Photography, Painting and the Landscape

In Tuesday's class, we saw Canadian landscape painters and how they influenced and were influenced by photography as soon as the late 19th century. Two of these were painter John Fraser and Lucius O'Brien.

A (1873) painted view of Ashbridge's Marsh looking back at Toronto by O'Brien.

At the Rogers Pass by John Fraser (1886)

The third image you will see below is a photograph I took of the waterfowl park here in Sackville, and then altered digitally.

 It has a couple of things in comon with the two paintings. First, the subject and symbolism: They are all landscapes heavily representing not only place but also identity, the first two specifically Canadian, while the photograph I took is a typical Sackville landmark. Second, the first two are paintings influenced by photography while the third image is a photograph inspired by paintings, looping the loop. Third, I tried (and more or less succeeded) to imitate the yellowish palate chosen by the painters to parallel the works more formally and technically.

Lastly I have to say that I am not a huge fan of these paintings (and maybe it comes out in the "more or less" of my imitation photograph), but mostly on a formal and physical level; What I mean is that it's the way the artists decided to communicate their message that leaves me "ho-hum", not the message itself, one of national pride and of strong association with the land as a people. I find this still very relevant today and worthy to be explored in a new way, put in context with globalization, continued industrialization, and our relatively new discourse on sustainability.