A.O.N.B. (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) 1982 - 1984

Curator: Keith Arnatt’s photograph, dryly titled "A.O.N.B. (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty)", presents a figure gazing across a river towards a dilapidated building. Editor: My first thought? Bleak beauty. That muted palette, the stillness of the water... there's a palpable sense of melancholy, a quiet abandonment. Curator: Exactly. Arnatt's work often explored the gap between expectation and reality, especially concerning how we perceive landscape. The title is ironic; the scene is hardly picturesque in a conventional sense. It's more about the social construction of "beauty." Editor: It challenges the very notion of a designated 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty', doesn't it? Is beauty something prescribed, or is it found even in decay? The lone figure almost seems to be contemplating that very question. Curator: And, by implication, how institutions like museums and tourist boards shape our understanding of what is "worth" seeing and preserving. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Editor: It does. It makes you see the world differently. A bit sadder, maybe, but definitely more aware.