I have chosen to explore the concept of Anthropocene through the genre of landscape photography. I plan to react to ideas of nature being transformed through industry and venture into ideas of altered landscapes through my images. I will do this by shooting landscapes in a wider and vast perspective, of which supplies a view of the full picture. This allows a juxtaposition to be made between the natural environment and what man has interrupted it with.
I also plan to express the conflict between urbanisation and the environment by shooting derelict buildings and portraying nature fighting back against man. I plan to incorporate some abstract methods of photographing these buildings, with a more zoomed in perspective.
Below is some inspiration for my Anthropocene project:
“New Topographic”, a term coined in 1975 by William Jenkins which referred to a photographic movement undertaken by a group of American photographers whose works had a similar look – mostly uniform, black and white urban landscapes.
Some of the photographers associated with this movement where Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Nicholas Nixon and Bernd and Hiller Becher.
Bernd and Hiller Becher
Lewis Baltz
Lewis Baltz
Lewis Baltz
Nicholas Nixon
Nicholas Nixon
Robert Adams
Robert Adams
The movement captures mans impact, they photographed urban landscapes such as garages, parking lots, warehouses in a similar way to how early rural landscape photographers would shoot natural landscapes.
As environmentalism took hold of the public conscience in the 1970s landscape photography began to capture natural landscapes and human activity as a singular connected body.
New topographic pieces captured the essence and beauty of these depressing, mundane, industrialized landscapes. This aura created around the aesthetic of these images is an ironic juxtaposition to the unease the photographers felt about mans erosion of the natural environment. This was represented in their work from the emotional disparity they created in their pieces with a lack of human presence, flat contrast, lowkey tones, centred framing and unassuming depth and lighting.
On the other hand this divide they portrayed between man and nature was done with aesthetic precession. The Artists that made up the new topographic noticed how there seemed to be a sense of obscenity around photographing these urban landscapes. There was a sort of fear man had around looking at its own creations. They wanted to highlight this by photographing the urban and providing it with an aesthetic… The photographers created beauty in these images by shooting from a unique viewpoint. They shot with a deadpan aesthetic in mind and looked for sharp angles or structural elements.
Above are two rural landscape images. The image on the left was shot by American photographer Ansell Adams and the right by myself.
Both images feature a low key, greyscale profile. The use of an ND filter and specific film allowed Adams to create an image with dominant dark tones whilst still allowing for the counteractive sharp highlights to come through in the image. I recreated this by shooting with a large aperture to include as much data in the image as possible and then altering the saturation and temperature of the image in post production. These methods allow for both images to feature a highly romanticized landscape. For example the dramatic moon in the center of a dark, almost fully black sky tucked behind a whisping blanket of clouds which are being pierced by a gathering of sharp snowy mountains is a typical depiction of an exaggerated, sublime landscape.
Both images feature a large tonal range from the dark sky’s and foliage to the white mountains and sand dunes.
Both images have similar form with the empty sky taking up two thirds of the image with the bottom of the image being filled.
They both contain a strong leading line horizontally through the image
Conceptually, both these images represent the idea of death and moving on. The images both feature dark, mournful tones. Adams image features a graveyard symbolizing death and my image contains a sublime landscape which was once flourishing but is now more baron symbolizing life and death. The images both feature bold horizons which alludes to the idea of “new horizons” and moving on from death.
The above is an example of where I used a technique called exposure bracketing.
This is when a triptych or series of photos of the same landscape is taken but each with a different exposure.
I did this by positioning the camera, with a tripod in the exact same place. I then took the tree photos but each time changing the ISO. The first photo was had an ISO of 500 the second of 300 and the third 120. I then sliced and collaged the three images into one.
“Unexpected Geology #18” – Ellen Jantzen (2018-19)
Altered landscapes focus on the process of using photoshop, or physically, in order to change the original composition of a landscape photograph. This may include changing the colours of the image, or in general changing the composition of the photo itself. For example cutting and pasting certain elements or adding forms of repetition or echo to the photograph.
Examples of altered landscapes
“Dust Storm” – Tanja Deman (2010)
Part of “Restore to Factory Settings” series – Felicity Hammond (2014)
Part of “Geometric Reflections” series- Victoria Siemer (2015-16)
Where – I will shoot the rural landscapes of the St Ouen Sand dunes and the Greve de Lecq woods.
What – I will look for interesting leading lines and romanticised structural elements of the landscapes.
When – imperfect weather conditions, later in the day
Why – To explore the idea of capturing the essence of romanticised landscapes
How – Narrow aperture, wide lens, small vocal length.
I settled on shooting these locations as they provide a lot of potential for exploring different viewpoints and ways of romanticizing them. The trees and dense, populated nature of the woods provides an abundance of the element of sublime, as well as a good light obstruction – drawn out shadows and gaps for light to creep in.
For this photoshoot I decided to use town as the setting as Gabriele Basilico shows representation of both repetitive architecture as well as unfinished industrialisation. I tried to capture both of these aspects in this photoshoot, therefore I photographed contrasting modern and more vintage buildings.
The images highlighted in red are my less successful images as they don’t clearly imitate Basilico’s work or the are taken off-centre and create a slanted affect which juxtaposes Basilico’s crisp, exact photography.
I feel like the images highlighted in green are my most successful images as they have a closer representation to Gabriele Basilico’s work. Most of these photos relate more to Basilico’s work focusing on unfinished industrialisation, however repetitive architecture can also be seen.
Photoshop Development
Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image
To edit these images, I used the black and white filter on photoshop in order to achieve the vintage, monochrome tones that Gabriele Basilico is known for. I then altered the brightness and contrast to make the juxtaposition between the light and dark tones more intense. For the last image I used the crop and straighten tool so the image was more centred.
Comparison between mine and Gabriele Basilico’s work
Gabriele Basilico’s work
My work
There is both similarities and differences between Basilico’s work and my own work, the most obvious being the use of the monochromatic filter on both images. There are also similarities in the sense that the image captures new topographics in a more vintage sense, as the buildings appear older and more classic. However they are different in the sense that Basilico’s image is taken on a much larger scale, as the buildings are more iconic and noticeably larger. Overall, I feel like these images compared share a few similarities however if I was to recreate Basilico’s work again I would use his more modern approach of finding repetition and echo within industrialised areas.
Gabriele Basilico, born in 1944, was an Italian photographer who contributed to the New Topographics movement with his contrasting industrial landscape photographs. Basilico orginally studied architecture before beginning his career in photography, where he started of taking images of traditional landscapes before transitioning to industrial landscapes which was influenced by his previous studies. Gabriele Basilico first became recognised for his photographic study on the buildings of Milan in 1982, with his series “Ritratti di Fabbriche, Sugarco”. This recognition led Basilico to be commisioned by the French Government to document the transformation of the Transalpine landscape, as well as helping to document the effects of war on the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The majority of Basilico’s work was captured using a traditional viewfinder camera with iconic black and white film, before he died in 2013.
‘Ritratti di fabbriche di Milano’ – Gabriele Basilico (1978)
This photograph titled ‘Ritratti di fabbriche di Milano’, taken in 1978, translates to ‘Milan Portraits of Factories’, removing any ambiguity to the context of the image. At first glace, there is a lack of a colour palette, however there is an extreme contrast in tones. There is a rather simple, repetitive composition to the photograph.
The lighting in this image seems to be natural yet harsh. The lighting is being directed from the top right of the image, meaning shadows are casted from the same direction. I would imply that this photograph was taken later in the afternoon, as the sun is beginning to set. The brightest sections of the image can be seen in the almost-blinding white painted houses, which are contrasted against the darker tones, as well as the shadows in the image.
There is a strong sense of line in this photograph, due to the geometric shaping of the houses. The lines created by the draining pipes in between each house act as leading lines that direct the viewers eyes upwards, and towards the horizontal, jagged lines created by the roofing.
There is a clear use of repetition within this image, found in the repeated structure of the houses. The use of line is also repeated in this image, although the lines differ in size. However, there is no representation of echo or reflection in this photograph.
The majority of the represented shapes in the photo are geometric, for example, the repetition of lines and squares in the houses. On the other hand, there is little representation of organic shapes such as the tree branches in the middle third of the image. This creates a juxtaposition between organic and artificial shapes.
It is difficult to tell the depth of field within this image as the majority of the image is positive space, with the background being negative space there is no way of comparing the focal lens of the photograph. Nearly all of the foreground is taken up by the houses, which creates positive space.
There is contrasting textures within this image, as the houses provide a smoother texture in comparison to the leaves and tree branches that create a more jagged texture.
There is a range of tones that contradict each within the photograph, due to the use of shadows and highlights. The darkest area of the image can be seen in both the lining of the houses and the shadow that is casted in the bottom-right corner. This is contrasted with the lighter areas of the image, especially the white houses. Overall, I think the the image’s tones are rather balanced and the image doesn’t tend towards darkness or lightness.
There is a lack of colour in this image, as Gabriele Basilico’s iconic images are taken using black and white film. I believe the lack of a colour palette allows for the tones to be accentuated within the image, and create a more intense contrast between highlights and shadows. The lack of colour also allows for other aspects to be exaggerated, such as the use of line or repetition.
The composition of the image is rather simple, as repetition is used to a larger scale and the image is taken in black and white. The positive space that fills the majority of the image isn’t complexly formed and the other sections of the image are purely empty space. However the photograph does not follow the use of thirds as the image is not separated into three clear sections and the there is multiple focal points.
“New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” was an exhibition that epitomised a key moment in American landscape photography. Many of the photographers associated with new topographics including Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Nicholas Nixon and Bernd and Hiller Becher, were inspired by man-made subjects. Their aim was to find the beauty in the plain and ‘ugly’ streets of America. It was a reaction to the conflict which took place over the late twentieth century, which saw outrage that natural landscapes were being replaced with large, industrial buildings.
FRANK GOHLKE
Frank Gohlke ( 1942 – ) is an American landscape photographer. Gohlke was one of ten photographers selected to be part of “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape”, the landmark 1975 exhibition at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House. During a career spanning nearly five decades, Gohlke has photographed grain elevators in the American midwest; the aftermath of a 1979 tornado in his hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas; changes in the land around Mount St. Helens during the decade following its 1980 eruption; agriculture in central France; and the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan. Gohlke′s photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Cleveland Museum of Art; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the Amon Carter Museum; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
IMAGE ANALYSIS
Grain elevator under repair – Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1974
This photograph by Gohlke is entitled ‘Grain elevator under repair‘, which avoids any confusion about what the photograph is of. The lighting used in this image is natural and appears to be coming from the left hand side due to the way the various shadows are falling across the image. The brightest parts of the photograph are the white portions of the cars, which directly contrasts with the dark tones of the road and the shadows. There is a lot of repetition present in this photograph, which can be seen in the vertical lines in the background of the image, as well as the horizontal lines of the car tops, the workmen in the background and the pavement and road. The contrast between both the vertical and horizontal lines creates an interesting composition for the viewer, with each one seemingly juxtaposing each other. The shapes in this photograph are mostly geometric, for example the cement slabs on the pavement split up by straight lines and the large cylinder – like shapes in the background of the image. There is hardly any negative space in this photograph, as the whole frame is taken up by either the building in the background or the cars in the foreground. The smooth and slick texture of the cars directly contrasts with the rough and harsh texture of the pavement as well as the building in the background. Gohlke has captured this image in black and white which allows for certain features of the image, such as the contrasting tones and small details like the cracks in the building to be accentuated and exaggerated.
