New Topographics, a term coined in 1975 by William Jenkins, describes a group of American photographers whose photographs had a similar banal aesthetic (a photo which has “depthless” space, with the perspective of the viewer’s encounter), being formal mostly black and white prints of the urban landscape. Examples of these American photographers are Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz.
The New Topographics reflected the world becoming increasingly suburbanised around them, and was also a reaction to the idealised landscape photography which focused on capturing and elevating nature. New Topographics had a deadpan look on landscapes in photography.
Examples of photographers who explored New Topographics:
Lewis Baltz, The New Industrial Parks, 1974
Robert Adams
