Adam Baker: Outside Article--Light in the Landscape

In the article “Sacred Landscapes and the Phenomenon of Light,” author Barbara A. Weightman describes the importance of light to religious experiences in nature, as it “evok[es] varied responses and representations” and affects perceptions of the surrounding geography. Indeed, it seems that lighting, primarily from the sun, has the ability to dramatically highlight certain features of the landscape while surrounding others in the shadows. As the sun completes its daily cycle from sunrise to sunset, the earth is constantly changing in appearance. There are, indeed, moments in which certain features of the land seem holier, especially when the sun’s rays appear to focus directly on one mountain peak otherwise enshrouded in fog, or when they hit just the dew drops on leaves along the canopy of a forest. There is something powerfully inspiring about those moments when the lighting is just a certain way. From a phenomenological approach, lighting and shadows are part of interacting with the environment. Through my photography, which allows me to essentially interact with my surroundings, I have come to find that lighting is largely responsible for generating the mood in a particular scene. Darkness in a forest, for example, is more associated with despair and uncertainty than direct illumination of a meadow of wildflowers.