ABSTRACT
ALTERNATIVE REALITIES There is now a broad spectrum of aesthetics, concepts and ideologies currently being expressed by photographers. The camera is far from a purely objective recording medium. It is capable of recording a photographer’s personal vision and can be turned on the familiar and exotic, the real and surreal. This discriminating and questioning eye is frequently turned towards the urban and suburban landscapes the majority of us now live in. It is used to question the traditional portrayal of the rural landscape (romantic and idyllic) as a mythical cliché. It explores the depiction of the natural landscape for many urban dwellers as a mysterious location, viewed primarily through the windscreen of a car and from carefully selected vantage points. Landscape photography can be used to reflect the values of society. The landscape that has been traditionally portrayed as being unified and harmonious may instead be portrayed as confused and cluttered to express the conflict, between expectation and reality.
