Mood board:

Artist studies:

Robert Adams –

Born, May 8th 1937, Robert Adams is an American Photographer apart of the ‘New Topographics’ , were him and other photographers captured the aesthetic of rapidly urbanised landscapes such as parking lots, warehouses, and suburban houses. His work is said to explore and reveal the effects of human impact on wildness and open space, furthermore it is spoken that his work also shows the hollowed out idea of ‘Manifest Destiny’ when expanded in the 19th century and that this once rapid expansion has led to after effects of consumption of the landscapes. With these images, i feel as if this is best shown as a once, large peaceful expansion of calm has been converted into a populated area of both busyness and desolation of urban sprawl.

Lewis Baltz –

Born, September 12th 1945, Lewis Baltz can be seen as one of the young prodigy’s of the baby boom generation to capture the aesthetics of the ‘New Topographics’. Like Adams, his work exposes the vast Urban sprawl, now left desolate and unused post second world war. With the grand scale of industrial output during the second world, large structures as seen in this image sit unused and worn out from a past, once busier function. Now, numerous areas like this, are captured by Baltz.

Frank Gohlke –

Born, April 3rd 1942, Frank Gohlke was another photographer apart of this aesthetic. Photographing urban areas such suburb neighbourhoods and old factories within towns, Gohlke, differed slightly from the rest as his photos also consisted of cases of destruction in urban areas. Such as the aftermath of a tornado hitting his home town Wichita Falls Texas, in 1979, as well as the destruction of property surrounding mount St Helens following its eruption in 1980.

( Tornado aftermath, Wichita Falls, Texas, 1979)

Frank Gohlkes’s work is significant to me as his photographs are highly similar in comparison to our project for this topic. Our project is to compose photoshoots of the damage caused to our islands landscapes following storm Ciaran in November of 2023.

All of these Photographers have had their work featured in numerous Art galleries, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Most importantly, all 3 were apart of a group of 10 photographers who were selected to be a part of the “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” and featured in the 1975 exhibition at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House.

Quotes:

No place is boring, if you’ve had a good night’s sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film.

– Robert Adams

If you read what, say, Weston was writing in the 1920s he talked about an industrial medium, reflective surfaces, contemporary subject matter—it’s a straighter line to [Ed] Ruscha’s 26 Gas Stations than it would ever be to Ansel Adam’s pictures of Yosemite and their kitschy calendar sensibility.

– Lewis Baltz

The best landscape images, whatever their medium and whatever other emotions they may evoke… propose the possibility of an intimate connection with a world to which we have access only through our eyes, a promise containing its own denial.

– Frank Gohlke

Image analysis

For this image analysis, I have chosen to look at Frank Gohlke’s work as I believe it will be the best point of reference for my photoshoots.

Romanticism

Romanticism is a movement in arts and literature which originated in the late 18th century, during the French Revolution and also the Industrial Revolution. This was when people went from hand making things, to using machinery. However, romanticism made a point of emphasizing nature over industry.

The rise of Romanticism led to the rise of landscape art. It characterised literature, music, painting and architecture. Romanticism is linked with landscape and the sense of romance of the landscape features its spirit in full bloom. Romanticism is therefore, attitudes, ideas, and feelings which are romantic rather than realistic.

The Sublime

It is the idea of an ‘Internal’ photo, meaning ‘Emotional’ and an ‘External’ photo, meaning ‘Nature and the Environment’. The sublime is defined by Edmund Burk as art that refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation. It is both beautiful and terrifying in its power or potential darkness. Artists explored the sublime in depth through art. They used paintings and drawings of the imagination, however they could often turn into nightmares. Natural landscapes were mighty and nice to look at and people admired the aesthetics but they were always dangerous.

What are Rural Landscapes?

“ Any landscape is a condition of the spirit” – Henri Frederic Amiel

Rural Landscapes are the vast geographical features of anything that consist of large expanses of nature. This includes Croplands (Farms), Forests, deserts, swamps, grasslands, pastures, rivers and lakes. In photography, Rural Landscapes genre focuses on the countryside, its people and the unaltered beauty of the world.

Unlike Urban landscape photography which focuses on the activity, volume and tumultuous visuals, Rural landscape photography captures mainly the secluded and soothing peace of nature.

With an F-stop around F11 to F16, And and a shutter speed around 1/100 to 1/200 these setting are best suitable combined with an a correct ISO depending on lighting,

Rural Landscapes can establish a sense of nostalgia, with familiar landscapes becoming a lasting place of home. Either for good or bad reasons rural landscape photography captures a indissoluble image of a place in time.

(St Peters Village 1912 – Now)

Rural Landscape photographers with their work try to target spaces within the world, where both tranquillity and chaos co-insight, grandeur or pocketed locations lie and prepossessing sights unfold .

Mood Board:

What is The New Topographics?

Being a term coined by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers, such as Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz and Frank Gohlke. The New Topographics consisted of mainly black and white prints of urban altered landscapes, taken together, their photographs, formed a shared aesthetic of banal appearance.

(Robert Adams – “The place we live”)

(Lewis Baltz – “New Topographics: Photographs of a man altered landscape”)

(Frank Gohlke – “Grain Elevator and Lightning Flash, Lamesa Texas, 1975”)

What was the ‘New Topographics’ a reaction to?

Being a reaction to the rapid cases of urban sprawl across America, it showed the oddly fascinating topography of areas usually perceived as mundane locations. This consisted of large urbanised towns, industrial sites and more. Not only capturing the reflection of an increasingly urbanising country, it also served as a reaction to the more common and idealised landscape photography of natural and elemental landscapes, like such as artists as Ansel Adams.

(Ansel Adams, Cathedral Peak and Lake, Yosemite National Park, California)

birthed in the 1970s, the ‘New Topographics’ sprouted from a struggling post-war America. After the second world war, Soldiers had returned home to their wives and got busy creating the Baby-boom generation. In this time period of America the countries birth rate increased massively from 1955 to 1964 nearly 42 million had been born.

After this in the 1970s, many of these baby boomer now had grown into young adults. More homes were needed to accommodate these adults and their new families and as a result, America saw a rapid increase in homes and suburbia. Another problem post-war was the challenges with the economy, inflation and labour unrest. If there was a sudden collapse in price and wage control, many feared it would lead to inflation of prices.