Exercise 4.4: Of Mother Earth and Marlboro Man.

Of Mother Nature and Marlboro Man.

At the time of her writing the above piece, 1985, Deborah Bright noted that landscape photography was extremely popular and that books featuring the subject were selling well.  In this essay she examines the reasons for this and the cultural meanings of landscape photography.

• Her first thoughts were that such photographs are seen as timeless, pure, and stand apart from the modern world.
• She next conjectures that this is too simple an explanation as such images are more that  what happens in front of the camera.  The whole construct of landscape is a modern one that has its roots in Europe and the tradition of showing, often imagined landscapes, as a background for religious and other mythical figures, or real landscapes as a frame for the owners to be depicted.  Only later would the landscape be painted and appreciated in its own right.
• Landscape will always reflect its cultural home.  Some will find comfort in these representations while others who have no stake in the landscape will feel out of place and not represented in them.
• Landscapes images record the changes in land use and the attitudes of both the photographer and the viewer.  She asks questions about the ideologies of photographers and their masculine eye.
• In America following the slaughter of the indigenous there was a popular movement for the now white population to discover their wild pioneer country.  The rapidly expanding rail network and later road network assisted no end in transporting into these now safe areas.  Pieces of wilderness were preserved close to towns.  
• With the parks came codes of conduct as to how to behave in the wilderness.  The camera was almost compulsory.
• These views became the standard that the next visiter looked for and became the backdrop for both the popular westerns of the 20th Century but also a means of selling beer and cigarettes.
• The western American landscape means different things to different people.  To some it  is a tourist destination neatly packed and marketed.  To others it represents unchanged wilderness, although it comes with permissions, passes and rules.
• The fact that landscapes change according to current taste and politics is not always reflected in photography.  
• Photography of the American School of the early 20th C was very much about what the photographer felt about the scene rather than a true representation of it.
• In the 1960s John Szarkowski introduced a new way of taking and viewing by using a new way of talking about landscape.  He applied these techniques when he view earlier works by the likes of Timothy O’Sullivan.  
• The accusation is made that the exhibition, Before Photography, and the book, American Landscapes, almost ignore the feminist voice or view.  A further complaint is made that, with the exception of Hilla Becher, all the New Topographic photographers were men.  This group concentrated on realism rather than style.
• The accusation is made that the way these Topographic landscapes were displayed and exhibited gave then a gravity they may not have deserved.  This tended to form a feed back process about how important they were.
• A number of these photographers, and Adams in particular developed consciences about their work, especially around industrial scenes but soon realised that his social conscience was not shared by those he deemed to be suffering.
• A comparison is made between two bodies of work, Power Places by John Pfahl and Three Mile Island Calendar by Lisa Lewenz.  The work of Phahl shows nuclear power stations as part of the landscape in such a way as to beautify then and make them look acceptable while the calendar by Lewenz displays the dark potential of nuclear power through the mishap at Three Mile Island with the possibility of collateral damage in the case of an accident.  

  A complaint is made that the environment is designed by men for the  

entrapment of women and asks how different it would look if designed by women.

• Even at the time of writing Bright sees little hope of women photographers breaking the mould and finding success in what is still seen as a male preserve. Men are judged as exploiters of nature while women are part of it.
• The way landscapes are exhibited, and reviewed needs to be re-examined with the view to examining what they represent.  Are they about the myths of a civilizations history and meaning, or do they stand for a timeless view of the world.
• Bright sees them as records of the societies we made at any given time that can be studied by future generations.

Before I started on this piece I read Decoding Advertisements by Judith Williamson with a view to understanding this feminist and left wing view of the world.  I found both to be thoroughly dated, equally biased and very predictable.  

This style of feminism was a product of its time and has little relevance today.  The battle for equality has been pretty much won.  The masculine voice and the feminine voice have achieved parity.  Yes they may be different, but both can now be heard.

A note on the “disaster” at Three Mile Island.  It has been estimated that there may have been two additional deaths in a ten mile radius due to the mishap at Three Mile Island. That’s two possible additional deaths over an area of more than 300 square miles.  I Googled both the above artists.  I found many images from the Power Places portfolio but only one from the Three Mile Island Calendar.  Despite the wide distribution of the Calendar no-one now seems interested.  Draw your own conclusions.