The critical review is an opportunity for each student to gain a greater insight into an area, theme debate or other issue relating to landscape photography that is of particular interest to us.
I've chosen to examine if its right for the beautification of images where their aim is to highlight man's negative impact on the landscape.
The original essay is at the bottom of this post. Unfortunately I based my document layout on the layout of essays i had been reading as part of my research. My tutor suggested I should consider revising the layout. This I have now done and is detailed below my tutors comments
Tutors Comments
Revised Essay:
The change has been to break up the essay into sections which is detailed below:
Original Essay:
Is It
Right To Beautify Man’s Negative Impact On The Landscape?
There is a
growing awareness of man’s negative impact on the landscape. Some might argue
it’s also fashionable to be saying or doing something in way of response but
making a token effort to act and make a tangible contribution instead of doing
something really significant. In an ever changing, more challenging and
competitive market how does the photographer contribute to increasing
awareness, whilst also making a living and pushing the boundaries of
photography, both landscape and reportage genres, and making a name for him/herself
for doing something original and fresh. As an output of their work, should the
photographer beautify man’s negative impact on the landscape?
Pittsburgh
passed a law in 1941 which was designed to reduce coal production in its drive
of cleaner air. A series of images from downtown Pittsburgh illustrate the
pollution problems. There is an irony and humour in the image “Corner of
Liberty and Fifth Avenues” 1940 that despite the pollution the two gents in the
image light up cigarettes, and the vehicles bottom left and mid left with
headlights lit and figure mid right appear to look on disparagingly as they
further increase Pittsburgh’s pollution woes.
Figure 1: “Corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues”
1940
No doubt the
photographer intended to share this irony with the viewer and the startled look
from the two gents suggests they may feel uncomfortable being observed. The
image is captivating enough to draw in the viewer and find the target words
“smoke pollution” The 1940 message is clear and there is no beautification of
the negative impact that smoke pollution has.
There is
nothing like seeing an image that puts the problem right in your face in the
way Kerstin Lagenberger has. The image shows ice flows that appear to be
melting right in front of your eyes. This ice flow likely barely supports an
emaciated polar bear and anyone familiar with one will likely never have seen
one in this condition before.
Figure 2: “An emaciated polar bear is seen on a
small sheet of ice in this image taken in August in Svalbard, north of mainland
Norway (Kerstin Langenberger).”
Perhaps an
almost iconic image in terms of shock ensuring the viewer fully grasps what Langenber
intends to shock them with; global warning and its impact on both the
environment and its inhabitants. Interestingly would the public viewing this
have more sympathy with an animal such as this polar bear than an emaciated
Inuit family whose homeland was melting?
When Langenber
said “My life is a congregation of compromises but always centers on nature and
its conservation. Nature is my life, my joy, my adventure. I just hope that,
one day, I will find a way to give something back to nature for all it gave to
me, and what I´m so very grateful for.” I wonder if she meant she would do
something physically or financially to give something back to nature. However I
think she is modest in that her images such as the emaciated bear have an
untold impact in creating awareness.
In a similar theme
to “Corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues”, Image 1 above, Image 3 below from
Jason Hawkes shows clearly the impact of man polluting the environment. No
doubt taken from an aircraft and the vantage point enables the image to be
better for it. The centre chimney is very much cigarette like and perhaps a
foreground pilot or passenger smoking would also, like Image 1, demonstrate an
image with irony. Jason Hawkes is an aerial photographer (helicopters) and this
type of view has more impact because it’s a view that most of us would never
have and as a result both more interesting and perhaps more horrific because of
it.
Figure 3: Coal burning power plant, UK (Photo: Jason Hawkes /
Foundation for Deep Ecology
These two
images from Lagenberger and Hawkes are to my mind initially much more
traditional in demonstrating man’s impact on the landscape, Lagenberger’s
inclusion the bear takes man’s impact one step further it showing its impact,
it perhaps makes the image more close up and real.
So Probal Rashid’s image below “Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh” uses a human
element showing a woman on a raft as she searches for somewhere dry to take
shelter.
Figure 4: Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh - Probal Rashid
This image does
require some written narrative to explain what the women on the raft is doing.
It is difficult to tell exactly what Rashid is attempting to show here. Given
the lady’s pose and the sticks in her hands but I feel there is a thin link to
a skier but instead of travelling on snow, the increase temperature has melted
it. In reality Bangladesh is deemed one of the world’s most vulnerability to a
rise in the sea level. The rise in sea levels is forecasted to result in over
10 million people being homeless in just of over 30 years.
These images have
been created with a fairly obvious narrative and can be said to have an obvious
theme demonstrating man’s negative impact on the landscape. There is a clear
message and no mistake or mis-interpretation is possible.
W. Eugene Smith
said Certainly this is true of the images above but can also the voice of a
photograph or photographer be used lure the viewer unaware? Could perhaps
beauty be captured in a photography capturing elements of man’s negative impact
on the landscape? Is this even possible? Should it even be done since aren’t
the two elements in contrast to each other? My immediate reaction would be that
it shouldn’t be done so I will look at some photographic images where this has
been done and examine what I see and how I feel.
Colin Finlay,
whose work I have looked at briefly as part of an earlier look at as a
Persuasive Image has explored making images from an aerial position much like
John Hawkes has above.
However Finlay has most certainly beautified man’s
impact on the environment.
In this image
below of Melting Glaciers in Iceland the beautification of man’s negative
impact is very evident. There is something in the glacial flows as the ice
melts that is perhaps similar to how we understand veins to look in the human
body. The melting of ice and disappearance of the water could signify the
planet’s blood escaping and drying up. I
wonder that if the viewer is unable to instantly grasp the photographer’s
narrative, if indeed I have understood it correctly. It is not obvious what is
happening, what it represents but it remains an image full of interest for the
viewer.
Figure 5 - Melting Glaciers in Iceland – Colin
Finlay
So has the
landscape through its beautification by the photographer meant the message to
the viewer has been lost? Ansel Adams said. As an image in its own right then
this is a fascinating image and I think the image is a voyage of discovery for
the viewer as they try to identify what it is. It’s without pictorial beauty
but is beautiful in its own right. The image needs a footer to describe what it
is if the viewer needs to know what it is they are looking at and from the
perspective that man’s impact is the cause of this it may not be initially
obvious without this notation.
Rene Magritte
This image of deforestation in Indonesia is as a result man’s demand for palm
oil with around 85% of global oil sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Figure 6 – Indonesian forest turned into a palm
plantation
At first glance
this image is indeed a mystery and I find myself struggling for perspective; is
this a macro image, something not normally visible unless magnified or is this
something viewed from a height that removes the obvious and creates the mystery.
Each of us use palm oil in many areas of our lives and as a result we are
united in that the reasons for the deforestation are down to ourselves. This
image unifies us as all as being responsible, the reason for this negative
impact on the landscape. In fact it goes beyond the landscape for it affects
our future and the future of subsequent generations.
The following
image is hardly discernible of being the result of man’s impact. The image
appears to depict man’s acceptance and enjoyment of change. This image taken by
Ron Haviv in 2010 contrasts to those who saw this location for real 20 years
ago when the area was a pristine rain forest. Man’s greed for gold and the
subsequent result of gold mining and deforestation is seen as a result in the
now large open space. The viewer would not be aware of this but when informed
the mind can almost picture this large area full of trees. Narrative is again
required for the viewer to grasp the issue and the contrast between what
appears at first glance and idyllic scene is far from the actual reality.
Figure 7 – Everyday Climate Change, Madre de Dios,
Peru. Ron Haviv
The image by Daniel
Beltrá below is a
great example of the beautiful and the sublime in the landscape.
Figure 8 - Meltwater from the Jokulgilskvisl
stream, Iceland, is pulled by gravity towards the Atlantic Ocean.
It has an
almost ying and yang observable element to it and this is an obvious contrast
in itself within a single image in terms of man’s negative impact on the
landscape; the going and the gone.
De
Zayas suggests photography is split between the observational and the desire to
create an emotional response. Images of man’s negative impact on the landscape
share both of these descriptions. In the images 1 to 4 above this impact is
much more observational than those in images 5 to 8 but I wonder which of these
caused the greater emotional response to the viewer. This I cannot judge so I
shall attempt to express the emotions I felt myself. There is an obviousness in
the first set of images and the shock they are meant to create are very obvious
and in your face. Perhaps this in your face approach is one way of point out
the obviousness that man in many cases will try to close his eyes to, perhaps
as a result of weakness, dismissiveness or just greed. Perhaps though the
impact may fade, much like a slap, its impact sudden and the pain is felt but
quickly fades.
In
the second set of images I feel much more captivated by their initial beauty
and with the assistance of narrative the realisation of what the photographer
has captured in the image starts subtly but quickly becomes almost a cerebral
slap. There is an initial mystery and with some education of text, the
beatification of the landscape in these images is also realised for what it
actually is, man’s negative impact on the landscape.
Is
it right to beautify man’s negative impact on the landscape? One of
photography’s assets its ability to convey a message where the message can be
conveyed in many different forms. The key is if the message is captured by the
photographer is received by the viewer. This can be conveyed in an obvious way
or a slightly mysterious way where it needs to be decoded and thought about.
Like a tongue will discover taste such as bitter, sour, sweet, and salt, our
emotions are evoked by different types of image. One style in its own right
might become overwhelming or perhaps will it lose its impact if it stands alone
or if its style is viewed repetitively.
In
contrast it becomes more powerful and it is for this reason I think it’s right
to beautify man’s negative impact on the landscape, contrast the obvious with
the not so obvious. In this way the photographer’s message is better received
and understood by the viewer and its impact and emotion better grasped. If the
message takes a bit more working out then perhaps it is better remembered.
Beautification
of images conveying man’s negative impact is simply another tool in the
photographer’s kit bag and the irony and contrast of this in an image will not
be lost by the viewer.
Referenced
Illustrations
Figure 1: “Corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues”
1940 (Photograph)
University of
Pittsburgh’s Smoke Control lantern Slide Collection
At http://www.citylab.com/design/2012/06/what-pittsburgh-looked-when-it-decided-it-had-pollution-problem/2185/ [Accessed
7/2/2016].
Figure 2:
Weather.com. 2015. 38
Powerful Photos of the World Feeling the Impact of Climate Change.
[ONLINE] Available at: https://weather.com/science/environment/news/powerful-photos-climate-change-global-warming-20140820-0 Accessed 13 February 2017].
Figure 3:
Destruction of
Humanity across the Globe / Daily Mirror. 2015. Destruction
of Humanity across the globe.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/incoming/gallery/destruction-humanity-across-globe-5716592 [Accessed 13 February 2017].
Figure 4
www.independent.co.uk
/ Independent. Unknown. 10
photographs to show to anyone who doesn't
believe in climate change. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-global-warming-photos-antarctica-iceland-india-droughts-floods-melting-ice-a7423156.html#gallery.
[Accessed 6 February
2017]
Figure 5
Bierend, D. (2014) Sublime
Yet Troubling Aerial Photos of Humanity’s Environmental Destruction.
Available at https://www.wired.com/2014/09/troubling-aerial-photos-humanitys-environmental-destruction/#slide-4 (Accessed: 1 March 2017).
Figure 6
(Accessed: 7 March 2017).
Figure 7
Everydayclimatechange (2016) Everyday
climate change – in pictures. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2015/jan/20/everyday-climate-change-in-pictures (Accessed: 7 March 2017)
Figure 8
Daniel Beltrá (no
date) Available at: http://danielbeltra.photoshelter.com/portfolio/G0000LqZvrxwYYhw/I0000rxvndkwGluM
(Accessed: 7 March 2017)
References
and Quotations
http://www.citylab.com/design/2012/06/what-pittsburgh-looked-when-it-decided-it-had-pollution-problem/2185/.
2012. What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a
Pollution Problem. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.citylab.com/design/2012/06/what-pittsburgh-looked-when-it-decided-it-had-pollution-problem/2185/. [Accessed 7 February 2017]
Artic
Dreams / Kerstin Langenberger. Unknown
publication date. Kerstin Langenberger Artic Dreams. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.arctic-dreams.com. [Accessed 6 February 2017].
W, C. (Unknown) W.
Eugene Smith • photographer profile • magnum photos.
Available at: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/w-eugene-smith/
(Accessed: 28 February 2017).
Bibliography
Short, M. (2011) Basics
creative photography 02: Context and narrative.
2011th edn. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA.In-line
Citation:(Short, 2011)
Word
Counts
With
Quotations = 2141
Without
Quotations = 2000
