Sheffield and Environs Landscape Project.
These pages will carry a series of representations of possible landscapes taken from around Sheffield. I would like people to comment on whether they perceive them as showing a landscape, part of a landscape, or something else and why they have made that decision. If possible further comments on which aspects or parts of the representation are more meaningful to you would be gratefully received.
The other images will be found under the ShELP section of ‘Pages’ to your right.
There are no right or wrong answers/comments to this.
A ring cairn on Big Moor, Peak District.
This page has the following sub pages.
Just to start things off…
I would say this is a classic wild landscape on moorland with the foreground being a archaeological feature – a ring cairn, and in the distance the horizon, all hallmarks of a typical landscape (picture?). The ring cairn is the dominant feature in the photo and it immediately gives the impression of this landscape being situated in the past, possibly over the present.
The tiny people to the right give some indication of movement, that this isn’t a static place and a hint as to when this taken, in the recent past.
I would say there are a number of diffrent landscapes depicted. Firstly the ‘wild’ landscape of Big Moor, with its ruggedness and openness to the elements, and Big moor in relation to the resk of the peaks. Secondly the landscape of the past, with reference to the ring cairn which is the defining feature. Thirdly the modern human element depicts modern human interaction with the landscape of big moor, and the peaks, but also is a reminder of past human activity in the area, which then links back to the structure of the ring cairn. The ring cairn is static, but the humans are not. This is a place where you can come, and you can leave, the landscape can be experienced as an approach or a departure…
When i first viewed this picture the “natural” landscape i.e. the moorland and the rolling hills in the distance were the first things i noticed. This picture appears to evoke deep connections with my traditional, classic view of landscape. Within this view the presence of the people in the middle distance and the cairn in the foreground play second fiddle to the wider context of the moor. This hierarchy of noticeability probably has something to do with scale and also my personal memories of being in this landscape.
The previous view of “a number of different landscapes [being] depicted,” is interesting to consider. The alternative to this is that we find one landscape encompassing different periods, activities and interactions, but that at heart can still be considered whole.
In this picture my eye is first drawn in by the depression in the grass which leads me into the ring, however once in the ring I feel prevented from going further. My eye retreats and I look to the horizon, I imagine sea beyond it. Then I look back at the landscape and see how the hills roll and I am reminded of waves; the curve of the circle of stones compliments this.
Once I’ve done this I notice the wet socked people in their raincoats and wonder who is leading them. I think of the many footsteps that have pressed upon the land and I’m drawn back to the start to the depression in the grass that first took me into the ring.