day 2: for day two I took off up the galtee mountains again and, like yesterday, my exploratory work started in an unplanned way. as well as thinking about landscape and lens, i wanted to take a quick selfie on the mountains for a FB post. again I was struck by the idea myself as framer of the landscape and thought that this might be worth exploring in some way on my hike.
landscape: framed and framer: so … continuing to frame the landscape as i usually do, i also changed the camera to selfie mode and recorded the body that framed it at the position it was framed (as the process continued i became increasingly aware of how my framing might reflect back on me as i took the shot). initially I thought that they might work well together in pairs as they are quite forwarding in terms of formal and informal composition – linking into ideas i have been thinking about relating to real and idealised notions of landscape. I am now thinking that they might work also as a series of framers – maybe because they raise questions about why the images are framed at the odd angle shots with hands and and glimpses of the body in the landscape … here are some of the images
landscape: framed and framer
landscape framer
reflection: i think my work today feeds into lots of things I have been researching in terms of lens as an embodied practice but what stands out for me is the primacy of the framer in the construction of landscape and highlights how gender, ethnicity, age, class and all cultural constructs of the body are at play with the framing of the landscape. i have read a lot of texts supporting this but these images of me framing the landscape seems to say it loud and clear … lens is an embodies practice and as such it frames the landscape according to the body that frames – physically and culturally … what will tomorrow bring?
elaine crowe 
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