Landscape Photography Influences - Fay Godwin

At first sight I was not impressed with the work of Fay Godwin. It appeared very understated and frankly dull. The fact that she concentrated on the British countryside and worked largely in black and white, contributed to this impression.  I decided to get hold of her best known books and give some more time to understanding her work. This proved that first impressions are not always the right ones. I have come to admire her work greatly.

Her seminal work Land is a collection of photographs from her first ten years work as a landscape photographer. It is a celebration of the British countryside. Her style is a documentary one, but there is a mystical quality to her work also. Very few of her photographs depict the cliche view of the British countryside with puffy white clouds and a sunny aspect. Rather she has most often captured the landscape in more dramatic circumstances with foreboding clouds and dramatic light. She is not prone to using tricks to accentuate her images.... they are presented in a documentary way. Many of her images are in square format - she frequently used a medium format camera. This lends a graphic quality to her work, which is accentuated by her trully excellent compositional skills.

In Our Forbidden Land, her use of landscape photography in a documentary manner is most highly developed. The work depicts man's influence on the landscape - generally man's adverse influence. Large roads cut into beautiful mountains, unattractive buildings and telegraph posts obscure the views, fences block the way, and forestry work despoils the landscape. The quality of the photography is of the same high standard but the message is not a celebration of the landscape, more a condemnation of man's abuse of it. Godwin was a long time member and President of the Ramblers Association and was active in the contemporary campaigns to keep the countryside open. Our Forbidden Land makes a strong case for a more sensitive approach to the landscape on behalf of the landowners - it is a powerful work.

I have learned quite a bit from my brief look at Fay Godwin. First it is clear that there is beauty all around us, you just have to open your eyes to see it. Second, timing is important - dramatic climatic conditions make for dramatic images. Third and perhaps most importantly, landscape photography is not just about pretty images, it can also be a powerful documentary force for change.

Here are a few of Fay Godwin's images: