Reading Response #2

What I found most interesting about Bryan Schutmaat’s style of photography is how he perceives portraits and landscapes as “different pieces in the same puzzle”, as his work aims to present the connection between the two. He further explains that the portraits are used to give the landscapes an “emotional substance to build on and add to”, adding that viewers can connect emotionally to a portrait and how this feeling reverberates in a landscape. Set in the wild west, Schutmaat’s project captures the rural landscapes of the Rocky Mountains along with taking portraits of those who settle there. I was most impacted by how this project opened me up to the emotions and feelings of a rural setting as captured by the photos, being that I grew up around heavily urbanized settings for most of my live. On the other hand, Robert Adams takes a similar approach where he captures the changes of Colorado’s natural landscapes caused by human activity. The two elements that are most embedded in his works are the struggles between vast emptiness of rural settings versus the threats of civilization. Photographed during the 60s, I felt that there was definitely an old-school element towards his work as the photos appeared to be very basic, black and white images. However, I definitely see how the contrast between rural landscapes and urban development is present throughout all of his images. Overall I felt that Schutmaat’s style of photography is more impactful in the sense that it delivers more emotions and feelings from the artist’s end to the viewers’ end.

Reading Response #2: Work