καιρός remembered

Landscape with horseman

What makes a landscape photograph potentially interesting? I’m not sure if we can speak of a general rule, but by paying extra attention, when composing the photograph, to objects that are not directly related to the landscape itself but are nonetheless part of it, the image can take on additional meaning and emotional value. These objects may be living creatures, but they need not be. There is, of course, a risk that the role of the landscape in the photograph will fade into the background and become merely a backdrop for another theme. In that case, we might no longer be able to call it a landscape photograph in the first place.

In the photo above, the tiny figure of a horseman in the middle of the mountainous landscape makes a huge difference. Without that figure, the photo would hardly be of any interest, particularly as the landscape itself is rather monotonous. When I took the photograph, I even deliberately chose to keep the composition fairly monotonous in terms of colour and texture. This ensures that our attention is immediately drawn to this small figure in the centre, which in turn makes us look at the landscape much more intently. We become aware of the scale and discover a wealth of detail and variation in this landscape, which at first glance appears ordinary.

The horseman has blurred the boundary between us and the landscape in the photograph; he has, as it were, drawn us into the landscape, and we now feel as though we, too, have become part of it. In my view, therefore, the landscape still plays the leading role in this photograph, with the little horseman playing an important supporting role.

Photo of the week: Muverans, Switzerland, 2002