“That beauty which is in the eye of the beholder is obviously best left to the individual but might there be a universal, undisputed beauty to be found within the landscape that may stir our heart and soul and awaken an emotional response that is both personal and shared? Our response to beauty has the power to unite us.
The ability to behold beauty appears to be a uniquely human quality. Did you ever see a horse standing in a field admiring the sunset? This leads me to wonder whether, in the moments of appreciating beauty, I am closest to the true nature of what it is to be human?
Through my photography, I am fortunate enough to constantly find myself engaging and responding to beauty within the landscape. The moment of recognition instantly stimulates my response - my desire to make that precious and yet all too often fleeting moment of beauty last forever. Predictably there follows a wrestle between my eye, my heart and my head as I seek parity between my experience of beauty in that moment in the landscape and what of that beauty will prevail within the image, to be shared with others. That insecurity is both healthy and stimulating for me. The process of making the image is inspired by my response to beauty and my desire to share its precious effect.
Beauty is good for us - there, I have said it.
We can draw succour and replenishment from beauty in whatever form we may engage within it. We can wonder, revere and relish it in a deeply personal way.
The impulse and compulsion to photograph the landscape in one of its perfect performances can be defined as a need to retain and own the experience both emotionally and of course visually. It is the photograph that can (one hopes) achieve that so effectively. My camera and the previsualisation that precedes actually making an image, act as a wonderful conduit through which to explore and investigate. My camera does not separate me from beauty; it draws me ever deeper in.
Some days ago, a hazy pre-dawn found me on the edge of a field waiting for strengthening light to develop and provide contrast; it was one of the loveliest waiting periods I have known. During that hour or so and remaining in the same position, I entered into what felt like a heightened world of closeness to everything. Observing the sky and its capricious nature is par for the course for me but, on that morning, my sky was full of misty continents and beautiful drifting cloud. Below, hares, pheasants, foxes and a thousand conversations from birds filled me to the brim with a silent joy in which all the questioning disappeared. I remained there, smiling, transported away from my concerns and myself. I knew in my core that the need to no longer be so dislocated from the natural world is of paramount importance for all of us.
I would wish for a return to beauty wherever it can be found and interpreted and for beauty to sweep us upward and outward in its celebration.” Charlie Waite
