Written on September 12, 2011 by CB Driver in Latin America, Photography 
When photographing nature, we often see chains, fences and ropes within the landscape and wish they weren’t there. It’s easy to feel there’s ‘something wrong with that picture,’ so to speak. There’s a contradiction, right? A paradox, in fact.
Nature, after all, is beauty and freedom.
When I see this, I sometimes feel bad (a tree being choked by barbed wire is painful to look at) and see these objects as impediments to the photographic process (darn that telephone pole and cable blocking my view!). But if you think about it, they don’t need to be obstacles to creativity.
What if we accept the presence of inanimate, imprisoning objects in nature–ones that seem wrong–and to allow for them to be part the composition?
We might end up with some cool results, I think.
That’s what I did on my recent trip to Ecuador and Panama, taking an alternative approach to photography–actually capturing these photographic paradoxes. Allowing for them and even seeking them out after I’d noticed a few. I found that by accepting what I saw in nature, I was better able to be in the moment and to participate in the creative process.
Here are the results, which I hope you enjoy.
1. Against the Wall
(Ambuquí, Ecuador)
2. Weeping Mantis
(Vilcabamba, Ecuador)
3. Barking Beauty
(Vilcabamba, Ecuador)
4. Fenced In
(Boquete, Panama)
5. Barbed Wire Belt
(Las Lajas, Panama)
6. Tree Prison
(Vilcabamba, Ecuador)
7. Nature Vs Nature
(Countryside near Cuenca, Ecuador)
I know–this one doesn’t have any metal, wood or rope in it. Still, it does seem to convey something, right? I see scissors perhaps.
8. The Blue Gate
(Las Lajas, Panama)
9. Wired Leaf
(Las Lajas, Panama)
10. Pink Tears
(Pedasí, Panama)
What’s Your Take?
Do you like shooting photos like these–ie, including the objects that others see as obstacles to composition? If so, how much prominence do you give the unnatural object? If you’d rather not shoot this way, why is that? What do yo do? Do you move to another spot that’s clear of these objects?
Also, when you photograph nature, does it put you more in the moment–or take you out of it? What do you like most about this kind of photography?
PS for Photographers
I shot these photos with my new Olympus XZ-1, a high-end point and shoot, which I bought right before my trip after a lot of homework and debate. (I almost bought a mirrorless camera, but in the end I went with this one). It has a slightly tricky menu system, but a nice, fast lens (f 1.8) and many creative options, which are important to me. Having said this, I only used a filter, “dramatic effect,” for one shot–that of the bricks and flowers. The others were shot with aperture priority, etc.
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