Landscape: Photography and Health Benefits

Landscape photography is one of the largest genres of photography, it has many sub genres such as urban, rural and documentary. Landscape photography can be used in a multitude of ways; environmental, political, documentary, and as art. Landscape images have been popular even before the invention of photography, when Daguerre (along with Fox Talbot, Niepce and Bayard) invented the Diorama. This allowed Parisian gentlemen to see landscapes such as the Swiss Alps without travelling to the location. These were popular until the invention of the Daguerrotype which allowed people to carry around the image. There are well known landscape photographers who have different styles and pursue different avenues of landscape photography. Some photographers eschew the use of politics when it comes to their work. Others use their work to raise awareness of issues around environmental concerns or to support a cause. The rest of the photographers fall somewhere in the middle. The uses of landscape photography can vary from art, commercial, fashion, political and environmental.

Landscape photography started off in the romantic pictorialism style until the First World War when the focus became more on documentary for the viewers. In the 1920's the photographs began to include more modern elements such as cars, telephone poles and concrete buildings. This style is called modernism, most modernist photographers started off as pictorialists. One of the most well known landscape photographers of the 20th century is Ansel Adams whose work avoided the impact of human interaction for the most part. In contrast the new 'Modernists' focused on the human impact on the landscape. The two main points of landscape photography is Beauty and the Sublime which are not mutually exclusive. Beauty is the domain of contentment and harmony, evoking the feelings of calm and peace. The Sublime evokes unsettling feelings and emotional awakening, the images that this fits are those that show the raw power of Mother Nature.

Dartmoor is a vast landscape filled with peat bogs, tors, woodland and valleys giving a photographer access to a wide variety of landscapes to shoot. With the access to the majority of the moor that the public has, there are strict regulations for the preservation of the moors and the wildlife that lives on there. Dartmoor was granted National Park status in 1951 which allowed the park to be protected from further development. It is a popular destination for dog walkers, horse riders, photographers, and the general public. Part of the northern part of the moor is still used for military training and is marked with flags and signs to prevent accidents. The different areas of Dartmoor present challenges to photographers depending on their skill level and the terrain that they are shooting. With the rich history that is still evident on the moor it is of interest to many fields not just photographers. There are different groups that protect and preserve the moor, they work with each other and the public to maintain Dartmoor's landscape and wildlife. There are restrictions about what people can do on Dartmoor whether they are just there for a couple of hours or if they are wild camping. These restrictions ensure the preservation of Dartmoor so that it can be enjoyed for all people for the future. These restrictions also mean that the people who live on Dartmoor or who own parts of it can be assured that they wouldn't be disrupted by visitors to the moors.

The environment has been important to the human race for its entire existence. It has fed us and kept us alive as we developed ourselves and the technology that we use. Although we haven't always taken the best care of it in return, even destroying integral parts of different ecosystems, that has been changing over the last fifty years as we learn the damage we have wrought and the effects that it is having on us. The environment has an effect on both our physical health and our mental health. Norway has areas set aside for 'care farms' which are used to aid in the recovery of mental and physical health. There was a study conducted by Dr Roger Ulrich which compared medical records of gall bladder patients in two different rooms in a hospital. He found that those with a view of a small copse of trees recovered quicker and used less painkillers than those who had a view of a brick wall. He repeated the study with different case studies. He used heart operated patients, prisoners and people living in built up cities. His findings concluded that a view of nature, even pictures, was beneficial to the overall mental and physical health of the people in the study compared to those who had no access.

There is a term for landscapes deemed to be beneficial to mental health, Therapeutic Landscapes. The definition of the term has developed over the years as the understanding of the benefits of nature and how people respond to it. Being in nature allows a person to focus on the immediate environment rather than the internal issues that they may be having. This is beneficial to a person with autism as it means that they can be in an environment without the pressing need to interact with other people. The benefits of nature allow a person to take a break from their day to day lives and relax. This concept is what I will be looking into for my project, I will be looking into the beneficial effects of nature as a nature photographer with autism. I will be looking more into this topic as I move into creating my Final Major Project. I will be recording how I feel when I am on Dartmoor shooting my images and when I am not. This will allow me to compare what is better for my mental health.