The Lure of Landscape

 

Several years ago I wrote an article about why I call myself a landscape photographer. Paul Greenway wrote a really insightful response to this around why he felt a photographic label was unnecessary; we are photographers first and foremost. I agree with this, but (there is always a but isn't there), I still feel that there is something inherently different in the way that landscape photography can be pursued. Note that I say 'can' rather the way it is pursued by many. An invitation to speak at the Ballito camera club gave me the excuse to think a little harder about why I think this is so.

Nikon bought RED. Say what?

Yup, as of the the 7th March 2024 Nikon and RED have signed an agreement that RED will be 100% purchased by Nikon corporation. Of course this means that the internet world of photography has exploded, both with memes and opinions. There’s a fair amount to unpack here. Naturally the inclination by the overreactive internet is that this is the death of RED as we know it (well, yes, actually that is true, but not in the sense that the camera is going to disappear and the world come crashing down in flames), and that we are all bereft of an awesome cinema camera line. It’s also true that Arri are probably popping champagne bottles and crowing that they are now peerless and firmly on the top of the heap…or not. This is where I think Nikon have actually been quite astute.

The Price of Photography

Of late I’ve found that I’m simply not as interested in equipment as I used to be. GAS seems to be less of a thing. It’s not that I have transcended to some higher plain of photography where the image is more important that the gear that is being used. That would be a good thing of course. No, the reason GAS escapes more and more, comes down to the fact that everything is just so darn expensive these days.

The Catharsis of Photography

Certain types of photography offer the practitioner something more than the act of creating an aesthetic image. Reading Susan Sontag’s “On Photography”, it is interesting to note that she sees the act of photography as something possessive, sometimes distancing, the result aesthetic or instrumental. The view is particularly cynical at times where she paints a dystopia-like world where the camera is a controlling force on people. Apart from the alarming levels of surveillance that she considers and which have become very much a fact of life post 9/11, there is the mind numbing mundanity that the all pervasive camera-phone has created. There isn’t a single thing or object that is not photographed now. It tends to be done without thought apart from the simple purpose to record and disseminate. But the photography created by this snap-shot culture is all about the product or result of the camera, and very little critical thought goes into the action.