The Constrained Spaces of Nature

By: Jason Cantrell

Introduction: Before beginning this project, I spent a lot of time thinking about what sort of images surround me on a daily basis. I wanted to portray something that is a part of everyday life, but show it in a different way. My first thoughts were of more ‘modern’ images, since recently I’ve been learning a lot about the advancements of technology in the digital age. Then my thoughts turned to nature, and I began considering the way modern society advances in relation to nature. For some years now I’ve been giving thought to the way nature is ‘blocked out’ by the things we construct as part of society’s advancements. This goes beyond just the idea of deforestation and destroying nature to make way for cities. We also push nature back and block it from expanding even when we surround ourselves with it day by day. Street signs and billboards block out view of the landscape as we drive. Trees and bushes are pruned and trimmed to make them fit where we want them. Gardens and landscaping force nature to grow in neat little rows parallel to roads and sidewalks. We put plants in little clay pots so we can contain them. And throughout it all, nature fights back. Weeds grow through the cracks, plants that are pruned constantly grow back, and when left untended nature eventually breaks free and grows wild again. My goal here was to show the different sides of this constraint. To not only show the ways we contain and restrict nature, but also the ways it fights back. To show that even when we restrict it, life keeps on living.

Image Analysis: All of the images were deliberately chosen from common areas at Rowan University, where students pass these scenes day by day. The intent of this selection was to show the natural life that is all around us, rather than that which is still growing in the wild. Images were selected based on places where nature and civilization overlapped, in order to show a juxtaposition between the natural and the artificial, but also to show the synergy between them when they exist side by side. In order to show this synergy between the natural and the artificial, I selected a mixture of subjects where the focus is on either the natural, the artificial, or both. In several of the photos, where the plants grow through cracks or fences, the rebellious plant life is centered in the foreground, with the cement or fences serving as the background. This focus on the plants signifies the way they are ‘fighting back’ against the artificial environment around them. As a counter to this, several of the shots of well-manicured or landscaped plants have an artificial subject in the center of the shot; this shows the way the plants are forced to grow around the manmade objects, restrained based on the deliberate way they have been planted, trimmed, and pruned. Another method I used when selecting the shots was to frame them in a way that is different from how one would normally view them. All of these images are of things we can pass by every day, never giving them a second glance. Plant life around us often becomes part of the background, ignored and unconsidered. By capturing these images from above or below, it draws more attention to the image and gives it a stronger presence. Instead of simply seeing them the way they are seen every day, the images are viewed up close, from unusual angles, or in other ways that force the viewer to really consider the primary subject of each shot. Many of the shots were also chosen with a placement that draws the eye in certain directions. The angles of a tree trunk and the chain tied to it are aligned to guide the eye upwards to the point where the tree and chain intersect. The line of trees in a row guides the eye from the lower-left third of the shot to the upper-right in order to accentuate the way the trees are perfectly lined up. The branches covering the handicapped sign all reach in an upward angle towards the sign. Each of these angles ensures that the eye is drawn towards the most important subjects in the photo.

Composition Analysis: In the final photo of the vines growing through the chain link fence, I was attempting to show the way nature fights back against the constraints placed upon it. When people put up barriers to “fence-in” nature, it continues to grow and adapt itself to the obstacles in its environment. Since the vine itself is of lighter color, I tried to frame the shot with the darker, wild-growing plant life in the background to serve as ‘white space.’ I chose the angle shown here in order to envelop the vine in that empty space around the edges and in the center, between the two sections of vine. I also tried to align the vine around the rule of thirds, with the lower-left and upper-right tips of the vines marking the corners of the frame. This also kept the two segments of the vine in balance with each other, so that they seem to grow parallel towards the upper-right corner of the photo. This draws the eye along the line of the vines, indicating their direction of growth. I think the most important part of the image is the way the vine has become a part of the fence. Some of the other shots I took of the same vine showed it from different angles, but this straight-on angle makes the chain-links spread in a balance across the whole picture. This makes it impossible to consider the vines without seeing the fence itself and the way the vines are wrapped throughout it. Yet the fence is still part of the background, and the eye is drawn to the vines themselves as the primary focus of the picture.