Justin Lowery, the best landscape photographer of the current times?

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Austin Grangers photographs are much better than the ones by Justin Lowery, IMHO.

It seems that Austin Granger is concerned with his sociocultural, ecological and economical environment.

He discovers beauty in decay and abandonedness.

But it's not the usual romantic kitsch with ruins or farmhouses but the conditions of life.

In each picture he shows on his website you recognize its necessity of being taken.

And it seems he knows how to regulate aperture, exposure and development.

http://www.austingranger.com/evidence

[pepeguitarra]

I think Austin is pretty good too. I believe Justin is in his mid or late 20's. There is still some time for hin to develop his full potential, but he is definitely on his way.

[jp]

I was waiting for this thread to blow up. Some bad weather and drinking and sure enough...

Justin seems technically good but lacking an individual style. If he's young, it may yet happen and technique won't stop him. To me, "best" is a mix of craft and art and many are richer in the art aspect and I won't judge craft based on a few web photos. I too live in an area with many postcard scenes done and redone by eager and creative crowds every year. I refuse to lament everything is already photographed because that doesn't matter. Some of the good photographers we speak of like Burtynsky, Eliot Porter, Austin, seem to also add excitement/mood and feeling of their own seeing to an already technically perfect photo. We recognize this as photographers sort of like you can tell the difference in excitement/feeling in music between a technically perfect but sterile studio recording and a well recorded live performance.

[Helcio J Tagliolatto]

I was waiting for this thread to blow up. Some bad weather and drinking and sure enough...

hahaha! Well said!

Let me contribute: my favorite LF landscape photographer, for now:

https://clydebutcher.com/

[John Layton]

My two cents - what Justin Lowery has in spades is a great strategy of connectivity…the energy of youth, enthusiasm, and a willingness/technical savvy to embrace current technologies to reach out to his audience and take them along with him on his journey. I think this counts for a lot (but maybe too much?) these days.

[Michael Graves]

A lot of blatant copying of Fatali's images and overall style. Darn near outright plagiarism in specific instances. Fatali shot 8x10 and really knew how to print with meticulous detail. No question about that. But whether or not one likes that kind of overtly sugary genre is a personal choice. I find it rather predictable and touristy. Same corny marketing titles on images. In this case, the monochrome work comes across slightly better for me. Just sayin'... Hopefully, he'll break out of the copycat mold and do something truly personal over time.

So, Drew? Other than that, how do you feel about it?

[aaronnate]

Oups, I didn't know the story, sorry.

Now that I read https://loe.org/shows/segments.html?...35&segmentID=9 "The Ethics of Nature Photography", I understand you better.

Happily he took some photographs before he filled the arch with smoke ;-)

- But this discussion is perhaps a little bit hypocritical: think of all the thousands and millions of tourists who fly in with big aeroplanes, take a daily shower or bath, bring in their plastic astronaut nutrition or plastic sleeping bags and clothes and tents etc every day, only to document that they were here and there, often with smartphones made in China sweatshops, with children digged Coltan from Africa etc. https://annemckinnell.com/blog/wp-co..._4-Edit_lg.jpg

Perhaps Fatalis behavior is only a symptom. As far as I read the workshop members didn't complain when he lit his fires.

Is there a pristine nature, still? - Corresponding to landscape photographers, eg. Justin Lowery: why do they / we search something like pristine nature / motifs instead of documenting the impact of men like Fatalis on landscape? I think the mentioned website above is a better documentation of a socio-ecological environment / biotope than the Velvia-Cibachrome-IMac prints of a Fatalis or a Lowery. They're only small details, cutouts, a suspension of reality, highly subjective, kitsch, Bob Ross (I adore him), an escape from reality, towards (simplified) shapes and (a few compleasant) colors and esthetical structures. - Is it a question of religion? Do we search something that is already lost?

Fatali is and always will be a victim of his own monstrous ego. Yes, I know this from first hand experience. But, like Lik, he is a very good marketer. His workshop attendies should have been fined as well.

I would take any mention of his printing his own work with a grain of salt. Hae made those claims before and I know where he was having his stuff printed.

[pepeguitarra]

My two cents - what Justin Lowery has in spades is a great strategy of connectivity…the energy of youth, enthusiasm, and a willingness/technical savvy to embrace current technologies to reach out to his audience and take them along with him on his journey. I think this counts for a lot (but maybe too much?) these days.

I agree, Justin is a trained graphic artist, so, he knows the rules of design. He develops and prints his own design (not sure about the FujiVelvia50 or color in general). He is classic and follows the rules. Remember what Picasso said once: "To break the rules, you need to know the rules." In a matter of time, when Justin gets away from the trend of doing what is fashion, what others have done, what others are doing, and breaks into his own in soul style, he will be able to create meaningful messages in his photography. I would say, he must go SOLO, to cut his influences on his way to discover his own style.

[Thad Gerheim]

Is there a pristine nature, still? - Corresponding to landscape photographers, eg. Justin Lowery: why do they / we search something like pristine nature / motifs instead of documenting the impact of men like Fatalis on landscape? I think the mentioned website above is a better documentation of a socio-ecological environment / biotope than the Velvia-Cibachrome-IMac prints of a Fatalis or a Lowery. They're only small details, cutouts, a suspension of reality, highly subjective, kitsch, Bob Ross (I adore him), an escape from reality, towards (simplified) shapes and (a few compleasant) colors and esthetical structures. - Is it a question of religion? Do we search something that is already lost?[/QUOTE

Climate change has a different version of pristine. The national forest service's policy of let the forest burn has changed ecosystems let alone a pretty postcard photo op. In the Selway-Bitterroot wilderness hundreds of thousands of acres of forest are left to burn, much of that are ancient cedar groves that are 600 to 800 years old. Fatali's stunt is extremely small in the big picture of what big government is doing. We do have some obsession with fire, don't we?

[aaronnate]

A lot of blatant copying of Fatali's images and overall style. Darn near outright plagiarism in specific instances. Fatali shot 8x10 and really knew how to print with meticulous detail. No question about that. But whether or not one likes that kind of overtly sugary genre is a personal choice. I find it rather predictable and touristy. Same corny marketing titles on images. In this case, the monochrome work comes across slightly better for me. Just sayin'... Hopefully, he'll break out of the copycat mold and do something truly personal over time.

This is crap. By your definition anyone shooting BW of El Cap or Half dome is plagiarising AA. I live in these areas and what you call Plagiarism is just the way the scenery is around here on many days. Kudos to anyone who is able to capture it. The Southwest US is not a large area and people are going to take shots of the same things. Are Muench (Marc or David), Ladd, Dejolie, Dykinga, and numerous others plagiarising Fatali or has he plagiarised them?

To the OP

Lowry makes some good images. I like many of them. I live in the Southwest and he does a good job of recording the light here. There is no best in the photography world, only who you prefer. For me it is AA and Sexton in BW. Rowell, Dejoli, and Dykinga in color. But, I feel I can learn from many many others.