Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography

The article concentrates on contemporary British artistic photography and on how it represented industrial and post-industrial sites in the period of de-industrialisation. It starts with the examination of how British photography perpetuated an idealised image of the rural landscape as a locus of na...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Karolina Kolenda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes
Series:Revue LISA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/11083
_version_ 1797312900845535232
author Karolina Kolenda
author_facet Karolina Kolenda
author_sort Karolina Kolenda
collection DOAJ
description The article concentrates on contemporary British artistic photography and on how it represented industrial and post-industrial sites in the period of de-industrialisation. It starts with the examination of how British photography perpetuated an idealised image of the rural landscape as a locus of national identity. Industry and industrial architecture were excluded from this vision. By the end of the 20th century, de-industrialisation meant that many former industrial sites were demolished or redeveloped. At the same time, a growing appreciation of industrial heritage translated into an increased interest in post-industrial sites, also on the part of photographers. This paper investigates how contemporary landscape photography has sought to introduce the image of industrial ruins into the realm of collective visual imagination by drawing on aesthetic conventions of the Picturesque and the Pictorial, on the one hand, and on the conventions characteristic for developments in contemporary photography (from documentary aesthetics in the work of John Davies, through the “abject” in the work of Richard Billingham and Tom Hunter, to the post-pastoral landscape photography by John Kippin). Contemporary landscape photography attempts to reinstate the image of Britain’s industrial past into commonly shared imagination, where the conflicted nature of the country’s cultural identity – the clash between the “Northern” and “Southern” metaphors – reveals itself with particular force.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T02:21:53Z
format Article
id doaj.art-3c571bfb5d564736b088f004960c9f3c
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1762-6153
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T02:21:53Z
publisher Presses universitaires de Rennes
record_format Article
series Revue LISA
spelling doaj.art-3c571bfb5d564736b088f004960c9f3c2024-02-13T14:35:39ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61531710.4000/lisa.11083Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape PhotographyKarolina KolendaThe article concentrates on contemporary British artistic photography and on how it represented industrial and post-industrial sites in the period of de-industrialisation. It starts with the examination of how British photography perpetuated an idealised image of the rural landscape as a locus of national identity. Industry and industrial architecture were excluded from this vision. By the end of the 20th century, de-industrialisation meant that many former industrial sites were demolished or redeveloped. At the same time, a growing appreciation of industrial heritage translated into an increased interest in post-industrial sites, also on the part of photographers. This paper investigates how contemporary landscape photography has sought to introduce the image of industrial ruins into the realm of collective visual imagination by drawing on aesthetic conventions of the Picturesque and the Pictorial, on the one hand, and on the conventions characteristic for developments in contemporary photography (from documentary aesthetics in the work of John Davies, through the “abject” in the work of Richard Billingham and Tom Hunter, to the post-pastoral landscape photography by John Kippin). Contemporary landscape photography attempts to reinstate the image of Britain’s industrial past into commonly shared imagination, where the conflicted nature of the country’s cultural identity – the clash between the “Northern” and “Southern” metaphors – reveals itself with particular force.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/11083landscape photographyindustrial photographyde-industrialisationpost-industrial landscape
spellingShingle Karolina Kolenda
Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography
Revue LISA
landscape photography
industrial photography
de-industrialisation
post-industrial landscape
title Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography
title_full Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography
title_fullStr Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography
title_full_unstemmed Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography
title_short Aestheticising the Post-Industrial Debris : Industrial Ruins in Contemporary British Landscape Photography
title_sort aestheticising the post industrial debris industrial ruins in contemporary british landscape photography
topic landscape photography
industrial photography
de-industrialisation
post-industrial landscape
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/11083
work_keys_str_mv AT karolinakolenda aestheticisingthepostindustrialdebrisindustrialruinsincontemporarybritishlandscapephotography