Anything which elevates the mind is sublime.
Greatness of matter, space, power, virtue or
beauty, are all sublime.
– John Ruskin
To experience sublime natural beauty is to confront the total inadequacy of language to describe what you see. Words cannot convey the scale of a view that is so stunning it is felt.
– Eleanor Catton
Friendship is a serious affection;
the most sublime of all affections,
because it is founded on principle,
and cemented by time.
– Mary Wollstonecraft
For most of us, there is only the unattended moment, the moment in and out of time, the distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight, the wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning, or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply that it is not heard at all, but you are the music, while the music lasts.
– T.S. Eliot
What are the scenes of nature that elevate the mind
and produce the sublime sensation?
…the hoary mountain, the solitary lake,
the aged forest and torrent falling over rocks.
– Hugh Blair, lecture notes from 1783
Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.
– Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason
QUESTION:
What sublime places have you visited?
Please let us know in the comments.
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EXHIBITIONS
CHILDREN
Museo degli Innocenti
Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, 13
Florence, Italy
Fri, May 19, 2023 – Sun, Oct 8, 2023
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ICONS
Museo Franz Mayer
Av. Hidalgo 45, Centro Histórico
Mexico City, Mexico
Wed, Jun 7, 2023 Wed, Sep 20, 2023
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STEVE McCURRY
Semper Depot
Lehárgasse 6-8
Vienna, Austria
Fri, Jul 7, 2023 – Sun, Sep 24, 2023
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THE EYES OF HUMANITY
Leica Galerie Stuttgart
Calwer Straße 41
Stuttgart, Germany
Fri, Jul 14, 2023 – Sat, Sep 30, 2023
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LUZ Y SOMBRAS
Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Español
La Antigua, Guatemala
Sun, Aug 13, 2023 – Mon, Nov 13, 2023
Steve McCurry Curated 
28 replies on “Finding the Sublime”
Wow!!
Love your pictures. Mussoorie and Dalhousie in India are perfect places to visit 🙂
On a cold, overcast day in Lucerne, Switzerland, I hiked up to a clearing on Mt Pilatus, usually busy with people, but almost empty on this day, because the cogwheel railway wasn’t working. Suddenly, there was a view, where before there had just been fog. Looking out over Lake Lucerne with clouds moving across it, and beyond, the Alps, in this quiet spot was a sublime experience. The walk through the autumn forest, going down, sometimes over springy ground thick with pine needles formed over centuries, was also wonderful.
Steve McCurry is one of my favorite photographers. He inspired me to become a professional photographer 20 years ago, and today his images still bring me the imaginations of the world I have not seen.
Steve McCurry is a living legend. He is photography what like Paul McCartney is to music. We should appreciate this master of his craft.
Just entrancing! Thank you for your fine work all these years so we can see this magnificent world of different cultures!
Almost ever morning I experienced the sublime by looking out of my front door at the Organ Mountains in New Mexico.
Thank you so much for sharing your magnificent photographs.
Maybe Carcassonne. Thanks for sharing!
Sublime is love for nature and humans. Sublime photography is capturing moments of of your love to share.
I would love to have these images cycling on my computer. So much wonder and beauty! I have found the sublime in Sedona, Az. It feels like the ancients are sharing the place with me. Also, the old growth forest in Olympia National Park. Forest bathing at its best.
Jeanne Marklin
Ravello, Italy entranced me. Also there, is The Villa Cimbrone … what a delight!
Your photographs are epic!
Wonderful.
Paris.
Once, alone at sea in my little 14footer. The awesomeness of the ocean and the sky – nearly 70 years ago, but a glimpse of that feeling can still be called back.
Standing on the side of the road in Kenya looking out in awe of the view of the Rift Valley before me!
Entardecer na beira do lago do Horto Florestal de São Paulo/BR. Também olhar suas fotos maravilhosas, obrigado!
Arriving in Venice, sailing along the Grand Canal and watching the much dreampt of waters and Palazzi’s opening up before my eyes…
God has blessed you with a magnificent eye for the beauty of His earth and His people. Thank you for sharing your captivating images. 🙂
Extraordinary photographs. Sublime is absolutely fitting.
Sao Jorge in the Azores. Descending from misty heights to the fajas far below.
Every windless day in front of my house the rocks float in the reflected clouds. Ah!
Every windless day in front of my house the rocks float in the reflected clouds. Ah!
Vielen Dank für die eindrucksvollen Momente.
Auch ich habe einige wirklich prägende Ort sehen dürfen. Am allermeisten hat mich eine Tour mit einem Nativ-American durch das Monument Valley beeindruckt!
My sublime moment was in Ilhéu de Vila Franca, Azores.
Mr. Steve McCurry, I love your work.
Thank you!
Teresa Paula Belo, Portugal
Many times, the sublime exits only in the photographer’s eye.
Mount Washington, in the White Mountains, Presidential Range of New Hampshire in winter. Looking up from outside the Bretton Arms Inn on a moonless night, the stars were so bright against the black of space. The snow on the mountains providing its own light of sorts. 30 years ago now, and I have never forgotten it.
Many times I’ve experienced the sublime moment, they are all around us you just have to open your eyes, stop thinking of problems, what you have to do, and what happened yesterday.
Rio de Janeiro!
I love the sublime. I’ve been to Lhasa and a 4 day bus trip to the border of Nepal. I’ve been to Kashmir stayed on a Dal Lake houseboat, twice! All very sublime. Love your pix! Mark