Breda - Cambridge Photography Symposium 02/05/14

Heath Brown

Cambridge School of Art

Illusions of Control

 

With a nod to the art theories of Pictorialism and The Sublime this series of images explores the notion of nature and the universe being more powerful than us mere men. Each image references the delusion of mankind - thinking he is in control of his world.

It is an unseen struggle against the power of nature which inevitably reclaims its hold, whatever we do to try and tame it.

To portray this the tripod was discarded and each image was thus dictated by the action of walking over natural terrain and the sway of strong winds and storms.

Late winter mists and the polluted effects of the Saharan dust cloud that descended upon Northern Europe in early Spring 2014 also add another layer to the compositions and atmosphere of these images – adding weight to the notion of mankind’s inadequacies over the elements – and a comment on the environment.