second image it is an image of a constructed collage made out of colour negatives by Dafna Talmor. The image are similar as they have both been created to make it look like an image of the sea. The differences are the moods they bring out. The first one is eery, old shown by the yellowness of the image but it also gives off a charming and nostalgic feel. The second one is eye catching however slightly depressing due the dull dark tones.
Minimalistic Landscapes
Geraldo de barros 'Sobras' 1996 Liz Nielson 'Gardening with you'
The first image contains a tree that has holes in it. It almost looks like it has been stuck on to a black piece of card. I think the image is most likely missing a bit more scenery as it is quite plain and empty. The second image in my eyes, looks like a silhouette of a boat out at sea. It looks like it could be missing some more features to the boat and the sea as there is a lot of white back ground and only the various, few outlines of the main features of the image. I find it unusual how sparse the second image is but also how full of life it is at the same time. From a distance if could just be a white piece of paper with black dots but as you get closer and look deeper you can start to see different objects and shapes. You can create your own little world on a small piece of paper. The first image looks morbid and depressing and the second one looks immature as it could almost look like a child did it. I think each artist removed parts of their image to give the person observing the photograph a chance to create their own image in their head, their own interpretation of the art.