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“New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” was an exhibition that epitomized a key moment in American landscape photography.

About

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 landscape.

Parking lots, suburban housing and warehouses were all depicted with a beautiful stark austerity, almost in the way early photographers documented the natural landscape. 

What was both novel and challenging about New Topographics was not only the photographs’ content, but how they made viewers feel. By foregrounding, rather than erasing human presence, the photographs placed people into a stance of responsibility towards the landscape’s future—a position that resonated with ecology, the branch of environmental thought that was gaining traction in the 1970s.

Ansel adams topography

Ansel Adams wanted his viewers to feel as uplifted as he had when looking at the scenery in person. His photographs contributed to the cause of conservationism, the environmental approach that seeks to preserve landscapes and protect them from human democracy.

Age of romanticism- around the 1800s to 1900s

Age of enlightenment- around the 1700s to 1800s

rural landscapes

rural landscapes mainly focus on the areas which have been left untouched by mankind, the most natural areas are what seem to be photographed the most.

The sublime

The sublime means a quality of greatness which inspires wonder. From the 17th century and so on the concept and emotions it contributes have been a main source of inspiration for artists and writers, especially in relation to landscape.

Throughout the Italian Renaissance the concept started to form. The depictions of’ Christ lifeless and suffering’ by Andrea Mantegna and Masaccio, as well as Raphael’s sketches and analyses of skeletons, show us of the certainty of mortality and the not knowing of life– essential elements of the Sublime. Nevertheless, it was only in the Romantic era that the Sublime as an artistic notion gained attraction all round Europe.

enlightenment

The Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that dominated in Europe during the 18th century, was centred around the idea that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy, and advocated such ideals as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.

romanticism

romanticism consists of contrasting kinds of art, such as painting, literature and music, but can also be applied to photography. A large focus of Romanticism is appreciating the beauty of nature.

most romanticism paintings tend to lean to having both terrifying and beautiful features and such immense detail, which is what makes them so interesting and special.

Ansel Adams

Born– 20th Feb 1902

He was a landscape photographer based in California, he also worked on being an environmentalist which lead him to be able to protect certain sights into being modernised.

He mainly focused on capturing eyeful black and white naturality.

He then started to publish his work in the 1920s.

image analysis

The way the river is leading into the mountains shows a sense of ominosity, the mountains holding something dangerous. The way this photograph is in black and white also creates an effect of how visually there is a dark mysterious vibe going on. The river intruding the land can be an intake of a snake like trail. The photo is captured from an up wright angle showing all of the landscape.

this photo shows a portrait/landscape in the outdoors in black and white, the photo itself isn’t too sad its more structured and doesn’t really give much away. The way he is outside in the forest can tell you how he feels seen.

this photo is portrait and located inside also black and white, it is full length and i feel its telling a story of not feeling seen as there are masks on the cape giving a feeling of being lost and not being seen by people by who she really is.

statement

overall the differences are that one photograph is displayed inside and the other is out, they both tell a different story one shows being seen and the other tells you how they aren’t seen. One is male and the other female with different gestures.

the similarities are the way they are both black and white and full body shots, they both show body language telling us how they may be feeling.

Flora Borsi

this image relates my work as I followed her idea or distortion in the face. They link in looks and description.

These two photos relate really well in her photography style, they let you create a story in your mind of what you are seeing and what the photo itself means. You can depict the photo into ways you wan to interpret it.

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Stefan Moses

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key points and links

-posture

-lighting

-background

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for this image, i used to lasso tool to crop out the eyes from a black and white photo then dragged ut onto a different photo to create this affect.

I copied a picture from google and pasted onto photoshop, I then used the magic wand to get rid of any un needed outlines and dragged to fit into the image.

I didn’t use this idea as it doesn’t represent his identity, only his emotions.

i simply just used to brush tool and drew over their heads, one in black for darkness and one in yellow for purity.

this idea focused more on the energy they present and not mainly on the identity.

i uploaded a map from google and copied the outline of jasmine and put it over the map in a new layer, then cropping out jasmine to fit.

the contrasting effect of the blurred faces and the faces in the background portrays judgement, confusion is shown. The light which rejects off of them is light meaning they give off radiant energy.

She is trying to relate to other peoples identity, we gain attributes and traits from other people.

I chose a cold darker lighting for this photo to create a dull emotion as there is no emotion on her face, as her face has been distorted the only way emotion can be shown is through the lighting and contrasts. The way her face isn’t in the middle of the shot, is showing a dramatized ragged look. No perfection

this is an interpretation of lost and hidden identity, the distortion of the face shows how his identity is lost but perhaps being hidden by his flaws.

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