Extreme

Nature and the Discovery of the American West

Group G

Caspar David Friedrich

Bio
His choice of subject o@en broke new ground and he discovered aspects of nature so far un seen Nature could speak directly to us, to express senFments an ideas without the intervenFon of culture. Even when Casper does not intend to use any religious symbolisms in his landscapes, they sFll convey a sense of haunFng spirituality The romanFc period was only recognized before 18 years before the painFng He uses the sublime heavily in his work

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

He uses the height of himself upon rocks to show how man has more power than woman He uses the sublime to symbolize the innite power nature has The power of the landscape has transferred to the man By having the man in the central thirds, Fredrik has almost romanFcized the gure as apposed to the landscape The fog emanates the sea, a scene of chaos. It could symbolise how he sees the world around him as chaoFc but on the rock this man has managed to gain control and conquer it The supernatural appearance of the fog gives the gure a godlike appearance. ContradicFng this the gure appears dark and mysterious.

William Henry Jackson

Bio
Jackson took his photos with a large format camera using mammoth plates He was hired to photograph the west to make it loo more appealing for travelers and seRlers. This in turn lead to him collecFng thousands of dramaFc pictures to depict the American West

In the Rockies
The image is centered to the right. The main focal point lies within the right column of thirds to show that the rest of the image represents the Sublime of the American West Theres an equal balance between the rock and the sky clearly divided by a horizon. The subject in the top right is not the main focal point, this image is very much about showing the size of the landscape. The subject is used to show the sheer scale of the Rocky mountains. With the dramaFc lighFng that is coming from the side of the image, highlight the rocks with all the dierent faces and shapes, which go together to create them. This image clearly shows the vast scale of the landscape with the use of the gure within it, this links back to the reasoning behind the image being created, for the government showing the appeal of living within the American west. The image seems to show the gure upon the top of the rocks taking a picture, perhaps this is as a result that Jackson wanted to show how the photographers that he is traveling with, and how they have managed to conquer the landscape.

SimilariFes
Both men are silhoueRed, creaFng an anonymity to the images. Both images ll the boRom thirds of the image, both have a lot of open space represenFng a sense of freedom in exploraFon. Both contain an element of danger, an element of isolaFon and power in the individual. Both contain the Sublime, innite possibiliFes in the landscape or facing the quesFon; what is in the beyond? Both piles of rocks are precariously balanced symbolising how fragile the landscape and environment really is. How at the moment it isnt interfered with.

Dierences
Friedrich uses the subject as the main focal point, Jackson uses the landscape as the main focal point, the dierences in who or what has the power. In the painFng it is like the man has conquered the landscape whereas in the photograph the landscape has conquered the man. Friedrichs colours are quite washed out creaFng a aRer image. There is a larger tonal range in the photograph creaFng a much more impact The painFng is Friedrichs interpretaFon of the landscape whereas the photo is a document. Friedrichs is a romanFcised representaFon of the landscape, Jackson shows the harshness, and reality of the landscape. Friedrich's painFng is about taking in your surroundings, absorbing the power of nature whereas in Jacksons image he is trying to contain the power of nature. PainFng is taken on a level angle, the photograph from a low angle. The low angle enforces the power of the landscape over the photographer, the painter sees himself as an equal to the landscape, managing to have conquered it. In the photograph there is a clear deniFon between the sky and landscape, in the painFng there is less of that deniFon.