Lewis Baltz Image

My Image

In both images, the lighting used is almost identical, Lewis’s image was lighted by natural light almost directly above the building being photographed. This is shown by the dark shadows being created on the door by the top of the door frame in both images. In my image, I used an aperture of f.9. This is to allow the whole door and texture of the surrounding surfaces to be in focus and sharp. Similarly to this, Lewis’s photograph appears to have been taken at a similar aperture because the door is in focus, as well as the texture on the surrounding surface, showing a moderately high aperture was used. The shutter speed i used was fairly high because if the bright natural light at the time the image was taken. Lewis Baltz may have used a similar shutter speed if the intensity of the light was similar to when i took my image. Also, the ISO is fairly low in both images, creating minimal grain within the image, making them more clear and crisp.

Both images use black and white to emphesise contrast. Lewis’s photograph was taken on a black and white camera with no post editing, where as i took my photo on a coloured DSLR camera, and edited it in post to appear in black and white. Both images have a large tonal range, with bright highlights on the walls and dark shadows at the top of the doors. The framing and shapes within both images are almost identical, the camera is facing directly towards the building at head hight, the floor takes up a very similar amount of space in each image and the right-angled shape of the door is in the direct centre of the frame. In my image, The texture of the surrounding wall is emphasised by being in focus through the use of a high aperture, aswel as increased contrast and shadows. In Lewis Baltz’s image, there is less texture on the building, but it can still be seen because of the large tonal range and high contrast of the image. Lewis’s image is very symetrical because of the plain surfaces and central framing of the doorway. Where as my image is less symetrical because off the added details/objects such as the door handle, circular light and sign.

Alltogether, both images are rather similar, using high contrast and tonal ranges, along with flat angles and geometyric shapes to create a good representation of the urban side of New Topographic Photography.

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Favorite Images

These are my favorite images because i think they best show the New Topographic and urban photography style. This is by framing the photographs directly towards a building/object looking flat towards the surface. As well as this, one of these photos is taken at a slight angle to show the dark shadows being created by the objects in the image, much like some of Lewis Blatz’s images.

Inspirations

Many of Lewis Baltz’s photography incluse industrial/mechanical objects/buildings, such as pipes, electrical boxes, air conditioning etc. I used this information to respond to one of his images of the side of a building containing lots of el;ectrical appliances and boxes:

My Final Outcome

Here I took a photograph of some air conditioning units and wires on the side of a building. The angle the image is taken at is much like Lewis Baltz because the camera is facing flat towards the wall, showing the shapes and right angles created by the objects in the frame. A difference between my image and Lewis Baltz’s image is that the background of my image (the wall of the building) is darker than the objects in the main focus of the image, whereas in his image the objects in the foreground are darker than the background. Although these light and dark tones are ‘inverted’ in each image, the same effect is achieved, making the focus of the image stand out more through the use of contrast between the tones used.

Contact Sheets

Favorite Images

These are my favorite images because i think they best display the New Topographic style of photography and urban photography through the strong tonal ranges, along with the ‘dirty’ and ‘raw’ feel to the images created through increased contrast.

Inspirations

As you can see, Lewis Baltz directly inspired many of these images, for example, the ones I took of the dark double doors against the lighter white all the building.

This is similar to some of Lewis Baltz work such as:

My Final Outcome

Here I darkened the darks of the image to create greater contrast between the door and building wall. This also emphasises the dirt and texture on the wall, much like in the top left of Baltz’s image above. My image is less exposed than Baltz’s image because i feel like it gives the image a more ‘real’ feeling as you can see the textures and dirt on the wall more clearly.

First Photo Shoot – Highlands College area and buildings.

Second Photo Shoot – Grainville College and surrounding buildings.