A landscape isn’t something we find occurring naturally in nature for a landscape is in the eye of the beholder. We create and shape landscapes in our minds

Landscapes change through our eyes, interpreting it in ways it isn’t. We define them as wild, desolate, melancholic depending on our experiences and memories. Take mountains – they’re the result of geological formations and our flights of fancy. Mountains don’t kill, don’t spark joy – they sit there and transform over millennia.

The concept of a landscape, therefore, is a snapshot resulting from our emotions and imagination when faced with a millions-year-old nature. Incidentally, the Alps are actually fairly young as they only formed 65 million of years ago. A landscape is a creative act orchestrated by our brain employing cultural filters, excluding certain elements but adopting steps leading to the bigger picture. We shape landscapes based on our upbringing. When we observe a landscape, what we’re doing is taking a walk in our mindscape.

Imagine an old castle. A ruin, maybe. “What a stunning building!” Where does that reaction come from? Because the idea a castle is beautiful is deeply ingrained in our brains. Yet we forget its main purpose was to be a defensive bastion and to inspire fear. Aesthetics can standardise our views and, thus, we too can be standardised by the aesthetics imposed by the tourism industry.