This work is based around a study of the Landscape under the title, ‘Is this the Contemporary Picturesque? I combine compositional & aesthetic ideals of the Romantic & Picturesque with a contemporary aspect of human interaction from an anti-social perspective. The work shows how the land is interpreted & appreciated when thoughts reside as to what landscape should look like, as well as how it is actually treated.

It is a retrospective viewpoint, looking at what has happened, rather than what can be, but all the time is meant to show how the land exists with its treatment rather than without. It shows the hidden as part of the experience rather than ignoring it in search of postcard views & is not intended to show the land in a negative light, more to focus onto the negative aspect as a motif & how it exists within a location; to show ‘the spirit of the place’ & how this is still apparent, despite the negative influence of man.

The work aims to challenge the assumptions that people have of how landscape should look, compared to how it is treated; to present this reality as an environmental aesthetic & to hopefully raise awareness of our concept of social morality which, is especially poignant in today’s environmental climate.

Whilst every effort was made to reproduce the vibrancy of the originals, please note that these are scans from prints & therefore some degredation of quality may have occured (i.e. the prints look better!).


All images are Copyright: Robert James Egan
(No unauthorised reproduction/alteration without permission)