Have you ever perused a coffee table book of breathtaking images showing our planets wilderness or wildlife in a way that leaves you awestruck at the photographer’s ability to record nature in such an artistic yet powerful fashion? I know I did when I first became involved in nature photography during the 1980’s. Even today, I’m still capable of being moved by many of the evocative images I see in books, magazines and online that are, for the most part, a product of an artist’s passion and single-minded determination. The photographic masters who tackle our ‘wild earth’ do so because it is in their blood. They are on a spiritual quest to celebrate our natural world in a way that imparts empathy and understanding of life and its tenuous link to mother earth. This visual celebration via pixel or celluloid is sometimes beautiful and beguiling, sometimes stark and cruel, but it is always fascinating and invariably thought provoking. Although the world has changed so much in recent years, the large format film photography of geniuses like Ansel Adams are as relevant in today’s digital world as they ever were. A few contemporary wilderness photographers still use 5×4 inch sheet film to record the bounty of our ‘wild earth’. However, we photographers are no longer limited by the constraints of film – we can now act without the fear of film cost or worry of exposure issues. Modern digital capture allows an immediacy and responsiveness never afforded by film. We now have the best of all worlds – the ultimate quality of a large format film camera, or for most of us, the immediacy of digital cameras/backs from APC-C to full frame and beyond. We have never had it so good.

I would argue that historically, photographers in the United States, more than any other nation, have led the way in respect of great nature and landscape photography. Perhaps they always had the edge given the rich visual pickings to be found in the west of the U.S. However, opportunity notwithstanding, and led by the illusory manifestations of Hollywood, North America has always enjoyed creating heroes, and amongst photographers, no one is more deserving of this title than the late Ansel Adams. This legendary photographer’s monochromatic images of American wilderness captivated the U.S population, and inspired countless landscape photographers to follow where he led. Adams immortalised many geological icons: The Grand Canyon as well as the Sierra Nevada’s – in particular, Yosemite National Park provided a perfect photographic tapestry for his craft.
Adams did much to raise the status of wilderness in the US – his images undoubtedly helping to preserve pristine areas of nature from exploitation. In more recent times, with improved equipment and sharp colour emulsions such as Fuji Velvia and Kodak Ektachrome E100VS, another generation of legendary landscape photographer continued the legacy of Ansel Adams through the 1980’s up to the early 2000’s. The artists who held the torch through this period (and beyond) include David Muench, Tom Till, William Neill, John Fielder, Clyde Butcher, James Randklev and Jack Dykinga, all of whom worked with view cameras that rendered beautiful, large format photographic art that kept the spirit of our landscapes alive and maintained a place for wilderness within the hearts and souls of people from many nations across the globe. I suppose this is why I believe the art of creative nature and landscape photography is important – the power of a beautiful image should never be underestimated.
Of course, this mini-narrative has focused on U.S based artists, and every nation has its own heroes within the discipline of landscape photography. During the zenith of film use in the UK, Joe Cornish, Tom Mackie, Lee Frost and Charlie Waite probably led the field, in Australia, Ken Duncan, Peter Dombrovskis and Peter Lik stood out. Some artists have not limited themselves to just landscape. Many have combined an interest in wildlife photography with landscape photography. The two people who stand out in my mind as quite exceptional in this respect during the film era are Art Wolfe and Frans Lanting. In truth, the list is too long to continue in this vain attempt to list relevant citations, suffice to say that the bar defining photographic excellence has been lifted very high indeed by the aforementioned, and a plethora of other contemporary masters of nature and landscape photography. They set the scene and lift the tone for an even wider army of photographic geniuses who have defined the best digital nature and landscape photography of the first quarter of the 21st century. These artisans work in an increasingly difficult and constrained commercial environment. The lucrative stock photography market has shifted leading to a devaluation of photography with career photography all but evaporating. Most “professional” nature and landscape photographers must run schools, and travel workshops to generate income. As an aside on this point, I’ve sought out some beautiful places off the beaten track to shoot at sunset, thousands of miles from home, only to find a gaggle of amateur photographers on a photo tour…. they tend to confound the pleasure of solitude and engagement that make photography such a pleasure. I know, we all have a right to be there, but still…. perhaps a story for another time?
There is a saying that ‘cream always floats to the top’. In other words, talent is invariably recognized and comes to the fore. While this is generally true, I suspect that talent – even genius isn’t sufficient on its own to make a successful star in the competitive arena of nature and landscape photography. Rather, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is a blend of hard work, involving long hours and tenacity setting and achieving well focused goals within the art and business sides of photography that also matters. Over the last 20 years, I’d say that even this is not so relevant; today we live in a world where social media and smart algorithms tend to define success. In fact, making money from photography has never been more challenging. It is the producers of cameras rather than the users that making money. Quite often gratification for users is limited to approval/thumbs up of an online audience….”Likes”! as opposed to financial remuneration. Arghhhh…. seems a bit sad to me.

It is definitely true that there have always been very famous nature and landscape photographers out there that have no special talent for photography, but survive because they have a sound business head, and perhaps know the value of networking and online engagement. Good for them, but it’s not their published work that I would be buying, it’s the work of those with true talent, those who immerse themselves in their craft at the expense of all else, with a passion and drive that can only ever lead to success – it is the work of these artisans that I would seek out for inspiration. It is the world of true masters and kindred spirits who create new levels for others to aspire to that I seek out for ideas– they don’t take the odd good picture, they consistently take good, indeed, outstanding images.
In a sense everyone can have their ‘15 minutes of fame’ these days with the ease that work and opinion can be displayed on the Internet. To read some of the on-line review sites for photographic equipment, it’s quite clear that there are many people using the wide range of kit that is available out there in aspiring to be a contemporary Ansel Adams’. However, it’s only when you actually invest considerably more effort (time and money wise) into your art that you begin to achieve results that are going to be notable and set you apart from your peers. Consider: your objective has to become a maker of pictures and no longer a common or garden picture taker. Personally, as a bit of a sidebar, I think it worth noting that given the fact that Earth is seriously ill due to human perturbation, I feel that one of the most important roles a landscape photographer can have today, is as a guardian of our planet’s good health – people, indeed governments can and do respond to powerful images of our planet, be they positive or negative.

Over the past 40 years I have had plenty of time to adapt to this brave new world, however, one of the greatest, and yet simplest, of pleasures I derive from life is being in the great outdoors – surrounded by nature in the raw. Sadly, today’s landscape photographers spend too much time in front of computers rendering images using wonderful software that is evolving at an amazingly rapid rate, yet insidiously entraps us, and diverts us from ‘healthier’ pursuits. I still equate photography with the great outdoors – as a walker, I simply love to absorb the unbridled spirit of nature – sadly, these days I spend less time meditating with nature, and more times cogitating over my computer (40 frames/second generates a lot of Photoshop work). This is something all nature and landscape photographers have come to terms with, and indeed, given the digital revolution that bit hard as of 2003, many leading lights in this area have recognized a new opportunity, and now run classes on post-production workflow. Important as this is, it is certainly less inspirational than communing with wilderness in search of new photographic wonders. I’m guessing, but suspect that every doyen of the art form would agree with me on this one, after all, this is why we were attracted to the craft in the first place.
In the final analysis, the inspirational drivers for each and every one of us are likely to be that bit different. Some of today’s best nature photographers are likely spurred on by a quest to record a beloved wilderness in a celebratory fashion; others likely used preeminent journals like National Geographic Magazine as a surrogate portal to far off lands and cultures, and used such periodicals to formulate their life-long passion for nature and landscape photography. Add to this the kudos and reverence many of us have for higher order organizations and agencies such as, for example, Magnum – masters of twentieth century iconic imagery, and one can see why so many amateur photographers chase the vision of becoming professionals who can ‘live the dream’. I guess, every photographer knows where he or she sits; in my case, I have a study bursting at the seams with a couple of hundred National Geographic Magazines, some going back to the 1930’s. Add to this a plethora of shelves lined with coffee table type large format photography books depicting nature and landscapes from every wild corner of planet earth, and you can readily see where my inspiration comes from. Although counter intuitive, I wonder whether for some, there is actually more pleasure in chasing this dream, than catching it – after all, once you’re there, as with so many things in life, reality may not match expectation, and the more successful one becomes, the harder one has to peddle to maintain momentum. For others no doubt, success translates into a photographer’s nirvana. There’s an old saying…. “Don’t give up the day job”, well I think that is probably truer than ever before.