All photos by Gustav Willeit. Used with Creative Commons permission.
Ever felt like trying something new with your landscape photography? How about creating something more moody and mysterious out of it? Why not experiment with creative techniques to achieve a unique look? These are just a few ideas that you may be inspired to try after checking out the impressive landscape series by Corvara, Italy-based Gustav Willeit. Challenging the usual expectations we have with landscape photography, the series instead appeals to our notions about memory and the passing of time.
When we think of capturing sweeping landscapes, we tend to visualize dramatic colors, impeccable sharpness, and solid composition. We think about them being captured in the Golden Hour, with an eye-catching foreground that balances how our eyes navigate the scene. However, we also see some photographers experiment with textures and aerial perspectives to create a more abstract visual quality to their landscapes. Willeit’s approach, is a little bit more extreme, as he does away with sharpness and vivid colors to bring out the abstract possibilities and moods of the landscapes he photographs.
This resulted in a surreal, painterly two-part series he called Revid.T, which challenges our attention to the reality of the places captured. The series, he also said, is “a re-evaluation of our blue and colored, idyllic world… How is it going to look like someday? Will we be able to recognize it? Will we still be part of it?” By combining multiple exposures, creative blurring, and muted colors, Willeit was able to create a body of work that is “a mixture of invention and reality,” “almost like a memory of a place that has an existing point of reference.“
Make sure to check out Gustav Willeit’s website and Behance portfolio to see the rest of his impressive projects.