A quick note on the work of Justin Partyka who is mentioned in this section, and some general thoughts on pictorials generally.
It is only when looking at Partyka’s website that I realise I have seen his work before. Rather annoyingly though I cannot remember where. It is not in any of the books in my library and I cannot see that he has appeared in the BJP recently, so where I have seen his work – a photograph of a man in blue overalls and waders working in a reed bed is especially familiar (this is unfortunately not a very good copy) – remains a mystery:
Why he is mentioned in this section on pictirialism is a bit of a puzzle as it seems to me his work is the very antithesis of pictorials, which is indeed one of the very reasons why I find his work so interesting. As I have already commented I do not find the singular-image tradition at all appealing. This work engages because it is about more than just the view. It is landscape photography, in so far as the environment and topography are important, but it is also documentary, portraiture, social comment. That is what interests me.
I did some time ago have a look at some of my local camera clubs to see if any might be worth joining. I decided not to follow up with any of them precisely because there is such an emphasis on the singular-image rather than any deeper engagement with the subject matter. I did briefly associate with a less formal local group who have weekly jaunts to local places of interest. Again though the emphasis was more on finding a picturesque view or subject and producing single images that were all too often over-processed in Photoshop or Lightroom, including over-use of the dreaded HDR. I found it all too unfocused and unstructured.
That said, one artist mentioned in this section who tends to work with single images whom I do find interesting is Jeff Wall. At one level I suppose his work can be seen as conforming to some of the norms of pictorials but I think he goes much further than that, creating much more interesting narratives and engaging with more than just a faithful reproduction of a given landscape or location.
Mark Robinson's OCA Landscape, Place & Environment Blog 