The document summarizes responses from students in an advanced photography class who participated in a landscape photography project. They explored different definitions of landscape and how their views changed. Students photographed various natural and man-made areas and discussed wanting viewers to appreciate nature and environmental responsibility.

1. [re]Defining Landscape Challenging Cultural Assumptions about Seeing Nature

2. Advanced Photography students at Palo Alto HS visited the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge as part of an Environmental Education project sponsored by Fulbright-Australia. They explored cultural ideas about landscape and designed an exhibition for the school community to reflect on ways that we use and abuse nature as part of our daily lives.

3. This Landscape project has changed my views on the world around me. I realized that there is so much beauty around me and that I need to be more environmentally responsible to restore the beauty that our world has to offer. This project was a mind-blowing experience and I want people to realize that landscape is,… simply wonderful! Nick Robinson

4. I like to explore how our surroundings are ever changing. What we know today as landscape will not be what future generations consider landscape. We are forever destroying and preserving certain parts of our environment. I want to capture the feeling of those different views of landscape. Allison Peth

5. What is landscape? Before, it was only nature, and peaceful looking places. Yet, I learned that Nature can also be busy, bustling city streets. It can be old run-down buildings, and chipped statues. Nature is peaceful and conventional, yet busy and modern. This is all because Nature is the World. Melanie Wang

6. I enjoy printing in the darkroom so I took my original photo at the bottom and enlarged it into four quarters to emphasize the beauty in each section: the bird flying out of the frame, the abandoned hunting shed, the stretch of fence across the salt marsh, and the tonal grays of the sky above. I want viewers to see the simple beauty of Nature surrounding us all the time, and to appreciate and care for it more. Hilary Miller

7. My work reflects my playful and creative nature in the use of brightly colored pastels on my photos to draw people into my photos with color. I want to show the beauty of Nature and stress how meaningful it should be to each and every person, because it’s part of everything we are and do. Nora Brannen-Burt

8. I used what I learned from other students and from professional photographers to create my landscape images. The most challenging thing was to try and work outside of my initial definition. Seeing how professional photographers work and research their ideas really inspired my photography. I want viewers to be open-minded and see that Landscape can be more than trees and grass – which is what I used to think before I explored this idea of the many definitions of Landscape. Brianna Saenz

9. I went to Shoreline Park to explore landscape ideas. I noticed the number of different types of people enjoying themselves at the park and was astounded to see how many people of all ages spent their day absorbed in Nature, and how much they were enjoying themselves. Sahar Raz

10. All of my photos are from Donner Lake near Lake Tahoe. I didn’t take any pictures of the lake, but instead took pictures of the mountains around the lake. I found myself taking pictures of more specific subjects like trees, power lines, and rocks. Donner Lake was a new landscape for me to explore with my camera and apply some of the new ideas I learned about Landscape photography. Jonah Kornblah

11. Before I started shooting for this exhibit, I associated Landscape with just travel and sightseeing, not with everyday places I walk or drive past in my daily routine. I never recognized that people, buildings, or cars could be a part of landscape. I’ve always pictured landscape as natural scenes of plants or animals. I began to view the human landscape in a new light, and started contemplating the multi-faceted relationship between man and Nature. Winnie Ding

12. After taking landscape photographs, I would encourage people to go outside and look at the beauty of Nature first hand. This Landscape project forced me to analyze my current artistic style, and I began to understand how other people could view Landscape in many different ways than how I might see it. Allen Au

13. My definition of landscape includes, buildings, cars, people, not only wildlife and parks. I enjoyed looking at the smallest details that can frame a more interesting picture of the world around us. Every Landscape photo is different and unique because photographers create their own perspective and style. Cate Olsen

14. Readings from professional photographers opened my mind towards a wider range of ideas about Landscape photography. Research taught me about how diverse Landscape photography can be. I took an extra step. I took my camera to the beach at sunset and captured the landscape with dramatic lighting conditions. I also decided to take shots of a more man-made landscape by going to the top of a fifteen story building and using the view from up there to frame the landscape below. Catherine Chaing

15. We enjoyed working together from the start, including our field trip to the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge. Back in the darkroom we enjoyed printing together, then deciding how to mount our photos and arrange them in the gallery space. We decided to set up our own corner on the left side of the room, placing industrialized landscapes alongside natural landscape images. We want people to appreciate Nature and treat it with respect, not just as something to consume. Ali Bisset Hannah McGovern

16. I was exposed to many new ways to define “Landscape” and learned that it isn’t just trees and bushes, it can be cars and buildings as well. However, I found that I still favored traditional images of landscape because Nature seems to portray a sense of calmness that I always associated with “Landscape”. I hope that viewers will be aware of the multitude of definitions for Landscape after walking through our gallery. Virtually everything one sees with the human eye is part of the vast landscape in the many environments that surround our lives. Christine Yu

17. People often forget what a stunning place the world is, and how much we take for granted everyday. There is a special uniqueness about the beauty of the land we live on, and if each of us found a new appreciation in our personal surroundings, we could all help make the world a better place. Talia Kori

18. My landscape photos were shot from the window seat of planes traversing Australia and America last summer. The mirrored back of the case creates an optical illusion for a series of fisheye photographs of Australia that look like boxes when set against the glass. On the podium are a series of colored patterns of bark on the eucalyptus trees outside our library. I collected some of the leaves to frame the triptych. I’m drawn to the beauty of Nature everywhere I go. I want to share my fascination and respect for Nature, to inspire others to notice these visual gifts and commit to responsible lifestyles to preserve the environment for all creatures to enjoy now and in the future. Margo Wixsom