civilized ku # 1193 ~ anything that excites me, for any reason ...
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 03:46PM 
Squash ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen... I will picture it.
When I first began my blog, I named it The Landscapist simply because my primary picturing endeavors were devoted to picturing the natural landscape, Adirondack wise. The Adirondack PARK - 6 million acres, the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined - seemed to dictate a "pure" landscape approach to the making of pictures.
However, after a decade of living in the Adirondacks, I have come to realize that it is the mix of nature and man - co-existing in a sustainable, albeit tinged with tensions, relationship - which makes this place so unique. The nature of that nature/man mix has slowly but surely caused me to come to a new understanding of the inexorable co-dependency of each upon/with the other. I can no longer think of the natural landscape as being independent / separate from humankind.
In a way I never fully realized before living here - keeping in mind that, prior to living here, I had visited the Adirondacks more times than I can count - how my attitude toward the natural landscape was somewhat attenuated (limited?) by a pre-occupation with the affairs of humankind. Since living here, the natural world has crept under my skin, permeated my conscious and subconscious mind to the point of being so integrated with my self that I no longer think of the natural landscape as something special. It has become just part of what is.
That is to state, I think of the natural landscape as I think of my body - in the total scheme of things, my body is nothing special. It's just a body. It's a pretty good functioning body, but it's just a body nevertheless.
Part of my body's functioning is dependent upon a functioning natural landscape which, like a body, can (and certainly is being) be abused. And, thinking of the natural landscape as an extension of my body and my body as an extension of the natural landscape, that is, a total integration with each other (it/I are one), I don't want to abuse the natural landscape any more than I wish to abuse my body and wish that others would think the same way.
All of that said, I still think the title, The Landscapist, fits this blog, albeit in a much expanded and richer meaning. I still picture the landscape, it's just that I consider everything to be part of the landscape. Consequently, for my eye and sensibilities, trying to stick to making picture of just the natural landscape is to confining, to limiting to the idea of trying to come to grips with the real of "all that there is".
And that's why, as an example, I consider my kitchen counter to be exciting and to a certain extent full of mystery and wonder. Therefore, I pictured it. But now, I consider it to be just part of the landscape.
FYI, speaking of the total landscape as a picture making category, I think the following quote is somehow quite pertinent:
Hardening of the categories causes art disease. - W. Eugene Smith
Reader Comments (2)
I dunno Mark, I think you might be suffering from hardening of the Vocabulary ... most photographers would call this type of image a Still Life.
I do like the image ... the tone and form of the squash / pumpkins is a good contrast to the other elements.
Thinking further about this type of scene (the everyday with a small dash of interest), I imagine a lot of photographers might see it's appeal but then ask themselves "OK, if I take a photo of this, what am I going to do with it?". I suspect many photographers want each photo to have some "higher" purpose i.e be good enough to finish up on the wall, framed.
These "everyday" type of images make more sense to a photographer who thinks in terms of a project / body of work. A series of images created over a period of time that can appear on a blog / portfolio / photobook.
The butternut squash taste great after awhile in the oven. Some squash have long thin tails and those are easy to slice into chips. Taste great lightly salted and crisped in the oven.