Human Element in a Landscape, or Not?

Thursday 31 March 2022, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 4,132 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

For years, I photographed landscapes without a trace of human civilisation. A pure and untouched landscape, even if it was surrounded by urbanisation or next to a motorway.

By now, my opinion has changed, and I think a human element can add value. What do you think?

Untouched nature, a landscape that is rough and wild. With mountains, forests and water that sparkles beautifully in the sunlight. There is no sign of human presence anywhere. Those are the landscapes I would love to stand in, the ones I would like to photograph.

A beautiful untouched landscape. This is how I like to see them, these are the places where I would like to wander.
Unfortunately, there are few untouched landscapes left. At least within a reasonable travelling distance. Almost everywhere, you can find signs of 'civilisation', although in many cases you could question whether the word civilised applies. Call them signs of human presence instead.

Roads cross the landscape, electricity pylons and cables spoil the view. Just like the wind turbines that, driven by our insatiable desire for even more energy, push aside the trees and forests.

High in the sky are the clouds that originate from the condensation trails of thousands of aeroplanes.

A typical Dutch landscape, with electricity pylons across the entire country. This photo is making a virtue of necessity.
These are certainly not the elements I would want to see in a landscape. They often spoil the landscape, unless they are part of what you want to tell with your photo. On the other hand, a landscape without any sign of human presence can give a distorted impression.

A photo is a flat image of the three-dimensional world around us. It is important to realise this. A photo has no depth, only the illusion of depth.

This is why it is so easy to place the size of an object in relation to its surroundings in an unusual perspective. A flower as large as a mountain.

A photo has no depth, only a dimension. Is this stone large or small? Are the ice floes metres high or only centimetres? You cannot see this in the photo because there is no reference.
By photographing a landscape without anything that is easily recognisable, it loses a dimension. Is a stone as large as a mountain, or merely a pebble?

This can even go so far that the impressive landscape ends up looking insignificant. We then say: "... in real life it looked much more impressive than in the photo." Sound familiar?

This little house gives the photo meaning. The stream neatly leads you to this house, and the landscape gains a sense of size, of dimensions.
In recent years, I have come to realise that using a human element in the photo can add value. It adds a sense of perspective to the photo.

This gives the viewer an idea of size, vastness, even dimensions. It becomes easier to imagine yourself in that landscape.

Including this photographer in the frame makes it clear how enormous this landscape is, how high the cliff is. Imagine what this would be like without this person.
A human element can be anything. A little house, a farm, a church tower or a castle on the horizon. It can be a road winding through the landscape, and in some cases even an electricity pylon or wind turbine.

People also bring a sense of perspective. Put a person in a landscape and the photo not only gains a dimension, it can add a story to the photo. You also see more and more landscapes with that lone globetrotter in the frame. There is a reason for that.

Nando as a globetrotter by a waterfall. This one does not really tell a story, but it adds a dimension to this photo. Can you see how immense this landscape is, how impressive?
Unlike in the past, I no longer mind including a human element in my landscape image, as long as it adds value. It must tell a story, rather than be a random element that happened to be in the way.

What do you think of a landscape with a human element in the frame? Can it add value, or do you think it is inappropriate? Tell us in a comment below this post.

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