The New Topographics

New topographics was a term coined by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers (such as Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz) whose pictures had a similar banal aesthetic, in that they were formal, mostly black and white prints of the urban landscapes. The photographers associated with new topographics were inspired by the man-made surroundings, selecting subject matter that was all around. The collection includes photos from car parks, suburban housing and warehouses. These photos risen in response to the new postwar extensions.

Lewis Baltz

Lewis Baltz documents the changing American landscape of the 1970s in his series, “New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California.” The project’s 51 pictures depict structural details, walls at mid-distance, offices, and car parks of industrial parks. Contrast and geometry are important in these pictures, but what marks them as uniform is Baltz’s attention to surface texture and lifeless subject matter. Often displayed in a grid format, it is important to Baltz that his pictures be seen collectively as a group or series. The series format suits his desire that no one image be taken as more true or significant than another, encouraging the viewer to consider not just the pictures but everything outside of the frame as well, emphasizing the monotony of the man-made environment. The pictures themselves resist any single point of focus, framed as they are to present the scene as a whole without bringing attention to any particular element within.

Lewis Baltz was born in Newport Beach, California in 1945. He holds a BFA from San Francisco Art institute (1969) and an MFA from Claremont Graduate School (1971). Baltz was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1973 and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 1977. He has exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His work is in the collections of numerous institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; and the Art Institute of Chicago.

image analysis

This photograph ‘In the Desert’ by Lewis Baltz, is apart of a collection of photos consisting of black-and-white photographs that Baltz took of construction sites and abandoned areas in the northern Nevada desert region between 1977 and 1986. This black and white photo perfectly demonstrates the growth and development of landscapes shifting from nature having control of the plain to man made objects being planted onto those plains.

At first look, the contrast between the dark cables and the light desert ground is very intense. This helps emphasise the cables in the foreground, showing the viewer that the change happening in America is inevitable. However, after looking for longer, i see more industrialised objects in the background. Perhaps trucks or shacks. These blurred objects secretly support the new topographics as its showing the viewer that there are changes happening all around, not just the work that the cables imply.

The natural lighting causes little to no shadows cast over the image, this makes the background more solid, helping emphasise the contrast between the ground and the grass.

My take on the new topographics

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Editing

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Wynn Bullock was an American Photographer from Chicago, who was born in 1902. Bullock’s images often have a political meanings behind them. This image alone could have many meanings.

Sea palms are small plants that are often found near rock pools or small crevices by and/or on beaches. The image was taken at an angle to make the sea palms look like large palm trees that are on the edges of a cliff. The mist from the sea looks like a fog bank which helps further give the impression that the photographer took the image from a height.

The mist also is in the shape of a cross, and during the 1960s religion was a major part of society. However, religious views caused tension as many things that are accepted now were seen as inappropriate then. The image is quite sinister and the fact that the image is in black and white could highlight the fact that religion wasn’t always as it seemed. Christianity

The image was taken in America in 1968. During this year, America faced lots of civil unrest.

For example, America was in its 12th year of the Vietnam war. America was loosing and the number of fatalities was the highest out of the whole 20 years.

The Sea Palms could be seen as a representation of the fallen soldiers from the Vietnam war or they could be seen as the family members of the fallen men and be representing praying figures.

Plémont

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Both these images were taken at the bay in Plémont. One was taken between 1784-1786 by Earnest Baudoux and the other was taken in 2021 by me.

The main difference between both of the images is the rock face and how over time it has become more smooth due to the rock face falling and erosion.

Edited images

For this edit, I noticed that I was stood near where the Baudoux was stood when he took his image. This is why I lined up both images so the cliff lines up with each other to make it look like one mountain. The tides are linked together as an attempt to make a clean line.

Ansel Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West.

He was born in San Francisco, California, and lived between the years 1902 and 1984. During his life, he helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating “pure” photography which favoured sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph.

For more images and information about Adams click the link below.

Ansel Adams, Photographer – A Biographyhttps://www.anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/

Examples of Adams’ Work

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Image Analysis

The photo was taken from a vantage point known as the Diving Board, a rock section that drapes 3,500 feet over the valley floor. Adams had been looking for a perspective on the Half Dome that likewise passed on his feeling of marvel. When he arrived at the Diving Board, Adams had just two glass plate negatives left in his bag. The first of the two was uncovered with a yellow channel that he knew would obscure the sky somewhat. With the second, Adams utilized a dull red channel that fundamentally obscured the sky and consequently underlined the white snow and sparkling rock of the half dome.

What Is Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is an act of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences.

The two original images were taken from different angles but had the same main subject. This meant that I could juxtapose them together even though they were taken from different angles. My outcome is of the newer, colorful Beauport Bay with the older, black and white image of the Bay in the center. The newer image is 2-3 years old and the older one is roughly 70 years old so it brings a good idea of compare and contrast to the image.

Plan

Where – This photoshoot will be taken around Hautlieu and highlands.

What- I will be taking photographs of buildings and some 2D walls etc.

When- I will be doing this photo-shoot in the day time with the most light I could use.

How- This photos are taken head hight with the camera facing dead straight or angling upwards to windows and trees. The camera settings are such as- exposure – 80 – IOS – 400

Why- I am taking this photoshoot to capture some images to relate to the new topographic idea of photographs.

Contact sheets

Edits

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First of all , I started off with heightening the exposure level as well as creating more contrast with the blacks found in the lines of the buildings. Next I changed the dehaze amount in the image to make the image look more interesting to look at. The shine on the vents I make more clear but enough to look natural. The contrast and exposure within the clouds I have changed to look more exciting and natural.

Outcomes

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Evaluation

The outcome of these images relate to Lewis Baltz photography style. This is because he bases his work on 2D subjects such as walls of buildings, door ways, corner of buildings and most of his work is based in black and white. As for some of my work turning out to be better based in colour, some images such as the door ways are edited to black and white which links to Lewis’ style. The contrast in my images are high to express where the strong shadows are formed and where the highlights can be seen. Building seem to have a wide range of lines and shapes to be captured within the walls and windows. This makes a really nice 2D surface to photograph as edges and flat surfaces can be completely different shades to each other. If I was to do this photo-shoot again I would explore some more interesting areas to photograph such as town or bigger buildings such as a block of flats.

I took photos around the school area and around Highlands. I tried to find the best buildings that would fit in the new topographics photography area. This includes trying to find buildings that have loads of simple lines and outlines on them, mainly a boxy shape and a range of dark and light colours on them to show sharp contrast.

contact sheets;

my favourite images edited-

I really like how my images turned out. I tried to photograph simple sides of buildings that have many square shapes and simple outline to make the buildings fit perfectly into the new topographics theme. When I started to edit my images on light room I was inspired by Ansel Adams contrast pallet. His urban photography is filled with a variety of different black and white shades that make the contrast between white,grey and black extremely sharp. I wanted my images to contain all the different shades from loads of grey areas to very sharp areas of white and black around the images. I think I achieved this well by changing up the shadows and highlights until they matched perfectly together.

When it came to selecting my images I wanted them all to fit into one group therefore I picked the ones I thought worked the best together when presented one by one next to eachother.