Popular Photography, Scenery Values, and Visual Assessment

Early twentieth-century amateur photography helped shape contemporary notions of beautiful rural scenery. Photography magazines counseled the American public to choose specific sorts of landscapes in which to make pictures; their detailed instructions combined with camera manufacturer advice to create an aesthetic emphasizing such spatial features as free-standing trees, open middle distances, and herds of cows while banning utility poles and other industrial items. Gradually, beautiful rural scenery came to be identified with particular sorts of views accessible from motor cars.