WILD IMAG(E) IN A(C)TION: I – An Introduction OR Why Environmental Photography Must Rise to the Challenge

Humans experience an innate drive to make sense of their surroundings and of their own individual existence. This urge has given rise to two methodologies of inquiry that are often seen as opposite, even mutually exclusive, human endeavours. However, art and science form two sides of the same coin. In both of these ancient and most human enterprises, the currency and pay-off are greater knowledge, greater insight gained into the painstaking and frustratingly slow approach to truth. Both science and art strive to gain an understanding of the human condition, as well as of the environment in which our species (together with millions of others) has to make a living. Scientists (in the extended sense of rationally thinking individuals testing ideas, irrespective of the field of study involved) and artists (rational individuals who probe and express the (as yet) immeasurable ‘inner’ experiences and realities of singular human beings) both are observers, using the world that they sense and that they are embedded in, that surrounds them, as a stimulus for further investigation of reality.

Scientists use observations as the basis for the formation of hypotheses, ideas that will then be subjected to rigorous testing to establish the legitimacy, or otherwise, of the thought patterns and processes that constitute knowledge. Thus the final product of a scientific investigation remains largely a cerebral scaffold of facts, ideas and theses that is updated and revised constantly.

Artists, too, use observation as the raw material for the artistic process. However, unlike scientists, artists do not act only in the cerebral sphere. In art, it is the observation itself and the personal response of the artist to that singular observation, rather than only the thought processes, that is transmuted into the artwork: the artwork is the artist’s response to and the expression by the artist of the observation.

For both science and art, the undertaking to investigate, to interrogate and to probe the truth of reality is not completed with the new thesis or the new artwork. The products of both disciplines still require the interaction with at least a second observer; that is, the products require an audience. By necessity, by their very nature, science and art are social endeavours; both can only be perpetuated by communication with other individuals.

Photography is a craft and will never be admitted into the hallowed halls of art (nor should it strive to be). The medium is too simple to handle (particularly so in the era of digital photography) and the product, the image, is not created per se, but is rather a selection taken from reality. At its root, the photographic process is selective rather than creative – a photographer selects the subject of the image and isolates it from an existing reality rather than creating it. Despite this, photographers can strive to push their images away from pure documentation towards an aesthetic interpretation of the subject. To do this successfully, the most important ingredient in vibrant, dynamic photography is imagination. 

In order to engage the imagination, the photograph, the image, must allow an observer to participate in a process that starts in the photographer's mind (as imagination, ‘turning into an image’) and passes to the imagination of the observer via the photographic process – selection, composition and execution. To qualify as an effective photograph, the image must be active rather than passive; it must allow for interpretation rather than stand as a mere photographic document of a particular, selected aspect of reality.

Open any portfolio and gaze at any renowned and treasured photograph: the images that haunt and stimulate us are all achieved through excellent composition and very careful deliberation about the selection of the image from the possible realm of all other potential ‘images’ that the photographer is faced with at any one instant. Only if the observer can complete the process of engaging with the captured image, the photograph, that is presented can it then elicit a response in the imagination of the observer and thereby become an ‘image in action’.

Much of environmental photography (of wildlife, flora and landscape) merely produces images that are photographic documents. While natural history photography is important and can be fascinating and beautiful in its own right, there is an ever-increasing need in modern societies to communicate vital issues concerning the interrelationship between humanity and the natural environment.

Humanity needs to awaken from its collective slumber. Humanity needs to abandon very speedily the misguided and suicidal dreams of human supremacy – shaped and created in the image of several or only a single deity – and realise that Homo sapiens is but one (albeit very different, very strange) inhabitant on a limited planet shared with millions of other, vitally important manifestations of life.

The images required for communication of this awakening and reformed perception of humanity and its capabilities and limitations must do much more than document the status quo; they must engage the mind and the imagination of the viewer actively. The images must stimulate thought about an individual’s roles and responsibilities towards life on earth in general. While the subject matter and the sum total of all possible effective compositions and potential images is no doubt limitless and unbounded, capturing good images takes skill, insight and a whole lot of time and effort. This is precisely the reason why outstanding photographers have always been held in high regard by all societies. No photographer is capable of only producing exceptional images; however, each attempt should involve the utmost dedication to the pursuit of capturing the best image possible.

How can this be achieved? How can I as a photographer of the environment contribute, as meaningfully as I am able, to this communication? Photography (as discussed here and excluding the simple taking of pictures) is not an easy craft to master. To make photography more challenging still, there are no fixed rules – as in all expressive endeavours, the photographer relies on her own intelligence, rational and emotional states, personal interests, photographic competence and personal photographic vision to select the images that best communicate the photographer's intention.

In the next three short blogs in this series, I will mention and discuss very briefly a few musings on the subject that have been tinkered together from my own experience and from engagement with photographers and photography. These reflections may be of some value to any individuals who are interested in becoming photographers that care more deeply about their craft. No doubt, many readers – including photographers that are more experienced – may regard the points raised in the following blogs as being ‘old-hat’. However, as I myself know all too well, being reminded often of the obvious is sorely required in all human endeavours.