For the first time ever, I’ve become absolutely elated with landscape photography in a museum. Fotografiska has covered landscapes and the environment before, but nothing prepares you for Human / Nature. It’s up until May 18th, 2024 — and I’m bound to go see it again! I’ve been thinking for a while about how we, as photographers, should redefine the idea of landscape photography. For years, journalists and magazine editors I’ve worked with have stated that landscapes should show no human interference in the scene. One of the biggest proponents of this idea was Wes Pitts — the former Editor in Chief of Outdoor Photographer. It’s a stalwart yet antiquated idea in a world where humanity has changed the entire face of the planet and where it’s become more common for landscape photographers to use AI to replace entire skies. I think we can all agree, though: the days of Ansel Adams are long gone — and the romantic notions of the work he did have faded due to globalization.
Human / Nature is on exhibit at Fotografiska NY, until May 18th, 2024. Go check it out.
In Human / Nature, we’re treated to the work of several different photographers. Here’s a list:
- Alfredo De Stefano
- Brendan Pattengale
- Cig Harvey
- David Ụzọchukwu
- Djeneba Aduayom
- Edward Burtynsky
- Helene Schmitz
- Inka & Niclas
- Lewis Miller
- Lori Nix / Kathleen Gerber
- Ori Gersht
- Pat Kane
- Santeri Tuori
- Yan Wang Preston
Each of these photographers actively plays a role in the scenes within the exhibit. Sometimes, they’re in the scenes and work to bring conceptual ideas to the art form. One of my favorites to do this for several years is Lizzy Gadd. In our 2015 interview with Lizzy, she told us the following:
I definitely relate more to landscape photography, for the simple reason that landscapes and nature are what calm, inspire and refresh me the most. I do love portraiture, but I’ve always been a nature person and am continually drawn to the mountains, forests and ocean. You’ll notice in most of my work, the people are not looking at the camera but are fully enraptured by the landscapes around them. I like to capture that feeling of awe and peace that I get when seeing these beautiful places, and that’s what I feel when I look at photos of people just “being” in nature.
Lizzy Gadd
In the same way that traditional landscape photographers put their own creative vision into their landscape images, so too are the photographers in Human / Nature. However, they’re taking it a step forward by also accepting that humans have changed or touched all land on Earth. Here in America, we have almost every type of biome the world has. We can venture into the deserts around Death Valley, the rain forests in Hawaii, the vast landscapes of Yellowstone, the Everglades in Florida, etc. And all of it has been touched by humans in some way or another.
To me, accepting this idea and inserting ourselves into the images makes something much more of a photograph than doing an entire sky replacement using AI. The images of Cig Harvey speak to so many things about how humans and nature go together. Without reading her description, one could easily see the blending of human and natural elements and how it makes her feel. Staring at David Uzochukwu’s work makes me wonder how David achieved such masterful photos. Born in 1998, he surely has studied or been around a lot of art. Perhaps the more important thing is that the photographers in this exhibit are creating art — not content around #landscapephotography looking to please an algorithm.
Even when you go to the exhibit at night or during a busy time, you’ll notice the irony of all this. Sometimes, it’s nice to be at exhibits alone or with a few other people to get in the way of the small spaces. This is why we go into nature, to begin with. If you’re the type of person who likes to go out into nature alone, then you might want to be in this exhibit alone, too. That way, you can stay a while and carefully study the images and the text alongside them, explaining the work.
It should go without saying, too — but Fotografiska’s lighting is exceptional, way beyond anything else in NYC. They should literally teach the masterclass on framing, gallery splits using specific colors and decorations, etc.