Photographing the sublime through landscape photography

Andrew Hussey 2011

In this short essay I intend to discuss the idea that a photograph can offer a sublime

experience to the viewer using landscape photography as a basis.

Referring to images produced by leading landscape photographer Ansel Adams and how

these images were received upon there release into the public domain. Through this

research I intend to determine whether imagery can evoke sublime experiences.

Ansel Adams was a 20th centaury American photographer made famous by his large

format black and white images of Yosemite National Park and the American.

Along with such photographers as Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham, Adams

created the ‘f/64 group’ consisting of seven San Francisco photographers with a shared

photographic style of sharp focus and precise composition of natural forms.

Adams once compared the experience of “a truly fine print to the experience of a symphony-

appreciation of the broad, melodic line, while important, it is by no means all. The wealth of detail,

forms, values - the minute but vital significances revealed so exquisitely by the lens-deserves exploration

and appreciation. It takes time to really see the fine print, to feel the almost endless revelations of

poignant reality….”

(Adams 1943)

It is important to understand the context in which I use the term ‘the sublime’ in this essay,

the easiest way to do this is with a direct definition from the Oxford dictionary.

The sublime:

‘producing an overwhelming sense of awe or other high emotion through being vast or grand’ (Oxford

Dictionary, 2010)

According to this definition a viewer should be able to gain a sense of high or

overwhelming emotion from the subject matter presented therefore I will relate my

research and findings to coincide with this definition. The question is, Is it possible for

an image to produce a sublime experience or if these feelings and emotions are created

from an external source triggered by what is seen?

There are two main trains of thought on whether or not an image is able to evoke

feelings within the viewer. There are those who believe that images such as Adams ‘Tetons

and Snake River’ (below) are so perfectly photographed they capture the true essence of

nature, which is then translated to those viewing the work.

‘Tetons and snake river’

On the other hand, there are those who believe that it is impossible to capture something

that needs to be seen by the naked eye to be truly comprehended, and that one cannot feel

the connection with nature in all its awesomeness without physically beholding the

landscape.

It could be said that photographers and poets are similar in that they are both trying to

express all that they see. A poet can choose a string of words that convey the glory of

nature, the feelings that nature evoke and its connection to the human spirit. However,

this perception of nature is subjective to the writer as an individual and although it can

be enjoyable to read it is the wording that evoke these emotions.

Without the reader having ever experienced the subject matter described they would be

unable to gain the same emotional experience as the poet. It is only by relating the text to

personal experiences can they begin to understand the true value of what is being read.

It is all in the manner in which we as human beings perceive the world and our fore-

understanding generated through personal life experiences.

20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote,

‘If a lion could speak, we could not understand him’

- Ludwig Wittgenstein

What Wittgenstein is suggesting is that a lion’s point of reference would be so far

removed from our own understanding that even if he spoke in perfect English we could

not understand him. Without previous understanding of the world the lion lives in it is

impossible to understand the context to which the lion refers.

Thus, without previous knowledge and understanding of the scale of landscapes or the

vastness of the sky from personal experience we as viewers cannot understand what is

being presented to us through photography.

This reflects on how we perceive a photograph. If you have seen a hill or mountain range

in the English countryside then viewing an image such as Adams’ ‘clearing winter storm’ will

become subconsciously comparable to these past experiences and the scale of what is

being observed becomes awe inspiring. Even to those who have lived a relatively

secluded life will admire the almost unimaginable scene that is being presented in an

image of The Grand Canyon. However, these ‘feelings’ of the ‘sublime’ are a

comprehension through a comparability to what has been experienced in our own lives.

‘Clearing winters storm’

“A man receives only what he is ready to receive….

We hear and apprehend only what we already half know…

Every man thus tracks himself through life, in all his hearing and reading and observation and

travelling.” - Henry David Thoreau

This concept of a subconscious comparison to pre-existent memory translates into how

we understand our daily lives. For instance, in the world of popular music; Hearing

particular pieces of music, orchestral or otherwise can often become overwhelming

emotionally. It can seem awe inspiring and breath taking but experiences that evoke

feelings (sublime or otherwise) stem from a fore-understanding to which we attach a

nostalgic sentimentality inherent to past experiences; Our understanding of the world in

which we live and our personal beliefs is a process known as episodic memories.

This idea of episodic memory is often exploited in the entertainment industry. A musical

score in a movie is specifically designed to play on these memories; a love song enhances

a love scene through our gained knowledge of this type of music and grandioso

orchestral scores help express grandeur in landscapes and scenery.

“…I consider that music is by it’s very nature, is powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling,

an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature. If, as is nearly always the case, music

appears to express something, this is only an illusion and not a reality”.

-Igor Stazinsky

With this in mind can it be said that an image can ‘express’ anything at all?

The understanding that this system of episodic memory would suggest that we relate past

emotions to new subject matter to help us process what we see and understood.

‘Moon and Half Dome’

There can be little doubt that Adams was able to capture the vastness and scale of his

subject matter, he had the ability to create a depth and texture to his work that translates

the immensity of what he saw but it has been said that to Adams expression was more

important than the reality and the idea more important than fact. He wasn’t only trying to

record what he saw but retell the feelings he felt, as a poet such as Wordsworth would

describe feelings of solitude when he wrote ‘I wonder’d lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er

vales and hills’ then so too does Adams attempt to tell the story of his emotional

connection to his subject through imagery.

“Some photographers take reality as the sculptors take wood or stone and upon it impose the

dominations of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a

photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation. A true photograph need not be

explained, nor can be contained in words.”

-Alfred Stieglitze

An important aspect to also consider is the religious connotations of these landscape

images. When Adams images first appeared in the public domain religious beliefs were

more widespread and played much more of a vital role in everyday life then by today’s

standards. The religious understandings of the everyman at the time would create a much

different perception of the presented images then in modern times. They would be

reinforcement as to the greatness of God in whichever form he/she took.

“The grand arc formed by Niagara falls was called sublime because of its scale and the motion

of the water. Mountains, ocean storms, and storm waves were considered awe-inspiring, grand,

and therefore aesthetically pleasing in their representation of power. From a religious-aesthetic

point of view, they were a demonstration of the power of God and the perfection of God’s

dynamic laws of motion..”

-Botkin, ‘No mans Garden- Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature’

These religious viewpoints have potentially played a huge role in the perception of what

was seen within the image. The image itself wouldn’t create a sense of oneness with

nature but play on the faith of the observer and the strength in their beliefs of an

‘almighty creator’.

Through this understanding of episodic memory we see that an image alone, no matter

how perfectly composed or structured or however much detail it contains cannot not

offer the same sublime experience felt by those who took the image. However, this is not

to say the viewer cannot receive a sublime experience.

In the simplest form of answer to the question of whether or not photography can offer

viewers and practitioners alike a sublime experience then the answer has to be yes.

It is possible that the viewer can gain a sublime feeling from what is being viewed but

through an subconcious comparison of experiences via fore-understanding and episodic

memories.

If you were to take a walk and admire the scenery then this creates an emotional

connection in your brain so when beholding an images such as Adams’s ‘Tenaya Creek,

Dogwood’ these emotions resurface but are exaggerated by the scale and immensity of

these grand landscapes which would have been unimaginable until that point.

‘Tenaya Creek, Dogwood

Bibliography

Text:

Adams. Ansel, ‘The Grand Canyon and the South West’ Little Brown and Company 2000

Baker Hall. J, ‘Minor White: Rites and Passages’, Apature, 1979 Botkin. D, ‘No mans Garden- Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature’, Island Press 2001 Dollis. J, ‘Tracking Thoreau, double-crossing nature and technology’ Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2005 Emerson, Ralph W. ‘The selected letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson edited by Joel Myerson’ Columbia University Press, 1997 Grey. A, ‘Ansel Adams: The National Park Service Photographes’, Abbeville Press Inc, 2003 Kassabian. A, ‘Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music’, Routledge 2001 Newhall. N, ‘Ansel Adams Photographs 1923-1963 :The Eloquent Light’, Smithsonian Institution (1963)

Spaulding. J, ‘Ansel Adams and American Landscape’, University of California Press, 1995

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