I have to admit one thing from the beginning. It is that I have no interest in the outdoors, nature or wildlife. However, despite this position I can appreciate landscape painting. I just have an issue with landscape photography.

This issue led me to ask myself, why? Well, I grew up in urban South London with parents who loved the city, therefore I was never introduced to the supposed joys of the country. Our walks were down the Kings Road, not down a country lane, from Battersea to Soho, not across the Peak District. Our mountain to climb was the escalators at Tooting Broadway station! I do not enjoy getting wet, or muddy. I don’t enjoy camping and have little if any interest in discomfort of any kind. I think that is okay to admit. I like the great indoors, over the outside alternative. This is my cultural DNA.

None of this is of any use to the landscape photographer. However, competent a photographer I may be, however much camera equipment I may own, I will never be a successful landscape photographer. That is not a defeatist attitude, it is just a fact. If you do not enjoy the great outdoors, you are never going to enjoy being in it, or documenting it. I always say that to find your area of photographic specialisation you have to find your passions and interests and then photograph those. It is not a difficult concept, but it can be difficult to do, if you do not have any passions or interests outside of cameras. This is easy for landscape photographers, as they have identified their passion. Often before photography is involved.

I often wonder if they are more interested in the outdoors than photography. That photography is just an excuse to go on an adventure. Am I being unfair here? Maybe, but let me put some evidence on the table to support my argument. Landscape photography is a process of solitude. The nature of making landscape photographs is one of getting away from people, making sure that you are on your own. Enjoying that state of being and embracing the silence. An ability to understand maps, the geography of a place, the names of hills, mountains, lakes and rivers is all useful. Landscape photography also requires a standard of physical fitness, alongside safety awareness. It is dictated by the weather and time of year, additional considerations that the landscape photographer has to consider. The sun rise and sun set also have to be taken into account. All of this is important and yet none of it has anything to do with photography. You are gong to have to enjoy all of these and master them before you even pick up a camera.

Now, let’s discuss clothing and transport. Sturdy boots, comfortable socks, layers of clothing to keep you warm, dry, cool, and visible are all essential. A reliable car capable of long drives and possible rough terrain is also a must. All of this requires financial investment and as with most things in life the more you pay the better the quality of item you get. Good outdoor clothing is not cheap, but needs to be purchased before you make your photographs, if you are going to go further than your local park. Investment in a sturdy camera bag that is comfortable to carry is another essential purchase. You will need food and drink containers, that are tough, but light. Maybe a lightweight tripod or mono pod. You might even need to buy a camera and appropriate lenses!

As a photographer for over twenty-five years I have not had to make any of these purchases or learn any of these additional skill-sets. Just as I haven’t had to learn how to cook to photograph food, design a building to photograph architecture, be famous to photograph a celebrity. However, I think that landscape photographers see what I do not want to do, as part of their enjoyment of making landscape photographs. In this case, in essence, the photograph becomes evidence of an investment of effort. Not that there is anything wrong with that, there isn’t, but it is the reason why I have a problem with landscape photography and not painting. No landscape painter works in the same way, they utilize different mediums, ways of seeing and making marks. Therefore their work has a sense of authenticity, of authorship. This is not the case for landscape photographers. The majority are visiting similar locations, using similar equipment and making similar looking work. I think that most landscape photographers are aware of this issue, hence their embracing of post production to ‘enhance’ their images. To make them their own. The issue is of course that so many use the same techniques that they defeat their intentions of originality.

This all leads me to believe that for many landscape photographers the planning, the process and the experience are as, and if not more important than the photograph itself. I may be wrong, and you may dismiss me as a landscape hating city boy, with no rural soul. You may be right, but before you condem me please take a moment to review the evidence!

Further Reading
Just to prove that I do not dismiss all outdoor photography, here are some of my favourite photographers, working in the big wide world:
https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2026/07/09/the-unp-top-20-rural-photographers/
https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2026/06/26/the-unp-top-20-landscape-photographers/

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

©Grant Scott 2026