Almost every vista now, regardless of locality or season is marred by the onset of civilization.
That statement is not meant to be an epiphany, nor some profound criticism of modern society; instead I mean it only as from the point of view of a photographer (an amateur one at that) and a lover of nature.
I constantly try to frame my photos to eliminate any artificial object, namely power poles and buildings, however this is nearly impossible. While these objects do have some artistic value in certain pictures, most often they detract, rather than enhance. Several of my favorite skies from my adventure last year in Washington state have the power lines of Skyline Drive in the foreground, and I tried my damnedest, running up and down the street to eliminate them.
Driving back and forth from Manitowoc to Fond du Lac, I search constantly for an unobstructed view of the blazing sunsets I usually look at through my rear-view mirrors. However each hill usually is near power lines or farms or homes. The last barren country I can remember was that of the west, in Idaho, Montana and the Dakota from our trip back from Washington. I hope that those spaces are left unadulterated.
The same issue holds true for the sky, on most days. Walking up the hill to the Science Building at PDL today, I noticed how many jet engine trails littered the sky (I chose my verb carefully there). So many beautiful clouds, made sparkling my the sun flew by, with the long, straight, white line intersecting them. With the discussion of pollution in class, I almost want to add another category: cloud pollution, but I think that's a little melodramatic.
*artwork adapted from Stanley Donwood's album artwork for Thom Yorke's "The Eraser"
No comments:
Post a Comment