The Poacher - A Hare in View, (Suffolk) c. 1883 - 1888

"The Poacher - A Hare in View, (Suffolk)" (c. 1883 - 1888) by Peter Henry Emerson (1856 - 1936) is a platinum print photograph depicting a poacher with his dog in the English countryside. Emerson, a pioneer of naturalism in photography, aimed to capture the beauty of the natural world through his art. This work, housed at The Art Institute of Chicago, showcases Emerson's signature style, emphasizing detail, texture, and the authenticity of rural life, as seen in the depiction of the poacher's working clothes and the dog's alert stance. The image's composition, with its focus on the figures in the vast landscape, evokes a sense of isolation and the human's interaction with the wild.