What is a Landscape? The Short Version ...
- Chris Hilton
- Sep 21, 2025
- 1 min read
A landscape is not defined by it's format ... it can be shot in landscape, square, panoramic or letterbox, or even in a vertical letterbox as can sometimes be found in the Japanese
tradition.
For the purposes of a club on the coast. A landscape can also be a seascape.
A landscape doesn't just have to be about the natural environment ... it can also be about the 'built', or urban environment.
When is it just a picture of a tree? If an image of a tree, for example, fills the frame ... to the extent that you cannot get a feel for the environment within which it it sits; then it's just a tree. If you leave enough space in the image for the viewer to get a 'sense of place' about that tree, then you could call it a landscape.
The same is true of a building ... if the image allows the viewer to connect more widely to the urban space within which it sits ... then it could be said to be an urban landscape.
A more 'in depth' discussion with lots of examples and interesting links can be found here ...
