Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The word topography comes from the greek word “topo,” which means place, and “graphia,” which means to write or to record. Which in photography, would mean taking pictures of places i.e. landscapes.
New topographics refers to 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 topographic photographs would consist of man-altered landscapes which include both natural and man-made aspects.
Here are some examples:
Mobile homes, Jefferson County, Colorado, (1973)
Landscape, Los Angeles, 1974
Tract house, Boulder County, Colorado, 1973
New housing. North Denver, Colorado, 1973
As you can see, most of these photographs were created by Robert Adams. This is because he was partially responsible for the creation of new topographics.
What was the new topographics a reaction to?
It reflects how the world has become increasingly suburbanised and the collaboration of both man-made and natural aspects in a landscape. New topographics is considered a reaction to the tyranny of idealized landscape photography that elevated the natural and elemental.
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