New topographics was described as ‘a ground breaking exhibition of contemporary landscape photography’.
William Jenkins selected eight young American photographers:
Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal,Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel, Jr. He also invited the German couple, Bernd and Hilla Becher.
The exhibition was recreated in various locations: such as Bristol, Tucson, Rochester, New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Nederland’s and Spain.
Although the eight photographers included in the original exhibition make up the core of the New Topographics school, photographers such as Laurie Brown have been tied to the school.
The purpose
New topographics was a reaction to the ongoing expansion and growth of suburban areas due to the soldiers returning from war and therefore there was a need for more space for them and their growing families. This meant people were moved to these new suburbs that were located in the middle of know where which were very isolating and lonely as many people left their friends and families. The movement showed a more realistic demonstration of American landscapes by showing the industrialised and suburbanised landscapes rather than just the ethereal nature landscapes.
The other week me and another class went out to havre de par along the coast to take some urban images. These are some images I took, edited to black and white to create that nice aesthetic.
We went all along the coast from the pool at havre de par, up until the dump near DVS. It was an interesting experience going out taking urban images, there was a lot places to take images of, each area with their own meaning behind them. Like a simple house, Lot of people would of lived in that house, with a lot of memories that we don’t know but are still there.
I like to use this image as a good contrast for showing an aesthetic. See in the first image that isn’t edited, it uses a dim exposure which is hard to see from afar, but really it doesn’t create a feel compared to the black and white image next to it. I edited the exposure to be higher to show more light and detail in the image, the black and white creates an old fashioned feel along with the look of the house and other objects in front of the house, gives me an Italy feel.
Although edited images look good and create a nice effect, they don’t show what you was really trying to capture, the black and white images are filters showing the fake version to look good, kind of like everything in life. I like this image because it shows what I wanted to capture in the first place, which is an urban landscape, with something being built in the centre of the image, and power stations in the background. The image also includes a lot of shapes like the light poles for lines and railing etc.
Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California 1944, – Ansel Adams
Both these images have a rocky focus in the foreground and a more misty and mysterious background. They are also both edited into monochrome adding a more dramatic and intense tone to the image. The images have natural lighting, brightest at the top of each image as this is where the sun is behind the clouds creating a focus point in Ansel Adams image however, in my image it doesn’t have this effect as it was a duller day. In Ansel Adams image there are clear and ethereal sun beams spilling through the clouds that could be seen as a representation of hope as it contrasts the dull and dreary colours and tones of the rest of the image. Due to the difference in weather conditions I wasn’t able to capture the symbolic feeling of ‘hope’ however was able to create the rocks and sea showing the rough journey ahead prior to the beams of hope. The rocks also add an element of texture and contrast from the smoother backgrounds of the sky. Although the mountains in Ansel Adams image are much more dramatic, they are similar to the waves in my image adding additional texture and height to what would otherwise be quite a flat 2D image. Overall, my Ansel Adams inspired image is not a perfect replica of his style however does have many similar qualities and potential representations allowing them to be compared.
What? – I have a range of ideas that I could photograph:
Victorian front doors
Historical landmarks/ towers
Old/ Victorian houses
Road signs
Petrol stations
Graffiti
When? – for all of them I would photograph in the day, and make sure it is a plain sky/ light so my subject is the main focal point (using Bernd and Hilla Becher’s technique). If I were to photograph petrol stations I would do the shoot at night because I want to photograph the lights and create a dramatic set of images.
Where? – for doors and houses I might choose town as there are a lot of old buildings and houses. If I take the landmarks I will travel around the Island and capture the different towers.
How? – I’ll use my DLSR camera, and probably use the Tv/A setting so I can adjust the light and if necessary do some different exposure bracketing. For a night shoot I would use a tripod so my images are sharp as I would need to use a long shutter to fully capture the light. For this I would use shutter priority.
Gustave Le Gray – He was the central figure in French photography of the 1850’s. He was admired for his use of paper photography, which he first experimented in 1848. An experimenter and technical innovator, he evolved the use of the paper negative in France and developed a waxed-paper negative with the ability to produce sharper-focus prints. He became one of the first five photographers, along with Édouard-Denis Baldus and Hippolyte Bayard, to work for the missions héliographiques and is credited with teaching photography in the 1850s to many important French photographers.
“It is my deepest wish that photography, instead of falling within the domain of industry, of commerce, will be included among the arts. That is its sole, true place, and it is in that direction that I shall always endeavor to guide it.”
Dafna Talmor – She is an artist and lecturer based in London whose practice encompasses photography, spatial interventions, curation and collaborations. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Deutsche Bank, Hiscox collections and private collections internationally, and in many publications.
Taken with no original plan or idea to what they would be used for she would take images and the negatives accumulated for years in boxes, without any use or artistic function. Eventually, she realised that by merging images of different places of personal meaning she was able to create idealised and utopian landscapes therefore giving a function to these seemingly useless negatives.
This allowed her to transform photographs initially taken without an intended purpose through of slicing and splicing. The resulting photographs are a conflation, ‘real’ yet virtual and imaginary. Her aim was to transform a specific place, loaded with personal meaning and memories for her into a space that has been emptied of subjectivity and becomes universal.
“I am interested in creating a space that defies specificity, refers to the transient, and metaphorically blurs space, memory and time.”
Gustave Le Gray – the great wave – 1897Dafna Talmor
Both could be described as landscape pictures. What kinds of landscapes do they describe?
They both describe a seascape however they are displayed and formatted in very different ways. Gustave’s image depicts a rougher more dramatic environment and Dafna’s is an abstract approach to a seascape image.
What similarities do you notice about these two pictures?
they are both seascapes, both daytime images
What differences do you notice?
The one on the right is a collage of images showing describing the seascape in an abstract format whereas the image on the left is not a collage and is presented in black and white with the yellow tones presenting the image as older or vintage. The image on the left shows a rougher sea whereas on the right the sea looks a lot more still, portraying different feelings to the viewer as Gustave’s image is more gloomy and has an essence of drama whereas Dafna’s image shows a calm sea however creates interest with the construction of her image.
What words/phrases best describe each of these landscapes?
image 1 – Rough, old, choppy
image 2 – still, collage, abstract
In which of these landscapes would you prefer to live?
I would prefer to live in the abstract landscape as the image portrays a calmer more tranquil setting and the presentation of the other image is more of a dark and dramatic scene.
This is some of the unedited outcomes of my sublime inspired photoshoot:
I picked my most successful outcomes and divided the from the other images by x and p flagging and then filtering them out:
Using lightroom, I then began the process of editing my images:
Here are some of the edited outcomes:
Using Lightroom I changed the colouring of the images to black and white and then altered the tones and elements such as the contrast until I was happy with the outcomes.
On a few of these images my exposure was set too high however during the editing process I changes in Lightroom.
These are the images after being edited:
Using Lightroom and photoshop, I altered the colouring by changing some of them into black and white, adjusting the shadows and brightness, changing the exposure, contrast and vibrancy until I reached the desired effect.
Exposure bracketing is where, instead of taking a single photo, you take three or more pictures that are all exposed slightly differently. Usually one is the correct exposure, one slightly underexposed, and one slightly overexposed etc.
Exposure bracketing is a technique for making sure that you get a good exposure while you’re in a location rather than a studio. Landscape photographers sometimes refer to bracketed shots as “safety shots” due to this. Anytime you feel the scene is challenging (too many highlights or shadows) is when exposure bracketing should be used, for example, sunset images are usually better when slightly under-exposed.
To manually take bracketed exposures, set up your camera for a shot as normal. The best results occur if you’re using a tripod. As soon as you take your first shot, adjust the exposure compensation, shutter speed or ISO by one stop and take a second shot. Adjust the shutter speed or ISO two stops in the other direction and take a third. Now you should have three identical photos that are one stop underexposed, correctly exposed, and one stop overexposed.
Practising exposure bracketing
These images show the process of practising manual exposure bracketing.
Robert Adams was an American Photographer, best known for his published book in 1974 called The New West, his landscape photos of the changing west and his affiliation with the exhibition called The New Topographics.
His Photography was influenced by the changes happening in America at the time, with the addition of man altered areas and suburban houses.
His Work:
His work featuring New Topographics was black and white photos of the changing west. The idea of his work in relation to New Topographics would feature elements from the man-made parts of our world with what was remaining of the natural parts, typically in the background to symbolise that man-made things were replacing the natural world.
This image for example, involves a gas station as the main subject. You can see elements of man-made objects being present in things like the lines and shapes, things like the big sign, poles and the building’s corners have very sharp edges and straight lines. They are manufactured and perfect. However, the mountain seen in the background appears to have a more rocky, rough-like look. It is uneven and messy. It is not manufactured and is natural.
Other elements that can be labelled and compared are:
The lighting that involves the street lights and the sky, the overall tone, the patterns in the shapes and/or the composition with the organisation of the visual elements, layout, contrast or viewpoints.
