What is The New Topographic?

New topographics was a term made by William Jenkins in 1975, this word described a group of American Photographers whose pictures had a similar banal aesthetic, as they were formal, mainly black and white and of the urban landscape.

Most of the photographers associated with new topographics consisted of Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Nicholas Nixon, John Scott, Stephen Shore and Henry Wessel. These photographers were inspired by man-made objects, these were things like suburban housing, warehouses and parking lots which were all depicted in a sharp austerity. Topographics were a reaction to the growing unease about how the natural landscape was being eroded by industrial development, to which were later influencing other artists who became known as the Düsseldorf School of Photography.

Here is some of the work done by these artists:

As seen in their work above the main focus of the movement was to show the clear contrast between nature and urbanization, they wanted to show everyone how barren our man-made landscapes could be, and how the in a way could ruin our nature landscapes.