Project 42: man-made landscapes

I have chosen three man-made landscapes that differ as much as possible.  Each picture was taken for a different purpose.

I took this shot from the top of Whitby Abbey steps as I was there to take an image for Project 29: recreating a well-known image by Joe Cornish.  That image was taken lower down the steps but I very much liked this more expansive view across the harbour to the town beyond.  For this picture I wanted to show the lights of Whitby but I didn't want it to be a night shot as such.  I timed it for twilight while there was still some light in the sky. 

This was another image taken with this course in mind.  At the time I was considering  using Fay Godwin as the subject for assignments 4 and 5.  In her book 'Land' I had noticed that she had included man-made objects in some of her landscapes which could be thought of as ugly, including a pill-box such as this one on the Lincolnshire coast.  My thoughts were to take a series of landscapes with 'ugly' man-made intrusions.  I liked this pillbox because of its textures and the lichens growing on it and the way it was settling into the trees.  Nature is taking over once more.  In retrospect I maybe should have made the pill-box smaller in the picture as it is probably more of an architectural shot.

Again maybe more of an architechural shot than a landscape but one I had wanted to  capture for a long time.  It is the gatehouse of nearby Thornton Abbey.  I had spent quite some time there and had to remain until latish on in the afternoon for the sun to move round far enough to light up the front of the building.

This is Derwent dam, Derbyshire once used as a practice target for the famous 617 squadron prior to the controversial raid on the Ruhr Valley during the second world war.  Despite the wet weather we have experienced over the last year, prior to that there had been a drought.  It had been several years since I had seen the water cascading over the dam wall.  Rather than take a frontal shot I wanted to show the dam within the landscape but this wasn't easy as it was difficult to get far enough away.  I also wanted it to be a reminder of past history and also to illustrate the way man has adapted the landscape for his own use - in this case the procurement of water for nearby Sheffield.

Ladybower and Derwent Reservoirs, Derbyshire. This photograph is much more of a 'pure' landscape and one that I used for assignment 3 on the theme of water.  I wanted to portray man's use of water for drinking and industry.  It is also used for leisure by trout fishermen, walkers and mountain bikers.  The curving lines through the picture lead the eye into it.  The rainwater in the puddle on top of Bamford Edge echos the water in the reservoir.  The dam wall and the viaduct are reminders of man's influence and a reminder also of the two villages that were flooded to create the reservoirs.

This is a picture of Thoresway Church in the Lincolnshire Wolds taken last summer.  It  is part of a  collection of images that I took as a possible theme of churches in the landscape for assignment 3.  I wanted to show the church as part of the landscape rather than being an architectural shot.  In fact the whole of this landscape can be said to be man-made.  At one time it would have been forested, but in more recent years it was downland up to the first world war when much land went under the plough.  It is however typical of much on the 'natural' landscape of lowland England.

What Have I Learned?
Much of the landscape in the British Isles has been altered in some way by man.  In many instances this is not overly detrimental but there are many cases where the hand of man has severely damaged the environment.  Although it is not an avenue I have gone down myself, it is a theme of others.  Fay Godwin followed this theme in 'Forbidden Land' and Robert Adams took similar photographs in the American West.  It is possible to photograph man-made landscapes and still have pleasing, interesting and 'beautiful' images; it is also possible to photograph 'the ugly' in order to help the environmental and conservation cause.