The Fields of Photography

After work today, I managed to visit the exhibition of the above name at London's Somerset House. I only had an hour before it closed, but I confess I was done after 45 minutes. It is really an exhibition about man's impact on the environment and, as such, contains some incredibly striking images. But it is not an exhibition of landscape photography as I personally understand it.

This is confusing, as the exhibition curator, William A Ewing, has a wonderful quote in the exhibition's introduction, "[photographers] also remind us to slow down and appreciate the beauty of the world". This pretty much sums up what I am trying to achieve in my own photography.

I have no problem whatsoever with photography being used to make a point, or to pursue a campaign. After all, Ansel Adams did so to great effect in the early years of the American National Parks Movement, and we all have a lot to thank him for in that respect.*

But this exhibition is not landscape photography as I underestand it. This is environmental photography, and it is very good at that.

Afterwards, I sat in the sun in the great court at Somerset House, watching people play in the fountains, much as I had watched my two daughters do the same, some ten years ago.

*We'll be visiting some of the National Parks in May, so you can judge for yourself from my pictures.