Natural & Urban Landscapes

Both of my landscapes explore the peculiar things that happen and exist in nature. Although they capture the essences of two distinct areas, each one possesses an uncommonly interesting quality.

 The natural landscape was shot on my home farm about three hours West of Toronto in an agricultural area. It is a literal ‘family tree’ as it was planted one of my ancestors a very long time ago. It has grown in such a beautiful symmetrical way and my family is very fond of it. It is dead in some spots and inconveniently placed, but continues to grow every season. So, because it means so much he has chosen to farm around it instead of having it removed. To many it would seem odd to see such a large old tree standing by itself in an empty field, but to me it is a testament to the attitude of rural areas. In my experience they are more apt to preserve treasured things like natural elements and historical buildings and areas, even if it means a little more effort and time on their behalf. Although nothing really grows well under this tree and it is more trouble to farm around then to cut down, it’s worth it to watch its growth and have a piece of living history that has watched the world change.

My urban landscape was shot off the roof of my apartment building in downtown Toronto. I sat in my room in the evening and looked out my 22^nd floor window and all I saw was a wall of grey. I ran up to the roof with my camera and this is one of the many results I ended up with. Again, it is dealing with a bizarre part of nature but in an urban landscape. To me cities are still a rather strange thing and this photograph conveys to a point the confusion of my surroundings. I’m always baffled at natural disasters that happen and cause so much damage because humans have settled where they were never intended to and altered the landscape. Although cities like Toronto are very stable, the vast amounts of concrete, towering buildings and underground mazes unsettle me because they’re so unnatural.  The view from this building is meant to be a spectacular picture of downtown, but the human footprint can never be bigger or more powerful than nature, which in this case, is represented by the fog. Contrary to my natural landscape, I think this landscape gives a small window into the tendency of urban areas to ignore the surrounding nature and take a dominant role in the environment. I hope that this image successfully reflects the human presence in an urban area and how nature still seeps into urban areas no matter how we try to keep it out.