A serious kind of beauty: the heroic landscape

The photographs in this exhibition act by portraying a ‘scene’ in terms that are familiar and that emphasize its accessibility and at the same time, its grandeur. Human aspirations, endeavour and industry existing in harmony with, and in awe of, nature; leaving a small human imprint.

An equilibrium is suggested, between the formality of the man-made and the immensity of the land – the appearance of the land is left undisturbed.

Figures often function as indices of a relationship between explorer and the object of exploration – often dwarfed by immense vistas – the relation between human beings and the vast landscape. [1]   

These photographs explore the conceptual aspects of landscape and its impact on contemporary thought.

They are depictions of place, where ‘place’ becomes a cultural construct, incorporating the factors of time and the narratives contained within the landscape, places where events accumulate.  They have a presence beyond the mere representation of nature in the raw; the unknown, often alienating character of land. 

A serious kind of beauty [2] is our third exhibition specifically examining the landscape genre, and follows on from: Nicholas Twist and Burton Bros / Muir & Moodie Photographs of Southern New Zealand - two views, and Laurence Aberhart, Mark Adams, and Wayne Barrar  the long view [polyptych landscape panoramas].

Other ‘categories’ within the genre include: New Topographics, the sublime, and wilderness photography.

[1] Landscape and Power

     W.J.T. Mitchell [ed.]

     Chapter six Territorial Photography , Joel Snyder

     University of Chicago Press, 1994

[2] Photography and Australia – [Exposures] 2007

      Helen Ennis

      Reaktion Books

• a serious kind of beauty: the heroic landscape

Wayne Barrar [b 1957]

Frank J. Denton [1870 – 1963]

Simon Devitt [b 1973]

Peter Evans [b 1985]

Derek Henderson [b 1963]

Arthur J. Iles [1870 – 1943]

John Johns [1924 – 1999]

Muir & Moodie [George Moodie c.1865 – 1947]

William Partington [1855 – 1940]

Peter Peryer [b 1941]

Haruhiko Sameshima [b 1958] 

Ann Shelton [b 1967] 

Henry Winkelmann [1861 – 1931]