#Scenery

A cyclorama is a colossal sheet lurking backstage, promising infinite vistas but delivering nothing more than a white canvas lit by lights. It changes moods with a flick of illumination, worshipped as a deity during performances but condemned to the dumpster the moment the curtain falls. Its bulk is a staff’s nightmare as they wrestle to roll it up, whispering eternal regrets of "if only it were lighter…".

A landscape is a cultural contraption that rearranges nature and artifice as if composing a painting for aesthetic consumption. Observers praise its "beauty" while conveniently ignoring the interests and power structures behind it. Gardens and urban designs alike are mere pieces on a board, reflecting the desires of those who arrange them. Behind every picture-perfect moment lies the ruthless choreography of selection and exclusion. What is touted as a utopia is nothing more than a theater for escapism.

Landscape photography is the grand delusion of camera and lens, trying to replicate a nonexistent perfection of nature. On location, however, what actually awaits is muddy boots buffeted by wind and strangers' tripods masquerading as fine decor. The photographer, breathless, insists 'This is the real summit,' while chasing that one Instagram frame in which reality vanishes. Mountains and seas stand silent, dutifully aligning themselves in the frame only to be reborn with digital filters. The final image is the pinnacle of aesthetic artifice, masterfully concealing the tiresome inconveniences of the real world.