The ideas of conservation and environmental considerations had not yet been dreamt of in Shakespeare’s time. Yet his Sonnet Number IV already, in those times recognizes that Nature’s gifts should be used wisely, not wasted but preserved to benefit future generations. Here is the sonnet: Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thy self [...]
Archive of posts tagged man and nature
The Artist and the Land – Richard Long
Richard Long is one of the earliest and best known artists to engage in what has become known as ‘land art’. In an innovative way to engage with the land and the landscape, Long’s work is centred around lengthy walks in the countryside. His walks represent an exploration of the land and his relationship with [...]
There are chimeras – no more either/or. The work of Ellen Rogers
The work of Ellen Rogers brings focus to the question of whether the human is part of, or separate from, “Nature”. The giraffe sculpture above has the body of a giraffe, human front legs a mechanical replacement for its hind legs and is made of steel. It is an artistic chimera – an image of [...]
Nature or Environment? The work of Pétur Thomsen
“Umhverfing is an Icelandic word for the state between nature and environment” says Pétur Thomsen of his project titled Umhverfing. There is clearly no equivalent word in English but the concept itself is intriguing. Icelandic photographer Thomsen has spent the last several years documenting the transformation of undeveloped areas around Reykjavic into suburban developments. He [...]
Animal Mysticism – Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow
The images in Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow remind us that animals have always had a mystical place in the world of humans. Started in 1992, Ashes and Snow is a long term project in which photographer and film-maker Gregory Colbert works towards “rediscovering the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony [...]
Simple or Simplistic – The Works of Sanna Kannisto
I recently visited an exhibition of the work of Sanna Kannisto and bought the recently published book about her work. The work of this young Finnish artist is fascinating. It questions how, in order to understand and describe, science has to simplify and can never hope to capture the true complexity of life. The body [...]
Robin Schwartz – Amelia and her Animals
Robin Schwartz is a friend. But that’s not why her work is on this blog. It is here because, for many months, I have been looking for work that describes a positive relationship between us and the non-human rather than the ubiquitous work that castigates ad nauseam the damage we are doing to our environment. [...]
Our Relationships To Nature – Gaudi’s Architecture
Nature has inspired humans in many ways over many centuries. But maybe none match the completeness of Antoni Gaudi’s relationship with nature – Nature as structural, functional, spiritual and decorative inspiration. Gaudi was a spiritual man with a great regard for nature as God’s creation. The newly consecrated Sagrada Familia “strives to compress all of [...]
Reality in Abstraction – The Images of David Maisel
David Maisel’s work spans many different project over many years. One of his interests is in documenting through aerial photographs the impact that Man has on the landscape. The image above is from “The Mining Project” where he explores the effect of mining in “undoing of the landscape, in terms of both its formal beauty [...]
Stone Nudes by Dean Fidelman
Dean Fidelman has generated a series of mesmerizing images for his project Stone Nudes. Fidelman is a rock climber and he describes his series as “A photographic project that captures the essence of the climbing spirit”. But to me these images speak more broadly than just telling a story about climbing. To my eyes these [...]
