In considering my first assignment in the Landscape course I have been pondering why my shots are sublime to me. I look at the photos I took and I still see the sublime in them. What am I seeing?

I agree with my tutors comments in his feedback and fully understand the difference between the picturesque and the sublime. Do my offered photos have that wildness and savagery that it needs to be sublime?

Listening to (1)Radio 4 I heard a piece about (2)John Constable and his cloud sketches which he completed in 1821. He drew and painted these sketches as practise for his paintings to come. He did the majority of these sketches from Hampstead Heath as his wife recovered from illness. Constable was so successful at depicting the clouds that one member of the Royal Academy said “When I see Constables clouds I reach for my raincoat”. They range from simple sketches through watercolours and then full oil paint.

(3)Alfred Stieglitz also created a series of photographs entitled “Equivalents”. He did it to show his technical ability at capturing a difficult subject whilst making art. These works are considered by some to be the first abstract depiction of photographic art having no real subject. Viewers found this fact challenging to see. Stieglitz knew precisely what effect he had created saying to one viewer who asked “is this water?” he replied “Why does it matter”. Knowing he had created the question in the man’s mind.

(4)Ansell Adams said in 1948 seeing “Equivalents was his first intense experience in photography”.

I have been taking pictures of the sky in monochrome for the last few months not knowing of Constables sketches but being aware of Stieglitz work and in fact responding to it.

My tutor in Identity and place had told me to look in completing one the exercises; this was an inspiration for me starting recording these photographs. Contemplating the photos offered in response to assignment one of this course I realised I was trying to show this big sky, however I had let the physical landscape overpower the sublime element. I had tried to show too much. I should have captured just the sky and its amazing clouds. They are natural and wild and make me feel small.

This lesson is invaluable thinking about the fourth assignment writing a 2000 word essay. I must be on my guard and ensure I don’t try to cover too much but narrow my sights onto a smaller target and complete the essay well.

Works Cited

(1)Blatchford, Sir Ian. Art of inovation. Performed by Dr Tilly Blyth. Radio 4, London. 26 September 2019.

(2)Constable, John. “Cloud Sketches.” Royal Academy. Constable Clouds above Hampstead Heath. London, 1821.

(3)Phillips, Sandra. Art in America. New York, 2008.

(4)Stieglitz, Alfred. “The Equivalents.” MoMA. Equivalents. New York, 1921.