Unlike the previous Focus on Friday photographers, I’ve actually met Peter Cox. Several times, in fact.
You might ask why, apart from being a good friend, I’ve selected a landscape photographer to appear on a blog given over mostly to documentary photography.
Simple really. Who says documentary photography has to include people? To my mind, landscape photography is about documenting the natural environment around us. It records the world we live it and often reveals its breathtaking, heart-stopping beauty.
A volcano by Peter Cox. Actually, if you live in Europe, it's THE volcano. You know the one. (c) Peter Cox 2010
What appeals to me about a lot of Peter’s work is the immediacy that I feel looking at it. It’s almost as if there’s nothing between me and the scene. I could almost step into the photograph because it feels so real. That’s a hard thing to do.
Peter is also very good at spotting remarkable things where to the untrained eye they simply don’t exist. Take the picture on the left below. I think it’s genius. The swirl is only revealed thanks to a longish shutter time. In real time, it wouldn’t have such an impact. In the photograph, it does – something Peter pre-visualized.
Two of my favourite Peter Cox photographs. (c) Peter Cox
That in itself raises an interesting question. If a photograph can only show something by virtue of a long exposure that produces an image the naked eye can’t see, is it truly documentary? I would argue that it is. It reveals the world to us in a way we hadn’t perceived. It illuminates. The longish shutter speed helps to describe the swirl (which by the way is a magnificent contrast to the static rock in the background) that we otherwise wouldn’t see. It helps tell the story of the pool of water and of the landscape. And telling stories what documentary photography is all about.
That particular photograph tells another story. Look at the layers in the rock. How many centuries did it take to create them? And how many more for water and wind to erode the rock to its current state?
The final photograph here is another favourite. The Dark Hedges in Co. Antrim. They look as if they were designed by Tolkien. What I love in particular is the way Peter has revealed the structure and form of the branches. There is almost a motion to them. That takes craft.
