A fellow photographer made a series of photographs at the local animal shelter. Her goal was to help publicize what happens to animals that are not adopted. Her intent was to help animals be adopted. When she published this work, she received extreme criticism of her images as being in favor of the euthanization of animals. The viewers misinterpreted her intentions from her images. I had that same thought as I went out late in the afternoon and photographed wind turbines.
I am torn between how I feel about these images. As an engineer, I love these big machines. They are sleek, majestic, powerful, produce electricity and employ a lot of people to build and maintain them. They are a very good thing for our economy.
As a photographer I see these big machines as a blight on the landscape. They ruin the landscape by not fitting in with what is already there. These machines intrude upon the pristine landscape and challenge our view of nature. I have been influenced by the landscape photographs of Ansel Adams to the point where anything other than the natural landscape is not considered beautiful.
I have yet to make up my mind about this project.
Mount Hood, turbines and structures
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