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Encounters: Photographing the Landscape

Whether untouched, subtly altered, or deeply scarred by human presence, the landscape has awed, intrigued, and moved photographers time and again. Some strive to simply document; others aim to inspire environmental action. Regardless, all demand that we thoughtfully consider the ever-changing landscapes which surround us and on which we depend.

Lee Friedlander, Canadian Rockies, 2005, gelatin silver print

Untouched

Photographers have long been attracted to the landscapes of the American West. Despite increasing human intervention, the romantic notion of the wild West prevails to this day.

Ansel Easton Adams, Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Kaweah Gap, Sierra Nevada, California, 1932, printed 1981, gelatin silver print

Edward Weston, Dunnes, Oceano, 1936, printed later, gelatin silver print

Carleton E. Watkins, View of Yosemite Valley, ca. 1878–1881, albumen print

Eliot Porter, Dungeon Canyon, Glen Canyon, 1961, printed 1980, dye-transfer print

Human Traces

Many photographers have explored the subtle, nearly imperceptible marks of human presence in the natural landscape. The human and the natural often appear compatible, or even seamlessly intertwined.

Mark Ruwedel, Central Pacific #52, from the series Westward the Course of the Empire, 2005, gelatin silver print

William Garnett, Train Crossing Desert Near Kelso, CA, 1974, gelatin silver print

Michael Kenna, Reflection, Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire, England, 1977, printed 1980, gelatin silver print

Scarred

With increasing frequency, photographers are capturing the seemingly indelible impact of industry on the natural environment. Their images are often simultaneously foreboding and beautiful.

Emmet Gowin, Mining Exploration near Carson City, Nevada, 1998, toned gelatin silver print

Edward Burtynsky, Rock of Ages, Active Section, E.L. Smith Quarry, Barre, VT #15, 1992, chromogenic print

Victoria Sambunaris, Untitled (Fort Knox gold mine) Fairbanks, Alaska, 2003, chromogenic print

Michael Kenna, Ratcliffe Power Station, Study #31, Nottinghamshire, England, 1987, gelatin silver print

Abstracted

Many photographers seek abstracted imagery in the landscape. Their pictures challenge the notion that photography is a purely documentary art form. They also challenge the beliefs that nature is static and that its perception is objective.

Emmet Gowin, Snow over Pivot Agriculture near Liberal, Kansas, 1995, 1995, printed 1999, toned gelatin silver print

Mark Klett, Morning Moon 1/20/04, 2004, toned gelatin silver print

David Maisel, Lake Project #4, 2001, chromogenic print

Ann Aspinwall, Spumante, 2017, linocut and collagraph with hand coloring

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