Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” by William Jenkins. 

New Topographic was a term coined by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers, it is also known as landscapes changing over time and how it used to be viewed by as nature and now its viewed as urban, where the photos are based around buildings. Most of the time the aesthetic of landscape photography that shows nature is mostly based around Ansel Adams work. Throughout the years landscape photography has grown to a much wider detailed subject. Many photographers study new topographic such as Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Bernd And Hilla Becher, frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon and Stephen Shore. These photographers all studied an approach on landscapes in America often capturing the tension between natural scenery and the mundane structures of post-war America: parking lots, suburban homes, crumbling coal mines. There photographs  are often devoid of human presence. William Jenkins made the new topographic: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape”, this was known as an exhibition of contemporary landscape photography. Jenkins Invited these photographers to become familiar with the concept of landscapes changing over time and They first exhibited them in series, as “typologies”, often shown in grids, under the title of “Anonymous Sculptures.” They were soon adopted by the conceptual art movement. Topographic was a reaction to stark, beautifully printed images, topographic was presented as  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.

Topography is the study of the features and forms of land surfaces, the origin of the word topography comes from the words “graphia” and “topo”. “Graphia” means writing and “topo” means place. However there is a similar word,  Topographical which means that Topographical maps are special types of maps that show the different land features. New topography represents the physical appearance of the natural features of an area  of land, especially the shape of its surface. For example the photos shown under this, they are similar buildings all in the same perspective, the artist didn’t get any different angles which makes the photos look very similar even if they are different building, it shows the concept that photos look similar if you position then in the same place, each of these photos have a bright white background and have a similar structure therefore it gives the impression that its the same building. That is a representation of what typography is, how things are structured in your photo.

Above is some of the damage that people witnessed the Morning after the storm.

photoshoot:

For this photoshoot I went around St.Catharines woods in Jersey, as there where still lots of debris (e.g. fallen over trees) which I could capture. However, Its very difficult to get wide shots as the wood is in a valley, making close up shots the only option here. To capture the sublime I went around, looking for scenery that was very destroyed, yet still beautiful, showing how even a huge, dangerous storm can be beautiful.

Here are the photos I picked out and edited:

1st image:

Here, me and my family just entered the forest where we believed we could find some damage still left after storm cereal. The rain just happened to have stopped and the sun came out, allowing the path to ‘glow’, creating a warm and divine feel. I only bumped up the contrast slightly, allowing the road to glow more.

2nd image:

I found a broken tree, with 2 wide stretching branches growing outwards. The photo itself is not that interesting but with some editing (e.g. using the zone system in the style of Ansel Adams), I can bring this image to life and create depth in the complex textures of the trees and the stubble on the ground.

Here was the first edit I tried using light room, However, I wanted more control over the highlights and shadows is areas where the intensity is lost (especially in the Brocken tree). So I imported the image into photoshop so I can select areas where I don’t want shadows.

I edited the tree stump with the dodge and burn tool, to bring out the detail but reduce the exposure slightly. I also went into the B&W settings and reduced the amount of blue colour to make the sky more dramatic:

3rd image:

I dont think these are my strongest photos however, so to represent the sublime and romanticism, I will be retaking photos of cliffs sides around Jersey.

Genre of Landscape-

The term Landscape actually came from the Dutch word landschap. Which meant “region, tract of land” however the definition started to change in the 1500’s to “a picture depicting scenery on land”

16th Century

In the 16th century landscape started being recognised as a genre. There was a growing interest in natural world due to the Renaissance. During this time, Albrecht Altdorfer was one of the more prominent artists. He was said to be one of the first Europeans to produce pure landscape art. He took a lot of inspiration/included a lot of religious aspects which was a key aspect of Renaissance art. However, although Landscape was starting to be recognised as it’s own genre, t was still not a “popular” style of art.

Renaissance art

Renaissance art took a lot of inspiration from biblical texts or religious stories. Most of the art includes one of the following some of the classic styles (especially the human form); naturalism styles and individualism which was gaining popularity at the time. However a key part of renaissance art is they would focus on idealisation and perfection whereas romanticism which is similar was the one to mainly focus on self expression and emotion.

Some of the most famous and successful renaissance artists Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci.

17th Century

Nicolas Poussin was also quite a popular landscape artist he mainly started during the 17th century where it was still very slowly rising in popularity. He was most known for his incredible paintings where he would take inspiration from Roman countryside. He is known for elevating the whole genre of landscapes.

Classical landscapes were gaining a lot of attention around this time. Classical landscapes aim to capture and illustrate the idea of recalling Arcadia. Which is this legendary place in ancient Greece which is known for its beauty.

Its said classical landscapes were heavily influenced by classical antiquity which focused on Greek culture from around 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE.

In classical landscapes during the 17th century they would have these idyllic aspects to them so they wold appear to be very tranquil, happy and blissful this cold be due to the fact arcadia is a mythical place so people would usually describe in this idealized way.

Add more here about the rise of Classical Landscape art in the 17th Century. There is a link here with more info: LINK

Add more about 18th / 19th Century Art…

Landscape Photography

William Jenkins first used the word “new topographic” in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers (that is Lewis Baltz and Robert Adams) whose images had a simple style in that they were formal, mostly black and white photos of the urban landscape.

Many photographers linked with new topographic like Lewis Baltz, Nicholas Nixon, Hiller Becher, Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz were affected by the virtual world and chose to focus on daily subjects. Warehouses, car park and suburban houses were all photographed with simplicity that was similar to how early photographers photographed the world.

The New topographic was a reaction to the temptation of imagined landscape photography, which lifted up the natural, the basic and the increasing suburbanized reality. The new topographic represented leaving traditional landscape photography by focusing on urban landscape and man-made landscapes instead of romanticized natural landscapes. The new topographic movement changed how photographers would normally capture the city/town environment and the landscape.

The New Topographic exhibition aimed to change classic landscape photography by showing everyday places impacted by people. These photos were taken in a lot of different places where human impact had changed the landscape or area, this was locations such as: construction in suburban areas, urban areas and various locations which are seen everyday which have been changed by the humans. Robert Adams is a good example of a photographer who would capture the growth of housing and the construction of housing in the Western United States.

Technique and methods

Photographers who contributed to The new topographics usually took their images straight on, focusing on balance and framing, photographers taking the images straight on normally that the image has no emotion or a certain way to view the phtoo. In The New Topographics, the photographs are slightly edited and are normally edited to change features like esposure, brightness and contrast. The composition is normally clear, tidy display of the focal point/subject. The camera which would have mainly be used by photographers is large format cameras to get an image with alot of detail and clarity.

Large format camera

Robert Adams

Edit One

For this edit I wanted to keep the green grass and the orangey tone in the background as it contrasts very well with the lighter sage coloured moss on the broken branch. I just adjusted the exposure to bring out the colours in the photo and then used the other adjustments to balance the images colouring.

Edit Two

Edit Three

Final Images

Evaluation

From this photoshoot I had three good photos, I found I liked these three photos as they all had a lot of textures and showcased the damage caused by the storm on a small woodland area. I like how all three have the same tones and colours, this was because I made a conscious effort to match the colours when editing I think this helps keep the idea that all three photos were from the same location which was important as I wanted to show how much damage had been caused in only a tiny section of the island. I don’t however think this is a very strong photoshoot as I don’t think it captured the intensity of the damage nor are the photos particularly in a romanticism style. I have redone this shoot in a different location as I did like the textures created by capturing the fallen trees as I think that does provide some context of the severity of it and creates interesting photos but I chose a location I could compose the photos differently and showed a wider expanse of land.

An artist I have decided to research for photomontage is David Hockney. Brno Del Zou is a French artist who started his series ‘photo sculptures’ where he took a picture of his model and rearranged their features to make a new image.

Brno Del Zou said that the concept behind these sculptures that he does it to “use the fragmentation of the body in order to better understand it”.

Portraiture

I choose these three image as my final pieces I think the middle image is the strongest due to the very der5ama split lighting which makes the model appear very intimidating and as if she is very powerful.

femininity vs masculinity

I choose these for my mascinity and feminity due for the one on the left having multiple means with playing into the idea of how wen are strong and woem are weak vunerable emtional men dont cry but women do. Then the image on the right i tried to show the differences between the masculine body and the feminine body by showing off female curves which is quite a stereotypically feminine trait and then have more stereotypically male traits like muscles. And more strong features with vein

Ansel Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist born 20th February, 1902 and died 22nd April, 1984. He is mostly known known for his photography capturing black and white landscape images. Adams favoured sharp focus in photographs and advocated for photographers to use the full tonal range in their photographs by helping found ‘Group f/64’. He also developed the ‘Zone System’ with Fred Archer, which is a technique of determining optimal film exposure and development.

During Adams early childhood, he experienced the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, in which the aftershock led to him breaking and scarring his nose, with it remaining crooked for the rest of his life. He was interested in playing the piano at age 12 and taught himself to play and read music. Once visiting Yosemite National Park in 1916 with his family, his father gave him his first camera during the stay. Adams enjoyed the beauty of nature since he was a young age, and he would explore landscapes such as beaches and sea cliffs.

Zone System

Developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer, the Zone System is a photographic method of determining optimal film exposure and development. This system assigns numbers beginning from 0 and ending at 10 to different values of brightness. These brightness values typically include 0 representing pure black, 5 (V) representing middle grey, and 10 (X) representing pure white.

Visualisation

A principle of the Zone System is Visualisation, which is when a photographer manages to capture an evocative and eye-capturing photograph which involves the consideration by the photographer of where the camera is placed, which lens is used, and possibly the movement of the camera.

Own Interpretation/ Opinion of artwork:

The artwork (called “Noon”) clearly presents as the central focus on the three horses pulling what appears to be a large “farm wagon” across the river from the cottage on the left. The people presented in the off centre look like some sort of workers if not labour for the individuals that live in the well established cottage. The artwork can also highlight the social class of the subjects, even though there are not any “higher class” individuals present in the image the house speaks for itself as it can show that the house is in a higher position than the individuals therefore it stands in a higher class compared to the workers opposing the household.

Information of the artwork:

Originally called Landscape: Noon.

The image can depict a rural scene on the River Stour between English Counties Essex and Sussex.

Is one of most popular and greatest english paintings as well as being regarded as “Constable’s most famous image”.

Willy Lott Cottage still survives practically unaltered, but none of the trees in the painting exist today.

reflections on water, the shadows beneath the willows, the smells, the sounds – while waiting for a bite.’  Constable wrote of a “painting of a mill” by Jacob van Ruisdael, that he could ‘all but see the ells [eels]’ in its water. ‘The most famous of all Constable’s statements was sparked/adapted by the topic of fishing.

In 1821 the younger John Fisher wrote, mentioning that he had been up to his middle in a fine/ deep New Forest river and as happy as a ‘careless boy’.  He caught two pike and thought of John Constable.  In reply, John Constable produced an amazing sequence of free sensory cooperation:’

“The sound of water escaping from Mill dams… Willows, Old rotten Banks, slimy posts, & brickwork. I love such things… As long as I do paint I shall never cease to paint such places….“