Lewis Baltz was a visual artist and photographer who was a significant figure in the new topographics movement. His work has appeared in museums, exhibitions and has been published in books.
Technical - The choice of black and white is repeated throughout this movement, it creates depth in the photograph as it has reduced the colours to shades which changes the direction of focus onto the tones in the photograph. The high resolution and natural daylight captures every detail in a bland scene and exaggerates the dullness and precise form of man made structures.
Visual - The photographs serves an aesthetic quality through the minimal shapes and lack of subjects which allows the viewer to concentrate on the straight and rigid lines that contrast with broken and curved wires. Black and white adds to the minimal theme with basic shades.
Conceptual - The photo reflects the movement away from natural landscapes with its banal and ugly qualities yet it finds satisfaction through its minimal style. It also highlights the reality of the progress of man, and the destruction of natural landscapes that have been replaced with flat concrete streets and rectangular buildings infested with wires, pipes, plastic and metal. It could be argued that the concept of the photograph is accepting this development of order and convenience.
Photo shoot - When I went out for this photo shoot I stuck to old run down buildings with interesting characteristics, colours and objects within them with rigid lines and edges.
final images -
I've chosen pictures that have a lot of simple basic shapes in them, some more than others. Each photo has ugly and banal features, especially in the buildings as they have been stripped and worn down to what this society perceive as ugly. This statement is reinforced in the last image where it has hazard and construction signs, signalling that it has no uses and only dangerous qualities to it. I reduced the colours in each picture, most to just black and white to reinforce the simplicity that the structure of each picture reflects.
Lewis Baltz was a visual artist and photographer who was a significant figure in the new topographics movement. His work has appeared in museums, exhibitions and has been published in books. Technical - The choice of black and white is repeated throughout this movement, it creates depth in the photograph as it has reduced the colours to shades which changes the direction of focus onto the tones in the photograph. The high resolution and natural daylight captures every detail in a bland scene and exaggerates the dullness and precise form of man made structures. Visual - The photographs serves an aesthetic quality through the minimal shapes and lack of subjects which allows the viewer to concentrate on the straight and rigid lines that contrast with broken and curved wires. Black and white adds to the minimal theme with basic shades. Conceptual - The photo reflects the movement away from natural landscapes with its banal and ugly qualities yet it finds satisfaction through its minimal style. It also highlights the reality of the progress of man, and the destruction of natural landscapes that have been replaced with flat concrete streets and rectangular buildings infested with wires, pipes, plastic and metal. It could be argued that the concept of the photograph is accepting this development of order and convenience. Photo shoot - When I went out for this photo shoot I stuck to old run down buildings with interesting characteristics, colours and objects within them with rigid lines and edges.
final images -
I've chosen pictures that have a lot of simple basic shapes in them, some more than others. Each photo has ugly and banal features, especially in the buildings as they have been stripped and worn down to what this society perceive as ugly. This statement is reinforced in the last image where it has hazard and construction signs, signalling that it has no uses and only dangerous qualities to it. I reduced the colours in each picture, most to just black and white to reinforce the simplicity that the structure of each picture reflects.
