In the Wild Paddock
The moment I saw this scene of sheep grazing in a wild paddock, with a very moody sky and those iconic gum trees, I was excited. My mind immediately reflected on the school of nationalist Australian Impressionists, and in particular Tom Roberts (1856-1931) who is buried near Longford in Tasmania.
It was almost like I'd seen this scene before. Well not quite, but the painting that came immediately to mind (I am very grateful for my art education) was Tom Roberts' "Breakway" (1891). www.ngv.vic.gov.au/australianimpressionism/education/insi...
Now it is not the actual scene that makes me think of Roberts, but the spirit of the work. I believe this photograph catches a glimpse of the inner world of the Australia landscape (if there can be such a thing): The spirit of place. In short, I am saying this photograph could only ever be taken in Australia.
Black and white photography and Australian Impressionist colour. Is there a link? Well let me say that over the next few days you'll get plenty of naturalist colour from me in my rural landscapes. And I have taken my cue for that from the Australian colonialist painters a generation before the Australian Impressionists.
But this one shot for the moment is my tribute to Roberts, Streeton, McCubbin, Condor, Withers www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/3252/ , and let's not forget (although he was a generation later), the South Australian Hans Heysen. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Heysen
When the Impressionists applied colour to the canvas it was in ways that reminded you of the natural landscape, but more particularly conveyed something of the verve and drama lying beneath the surface of the image.
Colour photography is wonderful, but its greatest drawback is that it often robs us of distance from the work. We see a colour picture and we immediately think "snapshot". We are so used to it we are conditioned by it. When our brain thinks "snapshot" it takes the easy way out and says, "That's nice." But we don't really see!
Black and white photography is so great for dramatic landscapes - that's why we remember Ansel Adams' photographs of Yosemite and not the myriad of beautiful colour photographs of the same vistas. Black and white engages our brains because we have to decode the scene without our usual (expected) colour.
So we actually take more time examining a black and white photograph. It means we also notice the subtly of shades in the clouds, the structure of those trees, and the attitude of the grazing sheep. That's why a monochrome is more memorable.
In the Wild Paddock
The moment I saw this scene of sheep grazing in a wild paddock, with a very moody sky and those iconic gum trees, I was excited. My mind immediately reflected on the school of nationalist Australian Impressionists, and in particular Tom Roberts (1856-1931) who is buried near Longford in Tasmania.
It was almost like I'd seen this scene before. Well not quite, but the painting that came immediately to mind (I am very grateful for my art education) was Tom Roberts' "Breakway" (1891). www.ngv.vic.gov.au/australianimpressionism/education/insi...
Now it is not the actual scene that makes me think of Roberts, but the spirit of the work. I believe this photograph catches a glimpse of the inner world of the Australia landscape (if there can be such a thing): The spirit of place. In short, I am saying this photograph could only ever be taken in Australia.
Black and white photography and Australian Impressionist colour. Is there a link? Well let me say that over the next few days you'll get plenty of naturalist colour from me in my rural landscapes. And I have taken my cue for that from the Australian colonialist painters a generation before the Australian Impressionists.
But this one shot for the moment is my tribute to Roberts, Streeton, McCubbin, Condor, Withers www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/3252/ , and let's not forget (although he was a generation later), the South Australian Hans Heysen. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Heysen
When the Impressionists applied colour to the canvas it was in ways that reminded you of the natural landscape, but more particularly conveyed something of the verve and drama lying beneath the surface of the image.
Colour photography is wonderful, but its greatest drawback is that it often robs us of distance from the work. We see a colour picture and we immediately think "snapshot". We are so used to it we are conditioned by it. When our brain thinks "snapshot" it takes the easy way out and says, "That's nice." But we don't really see!
Black and white photography is so great for dramatic landscapes - that's why we remember Ansel Adams' photographs of Yosemite and not the myriad of beautiful colour photographs of the same vistas. Black and white engages our brains because we have to decode the scene without our usual (expected) colour.
So we actually take more time examining a black and white photograph. It means we also notice the subtly of shades in the clouds, the structure of those trees, and the attitude of the grazing sheep. That's why a monochrome is more memorable.