ABSTRACT
Photography was invented at a time when the exploration of new lands was being undertaken by western cultures. Photography was seen as an excellent medium by survey teams to categorise, order and document the grandeur of the natural environment. A sense of the vast scale was often established by the inclusion of small human figures looking in awe at the majestic view. These majestic views and their treatment by American photographers contrasted greatly with European landscape photographs. Landscape painters and photographers in Europe did not seek isolation. Indeed seeking out a sense of isolation is problematic in an industrialised and densely populated land.
