A little over a year ago National Geographic photographer Jimmy Chin, and writer Grayson Schaffer, coined the phrase “Little Person, Big Landscape!”, to describe the type of image that appeals most to Instagram users. We’ve seen it before: a single figure dwarfed by mountains, forests, wildflowers, or even snow. This genre is having a moment. There’s even a hashtag on Instagram- #tinypeopleinbigplaces- with nearly 80,000 posts. It can be cheap and trite in the wrong hands. But when done right, it’s a unique experience.
We’ve curated this stunning exhibition of images from the offset collection to defend “Little Person, Big Landscape!” These pictures, which take us from Italy to Jordan to Bolivia and Iceland, transform a familiar trope into something new.
The best photos of “Little Person, Big Landscape!” are inspiring. In a time when we’re experiencing tragedy and environmental destruction on a large scale, they remind us what is out there if we only dare to look. These photos are comforting but also make us feel butterflies.
Looking at the history of art, we can see that “Little Person, Big Landscape!” is not just a trendy phrase. Romantic painters in the 19th century often used this technique to convey the sublime of nature and to show our smallness before her unstoppable power. Carleton Watkins – who some believe to be the father in American landscape photography – used it occasionally. So did Ansel Adams.
Most photos on Instagram aren’t as good as this. If even one of every 100 “Little Person, Big Landscape!” photos makes us stop and take a closer look at our planet, then it is worth it.