Landschap met een rij bomen before 1899

Landschap met een rij bomen, or Landscape with a row of trees, is a photograph made by Alexandre, sometime between 1855 and 1925. As we consider this landscape, we might consider how representations of nature are never neutral. Instead they are always connected to cultural, social, and political ideas. This image, with its sombre tones, resonates with the late 19th and early 20th century interest in the sublime, and in evoking strong emotional responses to the natural world. It presents a very specific perspective, in that the vantage point is not only dominated by the trees, but also seems to be taken from ground level. As such it reframes our notions of scale as we consider our relationship with the environment. Alexandre’s ‘Landscape with a row of trees’ invites us to contemplate the profound interconnectedness of nature, identity, and perception. It speaks to our emotional response to the world around us, and encourages us to consider how we shape, and are shaped by, our environment.