Landscape photography takes on a new depth when people are part of the picture. Human figures can provide scale, emotion and storytelling, transforming a beautiful view into a compelling narrative. Audiences are invited into the scene, questioning who these people are and how they ended up where they are. Characters can express the freedom and self-assurance that comes with connecting with the natural world, or perhaps a lone figure is a metaphor for isolation. Here, we bring you five exciting contemporary photographers who have perfectly captured figures in the wide open landscape.听
Summer Wagner鈥檚 鈥渧isual poems鈥 are blue-toned shots in which figures are transfixed by smartphones. In one composition, four individuals appear to take a flash photograph of the viewer. Elsewhere, two young people sit on a riverbank, staring down at glowing screens. A couple embrace, looking at devices over their shoulders. Here, the artist holds a mirror up to life online. 鈥淎lone, we project our egos into the ether 鈥 or onto Twitter,鈥 Wagner writes. 鈥淭ogether those egos dance in an eclectic circus above our heads.鈥
Henri Prestes鈥 (b. 1989) first monograph,听We Were Born Before the Wind听(2022) is a testament to the quiet hours between sleeping and waking. The book is 鈥渁n exploration of solitude and melancholy,鈥 with figures roaming the shadowy Portuguese landscapes. To create the series, Prestes spent a significant amount of time in small villages, mountains and grasslands during the colder months of the year. The final shots are cinematic and intriguing, with green and yellow light diffusing through trees as chill hangs in the air.
Bootsy Holler (b.1969) is best-known for her work as a portraitist, beginning with depictions of herself and friends in the 1990s.听Without Words, however, is introspective; a way of making sense of personal thoughts. 鈥淭he spark came from an illuminating moment in Savannah, Georgia, when I found myself alone in the humid night air. I walked to the railing and looked out to see my body face down in the pool below. I didn鈥檛 know it then, but the feeling of detachment in that moment would follow me through the next few years.鈥
鈥淭hese images are about coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder,鈥 says Helsinki-based photographer Svante Gullichsen (b. 1994). 鈥淚 reflect on acceptance, self-care, empathy, self-destructiveness, anxiousness, anger, terror and the spectrum of emotions I鈥檝e been through during my healing journey.鈥 In these deeply personal self-portraits, Gullichsen positions himself amidst the vast forces of nature. His raw and emotive compositions play out in and around the archipelago of Porvoo, taking viewers deep into the Finnish forest.
Yannis Davy Guibinga鈥檚 (b. 1995) series,听In the vastness of space and the immensity of time听(2023), is inspired by African myths, science-fiction and cultural astronomy.听The idea is to 鈥渕ix both modern and traditional elements from across West and Central Africa,鈥 bringing stories to life through evocative portraits and expansive hyperreal backdrops. Bright, exaggerated palettes 鈥 including vivid blues, oranges and pinks 鈥 are key to Guibinga鈥檚 signature style, alongside bold contrasts and an incisive eye for composition.听
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. 听Svante Gullichsen,听Covered by Forest听(Detail, 2016). Image courtesy the artist.
2. Image courtesy Henri Prestes, from听Velvet Fields,听Perfect Darkness听and听We Were Born Before the Wind.
3. Overgrowth at the Abandoned Millwood Plant.听Rockford Illinois, May 2022. Image courtesy Summer Wagner.
4. 听Bootsy Holler,听Cattle Point 鈥 0824.2002,听(2002-2021). Courtesy of the artist.
5. Svante Gullichsen,听Crossing the Rubicon II听(Detail, 2020). Image courtesy the artist.
6. Yannis Davy Guibinga,听Daybreak at Crystal Mountain听(2023). Featuring and Make-up: B茅atrice (Bily) Rose Fatier.
