Of Mother Nature and Marlboro Men

By Deborah Bright
Key Points
Landscape photographers have power is the main and major point of this essay
by Deborah Bright, not only do the photographers have the power but so does
the landscape itself; it is the responsibility of the landscape photographer not to
give in to being aesthetically correct but to use our landscape to show reality,
to eradicate the fanciful day dream images that sell the fairy tale story of our
historical and inherited perfect landscape.
In 1984 landscape made a comeback, in the past landscape paintings and
images where normally fields and flowers, it was Holland that started to
transform gradually the way they were delivered, these images played up to
those who had ownership of land and titles.
The way, in which we choose to photograph a place, the way in which that
photograph comes out, the content of that photograph, it is a representation of
that place and of the photographer, it shows a representation of the occupants,
of the place; because of this we landscape photographers have a responsibility,
as a part of ourselves, our opinions come out in our images (however hard we
may try to keep them out).
When we think about nature, our countryside or our landscape, we generally
think of it being naturally created, we do not think of it being a selling point; so
much of the landscape started to be aesthetically designed and created by man
(1908) these pockets and places were the connections to nature and to
appreciation of our surroundings outside of our busy urban lives. It worked,
these man made creations brought people in droves to come and appreciate the
extraordinary, and it did not stop there, routes for trains for cars, they were all
made beautifully perfect, and who sold this level of perfection and beauty
landscape artists.
The power of the landscape artist brought 3 million tourists to 11 national parks
in 1928 (Deborah Bright, of Mother Nature and Marlboro Men). Photography had
a very large part to play in the business of selling nature and the perfect scene,
which would inevitably relax them and make them gasp in awe in the view that
was perfectly sculpted just for them.
The world was not only being sold a particular view of the landscape (a perfect
view) but it was now being put across that parts of it were only places that men
could conquer, that only men could really survive in the depths of it, as so much
of the American landscape was wild and dangerous!
The point, what is Bright trying to say? She is trying to tell us that our landscape
was turned into (very early on) something that we could sell and something that
was masculinised, and how did all of this happen? All of this happened with the

Hannah Lewis

Student No. 510566

Exercise 4:4

use of art and media and cleverly directed and thought out advertising
campaigns (in my opinion from the work I have read).
Using aesthetics within photography was purposefully taught and developed
from the American school of straight photography pioneered by Paul Strand
and Alfred Stieglitz in the years of the first world war (Deborah Bright, of Mother
Nature and Marlboro Men P.5).
For many photographers of this era (Ansel Adams for example) their photographs
were not about being stylish and visually correct but about the message within;
the view point of fellow photographer and historian John Szarkowski is that being
a true artist of photography is breaking away from the aesthetic norm and the
'cultural constraints' in other words not giving people want they want to see, not
showing the world (or the country) in a perfect aesthetic light, but showing what
is there and how it actually is.
But this is not just about how to use landscapes to forward important messages
but also about the equality of who gets to send the messages; the world of
landscape photography has been dominated by men, with publishings of art
work in this photographic medium by women very slim and not at all in equal
measurements; this is not a reflection on talent but on old fashioned opinions in
an old fashioned era. Strong messages and breaking from the norm did not just
run through the male genes in those times but women had it too, to share this
however was not as easy.
In 1975 an exhibition involving nine photographer-artists (one women) were full
of visual messages but showed on the surface a lack of obvious style, all of these
are images were intended to lack a personal voice or opinion but instead of these
non-descript images coming over as lacking emotion or judgement, they showed
more of themselves (photographers) and their opinions than they may have
initially intended. Just the choice of a subject or the way you choose to capture it
reveals a lot about the photographer.
Our photographs, they can show people how we see the world, or they can show
even the most politically controversial subjects looking beautiful; the example
shown within this essay by Deborah Bright in Of Mother Nature and Marlboro
Men is John Pfahls portfolio, Power Places and the contrasting images of the
same location by Lisa Lewenz Three Mile Island (made into a calendar in order
for it to be affordably circulated to a larger audience).
The photographical approach taken by John Pfahl on this subject with these
cooling towers left many in a state of bewilderment, his decision to photograph
this place in this manner was extremely controversial he also omits statements,
allowing these images to be interpreted as people see, not knowing whether this
was how he intended it to come across or not. The work by Lisa Lewenz isnt so
open for interpretation, she knows what she is trying to say and she shows no
concern with putting her views and opinions out there for as many to see as
possible; there is no chance that the work of Lewenz can be seen as sitting on

Hannah Lewis

Student No. 510566

Exercise 4:4

the fence or being politically correct enough in her images that it keeps people
sweet as the work of Pfahl has been seen by so many.
Lewenz brings not just her views of the situation of the cooling towers but the
actual views of the cooling towers from those that they affect, from the homes,
from their windows reminding/informing those outside of the situation what the
reality is and how real it is for those that are there.
The power of photography (as I spoke about in the introduction), is right here in
the work of Lewenz, it would have been easy to choose to take aesthetically
correct images that avoided the big questions or statements, it would also have
been easy to make them over priced images that few would see and buy, instead
she made it so as many people saw them as possible she took her talent her
passion and she made a clear message with it; It is strongly suggested that if we
intend to use landscape photography to voice a message/raise an opinion then
we should do as Lewenz did and find alternative routes to share our work other
than galleries and museums.
Deborah Bright encourages us to see more to the landscape that just the typical
pretty picture that can be made with it, but to see the larger picture, what is
really at stake; photograph and photographer have power to show the landscape
in its true light to shed truths on our social realities and problems and it does not
have to be done by hanging images in a gallery, the limit on the possibilities is
our imagination.

Hannah Lewis

Student No. 510566

Exercise 4:4