Exercise 3.1 : Reflecting on the picturesque

What does picturesque actually mean?


pic·tur·esque
  [pik-chuh-resk]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

visually charming or quaint, as if resembling or suitable for a painting: a picturesque fishing village.

2.

(of writing, speech, etc.) strikingly graphic or vivid; creating detailed mental images: a picturesquedescription of the Brazilian jungle.

3.

having pleasing or interesting qualities; strikingly effective in appearance: a picturesque hat.

This is the official definition from dictionary.reference.com (1). For me, Picturesque in this context means a landscape that is worthy of a picture, a scene that you would see is a picture or a painting as it i the ideal scene to make a viewer want to go there.
As with our very first exercise in this course on our own views of 'Landscape', I feel the two go very much hand in hand. The ideal picturesque countryside would be pretty much as I described in that preconceived idea of a landscape. A tranquil scene of undisturbed, unscathed and serene nature. Where you can almost see the silence. This could be a beautiful countryside of lush greenery, vibrant flowers, blue skies and trickling streams or even a white sandy beach with palm trees and lapping waters. Either way it is a scene that looks particularly inviting, free from noise, hustle and bustle and hoards of people.
Here is a Google images search result of the word picturesque:

Google images result of 'Picturesque' search

In my own personal experiences, this idea of a picturesque landscape have really influenced my own practice of landscape photography. As you can see in my last post, a lot of my own photography is taken at the beach or in beautiful country scenery. Living near the coast, the beauty of the beach and especially sunsets, are something that I will try to photograph all year round. I enjoy this as people like to see this natural beauty and I tend to take photos that not only I will enjoy but also that friends and family will enjoy too.
I also enjoy photographing the area that I live. South Wales has a vast amount of castle and ruins and I love to get out and photograph them.

Candleston Castle - AlCallow

Up until now I probably wouldn't have used the term 'Picturesque' to describe this kind of photography but I think that I have learned that something being picturesque doesn't necessarily conform to the general terms and views, it can a;so be your own personal view of beauty and to me there is something remarkably beautiful about these ancient buildings.



1) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/picturesque