All images Copyright Thomas Armstrong
“Density of Nature”
A Project by Thomas Armstrong
How we see and why we photograph is what makes us all different. Sometimes we only “get” what we see ourselves and I confess I can be very much like this.
Density of Nature is a project by Thomas Armstrong, what I admire about this body of work is that it has been shot with a purpose in mind, the images are also very pure and representative of our real world not the prefabricated one that some prefer. When we shoot with a purpose we force ourselves to be much more aware of the content of our images, the HOW becomes irrelevant to the WHY.
Density of Nature is a project by Thomas Armstrong, what I admire about this body of work is that it has been shot with a purpose in mind, the images are also very pure and representative of our real world not the prefabricated one that some prefer. When we shoot with a purpose we force ourselves to be much more aware of the content of our images, the HOW becomes irrelevant to the WHY.
Here is what Thomas has to say regarding his project:
"Density of Nature is about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. The nature around us every day, in our 'backyards'. In my opinion the golden age of heroic landscape photography, at least for the US, began with Timothy O'Sullivan and was closed by Ansel Adams. My task today is to see that same grandeur in what is close at hand. And to see and appreciate it in the scruffy, tangled density at our elbows, in our parks, in vacant lots and our cemeteries. So familiar and so utterly foreign. Wonder. These photos are an attempt to address this seeing. I'm just getting started again with photography. Had the vision decades ago, but now I'm hoping to communicate it. I'm a bit wary of prettiness, and prefer a landscape more pointed to what is."
So now that we know what it is all about have a look at some of the images I have picked from the collection.
"Density of Nature is about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. The nature around us every day, in our 'backyards'. In my opinion the golden age of heroic landscape photography, at least for the US, began with Timothy O'Sullivan and was closed by Ansel Adams. My task today is to see that same grandeur in what is close at hand. And to see and appreciate it in the scruffy, tangled density at our elbows, in our parks, in vacant lots and our cemeteries. So familiar and so utterly foreign. Wonder. These photos are an attempt to address this seeing. I'm just getting started again with photography. Had the vision decades ago, but now I'm hoping to communicate it. I'm a bit wary of prettiness, and prefer a landscape more pointed to what is."
So now that we know what it is all about have a look at some of the images I have picked from the collection.
The more I look at this collection the more I like it and this is largely due to the fact that I now know the WHY. I guess it takes a body of work to portray this kind of message, one single image just doesn't tell the whole story.
This is also grassroots photography which is almost an endangered species these days, these are very powerful images, why do I say that ?? I say it as we look at these images, and thoughts and emotions enter our thoughts, NOT wow I wonder what camera he used for these ... or wow how do you do that in Photoshop.
So folks my point of this post is to encourage you to focus on the REASONS why you take images and to bring some WHY into your images more so than HOW !!
AND a huge thank you to Thomas for allowing me to use his images and his project for this blog post. I am sure he will appreciate any feedback so please leave a comment.
You can view the “Density of Nature” collection here:
Density of Nature Project
This is also grassroots photography which is almost an endangered species these days, these are very powerful images, why do I say that ?? I say it as we look at these images, and thoughts and emotions enter our thoughts, NOT wow I wonder what camera he used for these ... or wow how do you do that in Photoshop.
So folks my point of this post is to encourage you to focus on the REASONS why you take images and to bring some WHY into your images more so than HOW !!
AND a huge thank you to Thomas for allowing me to use his images and his project for this blog post. I am sure he will appreciate any feedback so please leave a comment.
You can view the “Density of Nature” collection here:
Density of Nature Project
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