I haven’t had much free time this past month, and the weather has been pretty lousy, so instead of working on new pictures I’ve been digging around in my archives. I’ve rediscovered a surprising number of images that I passed over the first time around that I have grown to like quite a bit. Here’s another good example.
Central Park, 2008
I just discovered a couple of rolls of film from 2008 that I developed but never actually looked at. Crazy, right?
These were from around the time I was working on The unified theory of absolutely everything. I’m going to have to go back and see if I missed anything else, and probably re-edit that portfolio.
Parc Collserola, Barcelona, 2009
click image for larger view
Of all the places I photographed while in Barcelona, Parc Collserola was my favorite. Fifteen minutes out of the city on the commuter train, accessible by not one, but two funiculars, Parc Collserola covers much of Tibidabo, the large mountain to the north of the city. In fifteen days we were in Barcelona, I visited the park six times, and knew when we left that I would have to go back soon.
I remember the moment I took this picture with perfect clarity. This was actually the view behind me as I walked up the mountain. I can’t tell you exactly why I stopped and turned around when I did, but the picture was right there, exactly as you see it. I knew at the time that it that it would end up being one of my favorites from the trip, and I’m always happy when I’m right!
This month’s edition comes with an extra bonus: the secret print I mentioned a week ago. It’s really one of my favorite prints of recent memory, so I hope you enjoy it.
This print is available in two sizes:
8 by 10 inches
Edition of 20
Signed on the back
$25, including shipping to US and Canada (add $5 for shipping elsewhere)
11 by 14 inches
Edition of 10
Signed on the back
$50, including shipping to US and Canada (add $10 for shipping elsewhere)
Carretera de Vallvidrera al Tibidabo, by Dalton Rooney
Astute readers may have noticed that I recently changed the name of this weblog. The process of updating this site over the last couple of years has played a big part in how my thinking about photography has developed during that time. Every time I sit down to write a post, put up some new work, or link to an article or photographer I find interesting, I try to stop and think a little bit about why this is important; why it’s worth my time, and hopefully yours, too. My hope with this site has always been to bring clarity to my own thoughts—and I think I have been successful in that regard—but I also think that it’s time for a slightly sharper focus, to push myself a little harder and be more critical about what I write. And so, with that, I thought I would finally give the blog a name.
The term “third nature” is an extension of the thoughts of Cicero, who wrote:
“We sow corn, we plant trees, we fertilize the soil by irrigation, we dam the rivers and direct them where we want. In short, by means of our hands we try to create as it were a second nature within the natural world.”
It’s interesting to me that Cicero lived more than 2000 years ago, and yet even in his time we were making massive changes to the world around us.
A new way of thinking about the landscape began to develop during the Italian Renaissance which necessitated a classification beyond Cicero’s first and second natures. This terza natura referred to natural environments designed for our aesthetic pleasure. At the time, this meant formal gardens owned by the elite. In our time, I believe that urban and natural parks serve a similar purpose.
In his essay to accompany Jem Southam’s Landscape Stories, Andy Grundberg argues that landscape pictures themselves are part of this same third nature, taming the wild for us and offering a similar sense of fulfillment. One could extrapolate this definition even further, to books, movies, and video games, for example, which can serve a related function.
We live in a world where first nature has practically ceased to exist. Nothing is left undiscovered or unspoiled, and the facsimile that is third nature is all we have left. With this weblog, I aim to satisfy my own curiosity as I do with my photography: my interest is not just in art, but the very nature of our relationship with the landscape itself. What makes a picture? What kind of connection are we seeking when we create and take pleasure in this kind of work? How can one work within a centuries-old tradition and create something new and relevant?
I hope to answer some of these questions to my satisfaction, and to make some good photographs along the way. I’m also hoping to get other people thinking and talking about these ideas, because it’s only when a monologue becomes a dialogue that I feel like I’ve learned anything. And perhaps most of all, I’m looking for great art to inspire me, so if you know of anything that you think I’d like, please send it along.
Parc Güell, Barcelona, 2009
click image for larger view
I just got back from two weeks in Barcelona, which was pretty amazing. I spent most of my free time in various parks in and around the city. One of my favorites was Parc Güell, high on a hill overlooking the city.
Parc Güell was designed by Anoni Gaudí and is best known for its architecture, which is indeed wonderful. But I most enjoyed walking the paths that twist through the park and up into the hills, admiring the equally spectacular landscape design.
This print is available in two sizes:
8 by 10 inches
Edition of 20
Signed on the back
$25, including shipping to US and Canada (add $5 for shipping elsewhere)
11 by 14 inches
Edition of 10
Signed on the back
$50, including shipping to US and Canada (add $10 for shipping elsewhere)
Lo Zingaro, Sicily, 2008
It’s amazing what can slip by you when you’re editing. This image sat in the “maybe” pile for a good three months while I was working on the Sicily series, and then somehow didn’t make the final cut. Looking at it now, I absolutely love it. It’s one of my favorites. It’s funny how that happens, isn’t it? Time to update the gallery.
Bonus for Print of the Month subscribers: you will be getting one of these in addition to your regular monthly print!
I am going to be traveling off and on for the next month or so, so I think I am going to put the blog in the refrigerator until after Labor Day. See you in September.
