The Sublime Landscape
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Transcript of The Sublime Landscape
Photographing the sublime through landscape photography
Andrew Hussey 2011
In this short essay I intend to discuss the idea that a photograph can offer a sublime
experience to the viewer using landscape photography as a basis.
Referring to images produced by leading landscape photographer Ansel Adams and how
these images were received upon there release into the public domain. Through this
research I intend to determine whether imagery can evoke sublime experiences.
Ansel Adams was a 20th centaury American photographer made famous by his large
format black and white images of Yosemite National Park and the American.
Along with such photographers as Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham, Adams
created the ‘f/64 group’ consisting of seven San Francisco photographers with a shared
photographic style of sharp focus and precise composition of natural forms.
Adams once compared the experience of “a truly fine print to the experience of a symphony-
appreciation of the broad, melodic line, while important, it is by no means all. The wealth of detail,
forms, values - the minute but vital significances revealed so exquisitely by the lens-deserves exploration
and appreciation. It takes time to really see the fine print, to feel the almost endless revelations of
poignant reality….”
(Adams 1943)
It is important to understand the context in which I use the term ‘the sublime’ in this essay,
the easiest way to do this is with a direct definition from the Oxford dictionary.
The sublime:
‘producing an overwhelming sense of awe or other high emotion through being vast or grand’ (Oxford
Dictionary, 2010)
According to this definition a viewer should be able to gain a sense of high or
overwhelming emotion from the subject matter presented therefore I will relate my
research and findings to coincide with this definition. The question is, Is it possible for
an image to produce a sublime experience or if these feelings and emotions are created
from an external source triggered by what is seen?
There are two main trains of thought on whether or not an image is able to evoke
feelings within the viewer. There are those who believe that images such as Adams ‘Tetons
and Snake River’ (below) are so perfectly photographed they capture the true essence of
nature, which is then translated to those viewing the work.
‘Tetons and snake river’
On the other hand, there are those who believe that it is impossible to capture something
that needs to be seen by the naked eye to be truly comprehended, and that one cannot feel
the connection with nature in all its awesomeness without physically beholding the
landscape.
It could be said that photographers and poets are similar in that they are both trying to
express all that they see. A poet can choose a string of words that convey the glory of
nature, the feelings that nature evoke and its connection to the human spirit. However,
this perception of nature is subjective to the writer as an individual and although it can
be enjoyable to read it is the wording that evoke these emotions.
Without the reader having ever experienced the subject matter described they would be
unable to gain the same emotional experience as the poet. It is only by relating the text to
personal experiences can they begin to understand the true value of what is being read.
It is all in the manner in which we as human beings perceive the world and our fore-
understanding generated through personal life experiences.
20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote,
‘If a lion could speak, we could not understand him’
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
What Wittgenstein is suggesting is that a lion’s point of reference would be so far
removed from our own understanding that even if he spoke in perfect English we could
not understand him. Without previous understanding of the world the lion lives in it is
impossible to understand the context to which the lion refers.
Thus, without previous knowledge and understanding of the scale of landscapes or the
vastness of the sky from personal experience we as viewers cannot understand what is
being presented to us through photography.
This reflects on how we perceive a photograph. If you have seen a hill or mountain range
in the English countryside then viewing an image such as Adams’ ‘clearing winter storm’ will
become subconsciously comparable to these past experiences and the scale of what is
being observed becomes awe inspiring. Even to those who have lived a relatively
secluded life will admire the almost unimaginable scene that is being presented in an
image of The Grand Canyon. However, these ‘feelings’ of the ‘sublime’ are a
comprehension through a comparability to what has been experienced in our own lives.
‘Clearing winters storm’
“A man receives only what he is ready to receive….
We hear and apprehend only what we already half know…
Every man thus tracks himself through life, in all his hearing and reading and observation and
travelling.” - Henry David Thoreau
This concept of a subconscious comparison to pre-existent memory translates into how
we understand our daily lives. For instance, in the world of popular music; Hearing
particular pieces of music, orchestral or otherwise can often become overwhelming
emotionally. It can seem awe inspiring and breath taking but experiences that evoke
feelings (sublime or otherwise) stem from a fore-understanding to which we attach a
nostalgic sentimentality inherent to past experiences; Our understanding of the world in
which we live and our personal beliefs is a process known as episodic memories.
This idea of episodic memory is often exploited in the entertainment industry. A musical
score in a movie is specifically designed to play on these memories; a love song enhances
a love scene through our gained knowledge of this type of music and grandioso
orchestral scores help express grandeur in landscapes and scenery.
“…I consider that music is by it’s very nature, is powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling,
an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature. If, as is nearly always the case, music
appears to express something, this is only an illusion and not a reality”.
-Igor Stazinsky
With this in mind can it be said that an image can ‘express’ anything at all?
The understanding that this system of episodic memory would suggest that we relate past
emotions to new subject matter to help us process what we see and understood.
‘Moon and Half Dome’
There can be little doubt that Adams was able to capture the vastness and scale of his
subject matter, he had the ability to create a depth and texture to his work that translates
the immensity of what he saw but it has been said that to Adams expression was more
important than the reality and the idea more important than fact. He wasn’t only trying to
record what he saw but retell the feelings he felt, as a poet such as Wordsworth would
describe feelings of solitude when he wrote ‘I wonder’d lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er
vales and hills’ then so too does Adams attempt to tell the story of his emotional
connection to his subject through imagery.
“Some photographers take reality as the sculptors take wood or stone and upon it impose the
dominations of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a
photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation. A true photograph need not be
explained, nor can be contained in words.”
-Alfred Stieglitze
An important aspect to also consider is the religious connotations of these landscape
images. When Adams images first appeared in the public domain religious beliefs were
more widespread and played much more of a vital role in everyday life then by today’s
standards. The religious understandings of the everyman at the time would create a much
different perception of the presented images then in modern times. They would be
reinforcement as to the greatness of God in whichever form he/she took.
“The grand arc formed by Niagara falls was called sublime because of its scale and the motion
of the water. Mountains, ocean storms, and storm waves were considered awe-inspiring, grand,
and therefore aesthetically pleasing in their representation of power. From a religious-aesthetic
point of view, they were a demonstration of the power of God and the perfection of God’s
dynamic laws of motion..”
-Botkin, ‘No mans Garden- Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature’
These religious viewpoints have potentially played a huge role in the perception of what
was seen within the image. The image itself wouldn’t create a sense of oneness with
nature but play on the faith of the observer and the strength in their beliefs of an
‘almighty creator’.
Through this understanding of episodic memory we see that an image alone, no matter
how perfectly composed or structured or however much detail it contains cannot not
offer the same sublime experience felt by those who took the image. However, this is not
to say the viewer cannot receive a sublime experience.
In the simplest form of answer to the question of whether or not photography can offer
viewers and practitioners alike a sublime experience then the answer has to be yes.
It is possible that the viewer can gain a sublime feeling from what is being viewed but
through an subconcious comparison of experiences via fore-understanding and episodic
memories.
If you were to take a walk and admire the scenery then this creates an emotional
connection in your brain so when beholding an images such as Adams’s ‘Tenaya Creek,
Dogwood’ these emotions resurface but are exaggerated by the scale and immensity of
these grand landscapes which would have been unimaginable until that point.
‘Tenaya Creek, Dogwood
Bibliography
Text:
Adams. Ansel, ‘The Grand Canyon and the South West’ Little Brown and Company 2000
Baker Hall. J, ‘Minor White: Rites and Passages’, Apature, 1979 Botkin. D, ‘No mans Garden- Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature’, Island Press 2001 Dollis. J, ‘Tracking Thoreau, double-crossing nature and technology’ Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2005 Emerson, Ralph W. ‘The selected letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson edited by Joel Myerson’ Columbia University Press, 1997 Grey. A, ‘Ansel Adams: The National Park Service Photographes’, Abbeville Press Inc, 2003 Kassabian. A, ‘Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music’, Routledge 2001 Newhall. N, ‘Ansel Adams Photographs 1923-1963 :The Eloquent Light’, Smithsonian Institution (1963)
Spaulding. J, ‘Ansel Adams and American Landscape’, University of California Press, 1995
Web Archives:
http://www.anseladams.com