The raise of urban landscapes had a major link between the new topographics. New topographics which is a term coined by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers, such as Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz who would photograph urban landscapes. New topographics is similar to new objectivity, as it is a movement of a reaction to romanticism. Romanticism was born as a reaction to an opposing idea, realism, however new topographics was a reaction and opposing romanticism and showing realism through photography.

New topographics mean photographs of a man-altered landscape, like buildings, roads or vehicles. some examples of this are:

A lot of key figures of new topographics were: Robert Adams, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel Jr.

Beginning in the 1920s, Ansel Adams cultivated an approach to landscape photography that posited nature as separate from human presence. Adams photographed scenery in a manner intended to provoke feelings of awe and pleasure in the viewer. Adams wanted his pictures’ viewers to feel as uplifted as he had when looking at the scenery in person. The environmental approach in his photography seeks to preserve exceptional landscapes and protect them from human intervention. By contrast, when visitors walked into New Topographics, they encountered subject matter that was all too commonplace, represented in an unfamiliar manner. 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. In conclusion new topographics was both a reflection of the increasingly suburbanised world around them, and a reaction to the tyranny of idealised landscape photography that elevated the natural and the elemental, it made people think about the reality of the urbanization and it’s effects on the natural world.

A lot of photographs include both “natural” landscape e.g. natural forms like hills, mountains, trees etc. and combining these with arcitectual, or man-made subjects like cars, buildings and so on.

Robert Adams is an American photographer who was focused on changing landscape photography, and he did this by his book called The New West as well as his exhibition New Topographics , this is what he got well-known and recognised for. He is a key artist that changed the landscape photography.

EDIT ONE:

EDIT TWO:

EDIT THREE:

Mood Board, Definition and Introduction

To create urban/ industrial landscape photography you can use buildings and other man-made structures compositionally in the same way other landscape photographers use trees and rolling hills. Wind farms, harbours, cement works, power stations, quarries, pylons and building sites are just a few of the industrial landscapes you can photograph.

 Landscape photographs typically captures the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Landscape photography is done for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most common is to recall a personal observation or experience while in the outdoors, especially when traveling. Others pursue it particularly as an outdoor lifestyle, to be involved with nature and the elements, some as an escape from the artificial world.

During this project, I will photograph multiple different industrial landscapes, creating links to some of the famous artists I researched. I will try to create an desolate or isolated mood throughout my photoshoots, to make the photos more interesting.

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.

New topographics focuses on landscape photos of man made buildings, it can be seen as documenting the change and expansion of things, it was in relation to the tyranny of idealised landscape photography that elevated the natural and the elemental, it questioned the supposed distinction between cultural and natural landscapes, the goal for American topographics was to show the tension between natural and man made structures post WorldWar 2.

Post WorldWar 2 America struggled with inflation and labour unrest, it affected Americans due to the rise in price of goods going up astronomically people were no longer able to afford the cost of living in the city so they had to move it made lots of people isolated and caused lots of mental heath problems.

what was the new topographics a reaction to?

It revealed the growing unease about how the natural landscape was being eroded by industrial development.

LEWIS BALTZ

Lewis Baltz was an American Photographer, he was known for his involvement in New Topographic. Like his contemporaries Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, and Bernd and Hilla Becher, Baltz focused his camera on the unassuming green spaces and architecture of tract housing, office parking lots, and industrial parks. He believed the man made landscapes wasn’t which anyone wanted to look at he changed that by making these photos and making people view our man-made landscapes.

Lewis Baltz took photos of beautiful black-and-white images of parking lots, office parks, industrial garage doors and the backs of anonymous warehouses helped forge a new tradition of American landscape photography in an age of urban sprawl.

Baltz was mainly inspired by modern minimalist artistic movements and the effects of industrial civilization on landscapes. He shot in black and white with a wide depth of field (meaning that the entire image is in focus). His photographs are very minimalist and rely on geometric shapes and sharp contrast to add visual interest.  

Lewis Baltz work

industrial landscapes

PHOTO-GAME : Photography Genre Treasure Hunt

This task explores the following genres: travel, nature, self-portrait, landscape, still life, fine art, portrait, fashion, architecture. But which is which?

PHOTO GAME : TREASURE HUNT

Photograph the following…

1. A view through a window
2. Your reflection in a shiny surface
3. The back of someone’s head
4. A small object with a plain background
5. The palm of someone’s hand with the word HELP on it
6. A smile
7. A plant growing in the wrong place
8. A cracked paving stone
9. A pile of clothes
10. A close up of a computer screen
11. A map
12. The spine of a book
13. The inside of a bag
14. The sky
15. A part of a fork
16. The ceiling of a room
17. A photograph of a photograph
18. A glass of water
19. The sole of a shoe
20. A corner

Some Examples…

You will have a print out of the prompts and be given a time to photograph each prompt around the school

When you return you will be able to print / present the images

Discuss

The most interesting images

The most surprising images

The most difficult images

What makes a good image

Does it matter if an image is wrong or right ?

2. Image Analysis

As a group you must discuss this image…

1. Describe the image
2. Discuss the subject and the background
3. What is the lighting like?
4. How is the photo framed?
5. What is your emotional response to this image?
6. What do you think this image could be about?
7. You will be given the name and title of the image to help you search online for the image and its details
8. How does the information you have found change the way you view the image?

New Topographics is photographing a man-altered landscape that contrasts modern development with natural landscapes. This type of photography gives an insight as to how man-made developments were taking over nature. Unlike Ansel Adams, it shows the truth behind this issue and shows it how it is.

Robert Adams

Robert Adams was known for using the style of New Topographics in the 1970s, after releasing his book The New West and his participation in the exhibition New Topographics. He mainly photographs in California, Colorado and Oregon, where he captured his vision that was created by his joy for natures beauty. However he noticed this was exploited by the urban and industrial growth that had ruined it, and he managed to capture this in a simple yet effective way.

Robert Adams is an American photographer best known for his images of the American West. Offering solemn meditations on the landscapes of California, Colorado, and Oregon, Adams’s black-and-white photos document the changes wrought by humans upon nature. 

• 

• 

His goal:

“to face facts but to find a basis for hope. To try for alchemy.”

• 

In these images, Adams `displays the melancholy and sombre vibe of the outskirts of Colorado at that time. In most of these images he has a main focal point, for example: the silhouette of a woman in the window, or the abandoned looking barn.

The top middle image shows the deserted country side with a few isolated houses, due to the post war America struggles. Vast distances, road networks and mobility was also a big post was America struggle; this is what Robert Adams bases his work off a lot of the time.

• 

This image splits the Colorado environment into two. On the bottom Adams captures the harsh edges of mobile homes blasted with sunlight; whereas, on the top of the image he presents an ominous mountain- skape with moody clouds.

The two parts juxtapose each other, representing how manhood has gradually taken over nature. The contrast between the angular shapes of the homes and the smooth mountain side creates an obvious conflict between humans and nature.

As a whole the piece works to recognize the American West as a landscape scattered with human development rather than an untouched natural environment.

“I think if you placed me almost anywhere and gave me a camera you could return the next day to find me photographing. It helps me, more than anything I know, to find home.”

ROBERT ADAMS

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

Stephen Shore

Ed Ruscha, “Every Building On The Sunset Strip”

The artist Ed Ruscha is famous for his paintings and prints but is also known for his series of photographic books based on typologies, among them Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Some Los Angeles Apartments, and Thirtyfour Parking Lots. Ruscha employs the deadpan style found in many photographic topologies. The book shown above is a 24 foot long accordion fold booklet that documents 1 1/2 miles of the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.  

Areas to Visit To Take Images

St Helier

Residential areas

Housing estates

Retail Parks and shopping areas

Industrial Area

Car Parks 

Leisure Centres

Building sites

Demolition sites

Built up areas

Underpass / overpass

The Waterfont

Harbours

Airport

Robert Adams is an American photographer who focusses his work on the changing landscapes of the American West. His work started to get more attention in the 1970s after the publishing of his book ‘The New West’ and the exhibition ‘New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape’ that he participated in in 1975.

Much like Ansel Adams, his work consists of American West landscape photographs. However, Ansel Adams only captured natural landscapes. Robert Adams combines the natural and the man-made aspects when creating photographs. This contrasts with Ansel Adams work as his work gives off the impression of a certain ignorance to the modern age.

Realistically, nowadays there is lots more man-made objects created by humans when adapting and modifying the world in order to make it inhabitable. Ansel Adams chooses to ignore this, which is why he is able to capture beautiful photographs of natural landscapes. However, Robert Adams work is arguably more impactful as he found a way to incorporate both aspects while still creating influential images.

Image analysis

I think this photograph has been very carefully composed and captured. It appears very dark and moody. Robert Adams has highlighted the subject (the assumed woman in the house) by manipulating the light and creating a silhouette. The darkness of the house enhances the light coming from the back of the house to highlight the subject. The combination of the single subject and the lighting creates a theme of loneliness.

There are a number of straight lines in the photograph. However, the shape of the pathway is more curved and it being one of the brightest aspects of the image draws attention to it leading up to the house. Suggesting it may have some importance. The repetition of the straight lines creates a sense of uniformity and contrasts the unique, soft shape of the subject. Allowing it to stand out, and appear more mysterious.

The straight lines create quite rigid square or rectangular shapes. This frames the subject and may imply the idea of a cage, thus making the subject a prisoner. Which adds to the suggested theme of loneliness.