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.

TECHNICAL:

This photo shows an element of natural lighting and how daylight can affect your photo. each different type of lighting can have a different effect to your photo, for example natural lighting fits this photo the best as it shows that everything is natural whereas when taking a portrait of someone natural lighting could be stronger on one side of the face than the other which changes the whole photos purpose. I would say this photo has a hard level of control and it is impossible to move anything but the camera therefore you could get different angles of this scene but not necessarily move any one part of the photo. The control of this photo shows how badly we are affecting this world as we cannot move it, but we can destroy it with global warming, burning fuels and enormous amounts of greenhouse gases in the air. Ansel Adams has given this photo quite a cold tone as the black and white lighting adds a colder tone, if the photo were to have a slightly warmer tone I feel the photo would make me feel almost as if the photo is burning as the cold tone makes the photo look normal and just right, the area looks like a cold place and having a warm tone over it wouldn’t look right and make it look almost like it’s in an odd place. The aperture looks focused as if nothing in the photo is blurry, and you can spot things well. Even though it looks like there is fog in the distance the camera does not really pick it up and almost cancels it out. The iOS 100 has a clean image with no noise around it and has quite high sensitivity.

CONTEXTUAL:

The image was taken at The Tetons and The Snake River, The Tetons and the Snake River is a black and white photograph taken by Ansel Adams in 1942, at the Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming. It is one of his best known and most critically acclaimed photographs. That river is famous and well known because of the inspiration given to photographers, professionals as well as amateurs. Ansel Adams had taken this photo in 1942, Ansel Adams was the first to get an award for his photography in 1946. He had taken photos of every national park. Ansel Adams had visited 27 out of the 28 national parks missing Everglades National Park in Florida. Ansel Adams liked the idea that proving that landscape plays an important part of the American conservation movement. He wants to make a constant reminder that landscape needs to be protected due to all the earth’s diseases, such as global warming. As a youth, Ansel Adams spent much time outdoors developing a love of nature and taking photographs of these special places. 

CONCEPTUAL:

The idea of this photo shows how pure this photo is and how nature needs to be protected at all costs, Ansel Adams wants to keep nature in photos as in a couple of years those areas will not look like that. The world is slowly dying with forest fires happening and destroying trees and other wildlife, this means that those photos will be the only memories left of the national parks. These areas will change either way because people are cutting down trees, and the weather will look different on different days. The meaning of these photos are purely a reminder of what nature looked like in the 1940s and how different it looks now , how we as humans have destroyed it, it’s almost as if it’s a message saying I told you so, that we are destroying this world and we aren’t doing anything to protect and prevent all these bad things and once they happen we won’t be able to go back. The notion of this photo shows that the world is dying, and humans will not stop producing bad products, this world is known as cruel, Ansel Adams is representing this by taking photos of landscape. I also believe that this photo could suggest how each generation has changed and how little children are always on their phones and never playing outside. They are missing out and will never experience this beauty. As Ansel Adams said himself, he liked being outside as he developed a love for nature and taking pictures of those special places and I believe that as generations get older nature gets less and less appreciated and therefore those photos will hold a lot of meaning in the future. 

VISUAL:

This photo has quite a repetitive pattern with the trees being scattered around the photo on the sides which creates this biodiversity of a forest, where each tree has been cloned and pasted in the same place to create an illusion of theoretical fractals are infinitely. This photo shows the true elements of nature where there are not any manufactured items found in the photo and everything is natural, there are not any people or any animals found, it almost gives a peaceful effect. This photo was turned into black and white purely because Ansel Adams felt that colour could be distracting and could therefore divert an artist’s attention from the achievement of his full potential when taking a photograph. The colours in the photo are known to take people’s attention when they want the photos’ details and texture to attract the naked eye. This photos texture looks quite smooth around the middle bit where the river lays however around the tree the texture of the photo looks quite rough which could show the two different sides of nature and how it is pure and beautiful and how there are wars going, global warming and many other things destroying our planet. The texture of the mountains almost gives off a rough texture, however, the colour white softens that texture to create a more smoothened texture. All together I would say the texture is balanced between a soft and rough pattern all around the photo surrounding the river. The layout of this photo is really well positioned as it shows the real beauty of nature, each element has a feature in the photo without leaving it out, for example the trees have a big part in the photo and show that they give off a rough texture whereas the river is mid centre to represent that everything should be smooth and nothing should go wrong if you think positively about it. 

Ansel Adams

He felt colour could be distracting, and could therefore divert an artist’s attention from the achievement of his full potential when taking a photograph.

Ansel Adams was a landscape photographer, best known for his black and white photos of American West, he helped found and associate photographers advocating “pure” photography. His visionary belief in the redemptive beauty of wilderness was expressed in grand images that have popularized art photography among the American public. Adams liked to make his photos black and white as he felt colour could be distracting, and could therefore divert an artist’s attention from the achievement of his full potential when taking a photograph. Adams liked to manipulate his photos with dark room to make them more mysterious. However, he started taking pictures in colour for the same amount of time he took photos in black and white.

things that inspired Ansel Adams were because of his struggles due to his Natural shyness and a certain intensity of genius, coupled with the dramatically “earth quaked” nose, this caused Adams to have problems fitting in at school. In later life he noted that he might have been diagnosed as hyperactive. There is also the distinct possibility that he may have suffered from dyslexia. When he was younger he thought he was different from everyone else when In reality these struggles formed his own views and how he sees certain thing such as how he can make landscape photos looks so elegant and show so much detail and history.

Adams taught himself how to read music and play the piano, and it seemed destined to be his career. But while he dedicated himself to mastering the instrument, from 1916 onwards he also began to visit Yosemite National Park every summer. This lead him to taking a lot of his pictures in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada which helped to emphasis the natural beauty of land. From my research it made it clear that Adams stopped playing the piano as he didn’t have enough skills to become professional and therefore created a career in photography.

How Ansel Adams images link with Romanticism / Sublime

What/Who did Ansel Adams inspire?

One of the most important legacies of Ansel Adams was that his work contributed to the American Conservation Movement. Between 1850 and 1920, American conservationists invented the idea of the national park and developed the national park system, establishing an international model for the preservation of natural beauty and wilderness. Personally I believe Ansel Adams would have inspired people who struggled in school and felt like they didn’t fit in, the people who believed that they didn’t have place in earth that didn’t have anyone to talk to. Ansel Adams being brave and strong helped him go for what he wanted, he didn’t let any of his problems stop him, however it is heard that he did stop playing music due to the fact that he fell and had an accident during an earth quake when he as younger, he believed his disfigured face would look nice to have, and having to do shows and be an artists didn’t sound reassuring. Ansel Adams therefore used photography as a way of bringing himself up, he used landscape photo of the world and what he liked the best, he liked taking pictures of Yosemite as it was in his home country and this clearly reflects that he has a strong passion towards his history and where he came from, he isn’t ashamed of what he has become but of what he looks like which can be a big problem to many people and Ansel Adams proving that he got on with his life despite his accident shows how powerful you can be if you put your mind to it.

TECHNICAL: The lighting on this photo is very bright and exposed and shows a lot of the rocks natural colours, the intensity of the lighting makes the photo look really powerful and dominated and shows off the disasters, All the colours are positioned in different places, as all the bright colours are at the top and all the darker colours are at the bottom, it almost shows a blend in the colours. Each type of lighting can effect a photo, for example natural lighting isn’t seen as the best for for this photograph as it would destroy the point of this photo, although this is a painting and not actually a photo it still shows the point of what the the beautiful disaster’s. This photo gives off a cold tone as most of the colours a shade of green or blue which makes it have a cold tone, this makes the photo stand out a lot more than if the colours were warm as the bottom colours are quite dark and need some lighter cold colours to balance out the photos. In this photo there are still a few warm tones scattered around the photograph like in the middle of the photo it looks quite orange or yellow which just adds a sophisticated look to the photo. The photo looks slightly over exposed as it is very bright in the background, however it does draw the viewers eyes towards the photo. The level of control of this photo is quite strong as it shows how steady the photo is, but it would have bee nice to have seen different angles of this photo to see if any of the colours would had changed and which, would it because the sun in is now in the way and everything is a lot brighter and less dull or the opposite the whole photo becomes darker.

VISUAL: The layout of this photo was well positioned as everything seems to work well and look well in place. The texture of the photo looks very rough and dangerous however the photo itself looks really pretty and natural and that’s the conflict between the opposites of this image. The rocks look very detailed and have a very hard and unsmooth surface on them. This makes the whole image looks very dangerous its self, it could put images into our heads to think of the worst, such as someone slipping and hurting themselves because of the rough rocks, therefore this images gives a negative representation although the imagine itself looks really detailed and looks like a positive image, it gives us an overthinking feeling when it comes to explaining how this images makes us feel. The whole image is 3D, which makes all the colours stand out and attracts the eye compared to if the image was flat then nothing wold really stand out and the disaster wouldn’t be captured as well.

CONTEXTUAL: There are many colours around the photo which sort of represents the opposite of romanticism, romanticism is meant to represent the goodness of the world, Romanticism all started with the emphasis on the imagination and emotion. Its mean to be positive and give off a good vibe where as sublime is meant to do the opposite its meant to be a natural disaster that would destroy the world but the photograph taken makes the disaster seem beautiful with all the pretty colours in the photo, its meant to show the positive in all the negative.  It shows a convey of opposites, for example heavy rain pouring down, this can make people upset as they don’t want rain they would prefer it to be sunny hover the rain can be really heling, it can water plants and give water to any animals that have a lack of water. sublime isn’t meant to represent the worst but it can be seen as a very bad situation or idea of something, although there will always be something special that will lighten up the photo/situation. Another example of sublime is just the world in general, the world is full of beauty and allows people o live and survive, for us humans the world is our home and non of us would be alive if it wasn’t for the earth, but things such as global warming, world wars and conflicts, poorer countries, starvation, all of these things turn the world into such a nasty thing. If only life was that simple but there is always bad things happening around us and some of us are oblivious, these are the people who choose not to care and not to help and they help impact the world with their selfishness.

CONCEPTUAL: The idea of this image presents a significant meaning, it helps people to see the good in every bad situation, These types of photos shows the true significance of nature, there are not any manufactured items found in the photo and everything is natural, there are no people or any animals seen , it almost gives a peaceful and quiet effect. Overall this phot makes me feel as though I am not safe, it looks really dangerous and rough to be around and this can lead to overthinking about the image, although the image looks chaotic the point of the image defeats the that whole idea of chaotic. The landscapes taken are the beauty of earth and capture the exact natural surroundings and movements of the photo. As landscape photos are meant to capture the true beauty of the world the fact that sublime does almost the opposite it creates an idea thta the image is capturing beauty and a disaster whereas landscapes tend to just capture beauty.  

romanticism

Romanticism was founded by August Wilhelm Schlegel and Friedrich Schlegel, they began to speak of romantische Poesie (” romantic Poetry”) in the 1970s, this contrasted with “classic” but in terms of spirit rather than merely dating. Romanticism all started with the emphasis on the imagination and emotion, it emerged as a response to the disillusionment with the enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French Revolution in 1789.

Sublime

Typically romanticism is seen as a feeling of love, and a strong attraction towards someone or something, however romanticism is seen as much more than that, it holds a much deeper meaning, such as expressing of personal feeling and interest in the natural world. Its all about how nature has shaped us, the way nature has changed through out the years and how things have been damaged, wars that have ruined countries and global warming destroying the planet, romanticism is all about the way in which the world is always going to be our home and if we don’t treat it well we will get consequences. I personally believe romanticism i art and photography is to capture the moment of that time, for example when you go out and you have pretty view in front of you take a picture to have a memory of the world during that time an the world is slowly dying and might not be like that in a few years time.

The Origins Of Landscape

Virtual Gallery

Here I had the idea of combining the two genders into one photo, I made a collage of all my photos I took inspired by Cindy Sherman, I simply added all the photos to a blank piece of paper and removed the background of each of the photos to combine them as one, after I duplicated the collage and placed it side by side from the other one, I then placed two photos I took of boys and placed on top also removing the background. I left the pictures of the boys in colour as it helps to make both the collage and the singular photos of the boys stand out.

Inspiration:

Outcome:

This type of photoshoot is also based on how people dress, how the different races wear certain clothing, how boys wear different clothes to girls, boys tend to wear baggy jumpers and girls tend to wear tighter jumpers with crop tops. Each gender and race don’t have a particular clothing they should wear, they just tend to stick to normality and what each gender is expected to wear. Most of these photos weren’t planned therefore they are more neutral and aren’t set up, most people only has a few seconds to pose which makes the photo seem less planned and more in the moment.

Here I went round my school and took picture of the students with different races and ethnicities, this is meant to show that everyone is equal no matter the colour of your skin or what language you speak, I look at an artists Liz where she focused more on race and how that certain race acts as a whole, what most of them have in common and heir hobbies, i tied to make my photoshoots have more people who could look similar or the total opposite. I chose the best photos that i took to present and left them in colour as the artists did the same, this type of photoshoot is based on how people act in general and why they act certain ways, for example there is a stereotype that certain races are better at dancing then others. This could be looked in a way where everyone is unique and has an opinion, although the theme isn’t masculinity vs femininity

This photoshoot is a lot more about how boys are seen in our society instead of what they could be seen as, for example we would see boys as strong and not emotional whereas they can be emotional and should let out their emotions, its the same for girls we are seen as weak and more caring, which is just a stereotype. Boys and girls can be seen just as emotional and caring as each other.

Here I went to the studio to take pictures of some boys to show that boys are very different to girls, while taking these photos, I made the boys pose as if they were doing a normal photoshoot to see how different they pose compared to girls. I did get a few photos of them fighting, which represents the masculine side. The main photos that I really like are the ones where they are sat on a chair/standing up and they are holding their jackets behind them, these photos portray how boys would pose as if they were modelling and how differently they look to when a girl would be modelling. I did make the photos black and white as its foes make the photo look more modern as it also gets rid of all the bright colours in the photo, this helps us to focus more on the facial features and how different boys are not what colours are around them, however it could be interesting to see it as boys wear blue and girls are meant to be wearing pink. In these photos the boys are wearing blue however it should be normalized that they can wear pink and still be seen as masculine. This photoshoot as very different from the femininity photoshoot as this one has less emotions and was based on any artists, it was more of a free style type of photoshoot where they could just pose, where as the girls photoshoot was based on Cindy Sherman where she takes portrait photos of herself to show how women are represented back in the days. Although this this photoshoot could be linked in with one of my artists research such as Catherine Opie, she does photography based on how each gender could be seen as and why they shouldn’t be judged for it, for example if a man wanted to wear pink clothes and wear some makeup it should be normalized, they also do show that its alright to have women dress up in big leather jackets and have short hair with big piercings, therefore this artists does explore how each person could feel in their bodies.