Zero Footprint
A five-year project documenting the southern uplands of Scotland from one fixed location.
Introduction to the project and book by Keith Wilson:
55°09’23.3”N 004°10’33.9”W marks the location of a small patio that leads from the kitchen of a stone and timber eco home and studio, built in rural Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland. The venue is both remote and spectacular, with views across the Glenkens exceeding 25 miles, interrupted only by a handful of properties. It also happens to be the viewpoint for Zero Footprint, the photographic project of two landscape photographers, Ted Leeming and Morag Paterson, a setting that inspires the pursuit and expression of their artistic vision.
But why Zero Footprint?
In one respect Zero Footprint has a very literal definition in that every image in this book is taken from the same fixed point. Here, the photographers have stood, at different times over a five year period, spurred by the changing weather conditions – drifting veils of mist, a dense threatening cloud, winter’s first snow or a shaft of light – to reach for the camera and capture a unique moment in time. Such a restriction on position may seem to place an impossible limitation on the variety of images one can expect from a collection of landscapes. After all, most landscape photography books feature a variety of locations from any number of countries. With Zero Footprint, however, variety is determined not by distance travelled but by the photographers’ responses to the changing light and fickle weather of a single and very familiar location.
Let’s not forget that Zero Footprint is first and foremost a personal collection of photographs that are the result of Leeming and
Paterson’s response to their immediate environs, a test of their ability to capture a single view as a coherent portfolio of work. They have achieved this objective by responding to the small changes in the many elements that influence the final image, including light, weather, season, direction, time of day, atmosphere, flora and fauna. Over the five years of this project more than 5000 pictures have been taken, with fewer than 60 making the final cut for this book. Each is captioned simply with a time, date and compass bearing. In this respect, Zero Footprint has a message for all of us: that by choosing your point on the map, be it the local park, the street you live, or your front doorstep, a single viewpoint can be represented in a variety of ways simply by altering the direction and dimensions of the view through the camera lens and making a considered observation of your own surroundings.
It is this total absence of a journey, of a distance not travelled, that underlines the practical realities of adhering to the environmental definition of a zero footprint. For this reason the misty landscapes in Zero Footprint are more than just an indicator of the prevailing weather conditions in this part of Scotland. Whilst the misty images are a metaphor for the fragility of the environment, in some images the hills beyond are dwarfed by giant, wave-shaped clouds – a portent perhaps to the worst effects of climate change if society fails to reduce its carbon footprint.
With their portfolio of evocative and stirring landscapes, Leeming and Paterson have shown us that a zero footprint can lead to a greater understanding and much deeper appreciation of our own environment.
Read MoreIntroduction to the project and book by Keith Wilson:
55°09’23.3”N 004°10’33.9”W marks the location of a small patio that leads from the kitchen of a stone and timber eco home and studio, built in rural Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland. The venue is both remote and spectacular, with views across the Glenkens exceeding 25 miles, interrupted only by a handful of properties. It also happens to be the viewpoint for Zero Footprint, the photographic project of two landscape photographers, Ted Leeming and Morag Paterson, a setting that inspires the pursuit and expression of their artistic vision.
But why Zero Footprint?
In one respect Zero Footprint has a very literal definition in that every image in this book is taken from the same fixed point. Here, the photographers have stood, at different times over a five year period, spurred by the changing weather conditions – drifting veils of mist, a dense threatening cloud, winter’s first snow or a shaft of light – to reach for the camera and capture a unique moment in time. Such a restriction on position may seem to place an impossible limitation on the variety of images one can expect from a collection of landscapes. After all, most landscape photography books feature a variety of locations from any number of countries. With Zero Footprint, however, variety is determined not by distance travelled but by the photographers’ responses to the changing light and fickle weather of a single and very familiar location.
Let’s not forget that Zero Footprint is first and foremost a personal collection of photographs that are the result of Leeming and
Paterson’s response to their immediate environs, a test of their ability to capture a single view as a coherent portfolio of work. They have achieved this objective by responding to the small changes in the many elements that influence the final image, including light, weather, season, direction, time of day, atmosphere, flora and fauna. Over the five years of this project more than 5000 pictures have been taken, with fewer than 60 making the final cut for this book. Each is captioned simply with a time, date and compass bearing. In this respect, Zero Footprint has a message for all of us: that by choosing your point on the map, be it the local park, the street you live, or your front doorstep, a single viewpoint can be represented in a variety of ways simply by altering the direction and dimensions of the view through the camera lens and making a considered observation of your own surroundings.
It is this total absence of a journey, of a distance not travelled, that underlines the practical realities of adhering to the environmental definition of a zero footprint. For this reason the misty landscapes in Zero Footprint are more than just an indicator of the prevailing weather conditions in this part of Scotland. Whilst the misty images are a metaphor for the fragility of the environment, in some images the hills beyond are dwarfed by giant, wave-shaped clouds – a portent perhaps to the worst effects of climate change if society fails to reduce its carbon footprint.
With their portfolio of evocative and stirring landscapes, Leeming and Paterson have shown us that a zero footprint can lead to a greater understanding and much deeper appreciation of our own environment.
