Monday, October 22, 2018

I've Decided To Largely Give Up Chasing the "Grand Landscape"

First snow of Autumn, Route 550 (Million Dollar Highway), Colorado (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 92mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200
After this last extended road trip with all of the grand and beautiful landscapes that were presented before me throughout the Rocky Mountains and desert southwest, I've decided to largely (not totally) give up chasing those majestic scenes.  I have come to the conclusion that I no longer get much satisfaction from photographing them.  I have photographed so many landscapes over the past 48 years and it seems as though it has all been done before, more times than one can count, by much better photographers than am I. My interest in chasing, finding and capturing them with my camera is all but gone.  It might return in the future but it all seems futile to me to continue at this time.  

 I still have interest in intimate landscapes, details of larger scenes and nature in general, however.  A beautiful forest of trees would not be of interest for my photography but a single, old, ancient stately tree with lots of history located on a farm or in a town square would be of interest.  In the future, I plan to just stare at nature's beauty, enjoy its magnificence and plant the scene into my memory.  After all, no photograph can faithfully replicate actually being present with the sounds, the wind, the sun, colors, etc.

 I find I now get much more satisfaction in finding, composing and capturing images that are now unique or seldom seen, being lost with time and progress; things that may have been culturally significant and reflecting our past.  Things such as old wooden barns, covered bridges, old cars, one of a kind structures, old iron and steel bridges, railroad stations and railroad infrastructure, old steel mills, signs, small old white clapboard churches, old downtowns with their old buildings and their architectural detail that is no longer found in today's buildings, etc.  Those sorts of things that reflect where we, as a people, society, country and culture have been, but through time and changing conditions, are being lost to demolition, decay and neglect.
This is an example of the kind of scenes that interest me much more than pure landscapes. (click to enlarge)
Certainly there can be a sense of landscape in the background of my images but the object of the image itself will no longer be just "the landscape" itself.  I know I will still enjoy fall foliage, fields of flowers, etc., but I think I need more than that.  I need more meaning in the images themselves.  More in the sense that intertwined with nature are things that will soon be forgotten and lost forever.

 This type of photography is not a new subject for me.  I've been photographing these types of subjects for years and years, both in populated areas and rural locations.  I've always enjoyed them and now want to make these types of old, abandoned, neglected, forgotten historical objects my main photographic focus.  This goes right along with my most satisfying activity of wandering through the countryside with my gear just looking for things that fit this precise description.
Another example of the types of images that I enjoy making. (click to enlarge)
I also plan to do some occasional wildlife photography as I get satisfaction of capturing animals and birds in-flight (at least I try!).  That kind of photography is still a great challenge to me and I want to better my skills.  I find my results marginal at best so additional challenges are there to be met and conquered.  Then there are my local photography buddies and our outings together photographing migrating birds, raptors, shore birds, otters, sika elk, waterfowl, etc.  I certainly don't plan on giving those activities up either.  Of course, those outings are as much about camaraderie, friends getting together and sharing an experience as it is strictly about photography.

 I have a number of images from my road trip that I will post on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  But after those are posted, don't expect much in the way of landscape images from me in the future.  But who knows, I have hundreds in my library and I'm sure I'll post a few now and then just to vary my blog posts and to hold interest of you who enjoy landscapes.  There are those times when I find it hard to come up with a post on my current schedule of three posts per week.

 As always, I really appreciate you reading and commenting on my blog posts.  I try to answer or comment on all of your comments.  When you comment, you may stimulate ideas in others so please continue.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

 Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

 Dennis A. Mook 

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2 comments:

  1. Dave JenkinsOctober 22, 2018 at 8:33 PM

    Having just completed a western tour of our own, I can add my agreement to your comments about landscape photography.

    On September 4th, we hooked the pickup to the travel trailer and headed west. We were gone 30 days and drove 7,138 miles. Visited the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park (SD), Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons.

    In Boise, Idaho, we enjoyed several days with our oldest granddaughter and her family, then moved on to Eagle Mountain, Utah for two days with our oldest grandson and his family.

    From there, we went to Arches National Park, Goblin Valley State Park (unexpectedly delightful), Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP, and the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Then down to Flagstaff and home across Arizona (with a stop at Petrified Forest NP, which I found also especially interesting), New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and home to Northwest Georgia, arriving home on the evening of Oct. 3rd.

    I took lots of photos, of course, but probably nothing that hasn't already been done by a few million people before me. I enjoyed it, but landscapes, even spectacular ones, don't interest me all that much.

    Your ongoing focus, as stated in this post, is very similar to mine. Some years ago I wrote an artist's statement, which continues to define me as a photographer:

    "My domain is the old, the abandoned, the about to vanish away. I am a visual historian of an earlier America and a recorder of the interface between man and nature; a keeper of vanishing ways of life."

    As I wrote in my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia, I'm drawn to the old, the historic, the quirky and offbeat, the strange and unusual, and the beautiful. Old houses, old churches, old courthouses, old mills, covered bridges, and historic sites.

    As I've suggested before, you are exactly the right person to undertake a Backroads and Byways book project of your own and I think you would enjoy it greatly. The Virginia book in that series is now in its second edition and is not nearly as good as something you could write. If my publisher isn't interested in doing a different Virginia book, Kentucky, West Virginia, and North Carolina are also accessible to you. Also, there are other publishers of such books if you can't hook up with Countryman Press.

    I am probably going to begin a Tennessee book in the series in the near future. C'mon in! The water's fine!

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    1. The Wandering LensmanOctober 23, 2018 at 9:55 AM

      Dave, it sounds as though your trip was a memorable one. Originally, we were going to travel to many of the same places but the wildfires and the smokey atmosphere became the wildcard. I didn't want to chance three or four weeks and have nasty air.

      Yes, we have a similar way of seeing the world and very similar interests. I appreciate the encouragement, but I just don't have the time right now to start any large projects. But I will keep it in mind.

      Thanks for the narrative, kind words and comment.

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