Beginning in the 1970s, a group of photographers including Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz and Nickolas Nixon were associated with the 1975 exhibition New Topographic; this was Photographs of man- altered landscapes. The exhibition displayed their work, it showed how they focused on different kind of landscapes rather than those found naturally or at national parks. They showed landscape photography in a new way, focusing on urban landscape areas around America post-war, such as suburban areas like freeways, gas stations, or industrial parks. This was a new reflection to the suburban world around them, as they began to explore different and new ways of capturing landscapes.

The New Topographic show how photographers have responded to man’s impact on the land, they began to photograph urban landscapes with human activity, rather than just natural landscapes.

This new style suggested a ‘cool detachment’ from the more perfect and pristine landscapes of the natural/ man-made world. The New Topographic showed new scenes of everyday American Landscape.