A borrowed horizon

Original non-fiction-style practice text.

For the climbing display, a photographer framed each participant against the mountain skyline. The resulting pictures made the practice wall appear close to the summit. In fact, it stood beside the visitor centre, with a car park behind it. The photographer offered the images to the instructor for an advertisement.

The instructor liked the expressions on the climbers' faces but asked for a wider photograph too. She wanted families to see the low wall, the instructor standing alongside and the centre's entrance. The activity was designed as an introduction, not a high-altitude expedition. A parent who imagined a remote climb might avoid booking a session which would actually suit their child.

They kept one dramatic close-up as well as the wider view. Neither image altered a climber's achievement. Together, they made it harder to misunderstand the setting. The instructor called the skyline a borrowed horizon: it belonged to the place, but the photograph had lent its scale to something much smaller.

Explain what the instructor means by calling the skyline “a borrowed horizon”.