Activity 5

Blog Post


Create a landscape utilizing foreground subject matter to create a sense of depth. Discuss how the resulting image is likely to be read by the viewer.

I think this resulting image is likely to be read as plain and normal. Just like regular open space and a pathway to something else, possibly other things. Many people can see many other things and get many ideas from a simple picture like this. The pathway can be to something else, and people like the look of the pathway and the old trucks, and rusty, antique look on the side. Showing that there could be much more out there with the pathway, and that new things could be beyond the pathway and they are moving on from old things. Things like this could be seen by the viewer.

Activity 4

Blog Post


Create two photographs in a location with tall buildings or trees using both formats. Create a closed and open landscape at one location. Discuss the different ways we read the resulting images.

 This picture is a closed Landscape Picture. It's closed in because of the trees and plants that are taking over the side leaving only a small amount of space open. I think we would read this as being closed in, and having some type of closure. There isn't much to take from this picture. I think when you have a closed landscape you can't do much with it, you just have to stick with what is already there for you. It can also help when you don't have a lot of ideas for what you want to take pictures, so you can do closed landscapes because everything is kind of already there for you. I think when people used close landscapes, they like that everything is just there for them and its a passing use for a somewhat good picture, they having it all there and that they don't have to alter much.

This picture is an open Landscape Picture. You can see the open space over the tiny hill that the picture was taken. I think we would read this as freedom, and being open. We can do a lot with an open space, and we can take different ideas from it. We can make our own thing out of it or we can use what it gives us. I think we have a lot more options with an open landscape than a closed one. I think when people take pictures of mostly open landscape it says a lot about them, they like the freedom, they like the openness, and they like having an open mind with the option that they can do anything with the landscape they are using for the type of picture they want or that they could just leave it alone and still have a great picture there for them.

Activity 3

Blog Post


Compare and Contrast a landscape photograph with a landscape painting. Discuss the expressive possibilities of each medium using your examples to illustrate your argument. Choose your examples carefully as representative of the medium.

Ed Mell Panting

David Edwards Photography 

These two images are very similar. One obvious reason is the landscape setting they were both chosen to be put in. They both have the red rock and the clouds clustered together, along with the darker rain clouds coming with them. The set of the rocks and how they are put together is very different and also the way the clouds are set up in the painting and picture. There is a tiny creek going through the mountains from the picture, and there is no water in the painting. 

The painter could have made his painting SO different from the photographers, even though they are in the same landscape. He could of added as much as he wanted where he wanted, he could have made the lighting anywhere or chose to have none. It's all up to the painter, but with photography you kind of have to work with what you already have. You can use certain tools to get the look you want and you can sometimes get rid of or add things into the picture to make it the way you want. Then again you do not have as much freedom as the painter when you are taking photos. 

Activity 2

Blog Post


Find two landscape photographs that question social values or act as a metaphor for personal issues that the photographer is trying to express. Discuss whether the communication is clear or ambiguous and how this communication is conveyed.

I think what this photographer was trying to say is that they want freedom. They want to be on an open road and go about and travel, they want to just enjoy the surroundings and see what else they can find. Communication seems pretty clear in this photo. When you drive and travel you can see many different and new things and maybe thats what they want. They can have the ability to experience and watch new things and they are very open to take that opportunity! 

This photographer likes to see the beauty in things, they like color, vibrance, and life. No matter how bad or crazy something is they can see the good in it and the good that is to come. They like natural beauty and can find it in anything. They like nature and natural things, they want things to just be themselves and just go with the flow. 

Activity 1

Blog Post


View the image by Walker Evans on this page and describe what you can actually see (objective analysis) and what you think the image is about (subjective analysis).

Discuss how effective Walker Evans has been in using a landscape image to communicate a point of view. Can this photograph be considered as art? Give two reasons to support your answer.

Make sure you include the image in your blog post with credit in the citation. When you analyze the photo, look for deeper meaning beyond the literal description of the photo.

Bethlehem, Graveyard and Steel Mill - Walker Evans 1935

I think the point of view is sad, especially because the picture is in black and white. When you look out all you can see is the graveyard, all the telephone poles, and just buildings. The view is kind of boring and with how boring it is it can make you sad. I think this could be considered an art because of the emotion this pictures give you. Landscape can give someone a lot of emotions, it can make someone happy, sad, annoyed, bored, or tired. Art is supposed to give you an emotion and this is a good example.