Beautifully put:
“These 5 pictures are part of a long-term series I am working on based around the romantic sublime.
The initial inspiration for this series came from one particular painting; ‘ Monk By The Sea’ by Casper David Friedrich.
I don’t particularly go out looking for these pictures rather they seem to find me at times when I am shooting other work. The idea is always in the back of my mind so I suppose subconsciously I am looking out for these opportunities but I like that the experience is organic, it
seems to somehow fit the subject matter.
Edmund Burke said “Terror Is the ruling principle of the sublime”. it is this and the idea that we exist separately and at mercy to nature that I am exploring.
These images represent nature as a church, something at once both beautiful and terrifying. The presence of man (wether that be a figure or a subtle hint of architecture) represents our defiance against nature but also our fragility within it.
All these themes were explored by the practitioners of the romantic and the sublime, what I think makes my work new is that we have moved into a different time where science has propelled us to a place where we exercise more and more control over evolution. Nature still
rages on as before but man is seemingly more ambitious to be the ruling force.”
Spencer Murphy