End frame: East Branch, Middle Brook, Somerset County, New Jersey by William Neill

Alastair Ross

Landscape photographer based in Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District in England. I tend towards landscape, environmental and nature photography. The Peak District, Scotland and especially the Outer Hebrides of Scotland are all places that I love to photograph when I get the opportunity. Also enjoys whisky and campervans.

alastairrossphotography.co.uk

Two wrong assumptions about people and place bring me to my selection for End Frame. A selection that challenged me to think more closely about both and to put aside those assumptions to find out more.

When you think of New Jersey, you may well, like me, think of the heavy industry, the casinos of Atlantic City, the songs of Bruce Springsteen and maybe even “The Sopranos”. Coupled with its proximity to New York, if you didn’t know any better (as I don’t), you would assume that one of the most densely populated states in the United States is just urban sprawl, turnpikes and factories.

Pushing beyond my stereotype-like assumptions of New Jersey, a cursory glance at a map shows you it's actually quite green. In fact, it calls itself “The Garden State”. On closer investigation, aside from mountain ranges and forest, the state has an almost Venetian like a lagoon with some interesting salt marshes that I’m sure if I was more local I would be paying them some serious attention.