What is the new topographics?

New topographics was a term coined by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers (such as Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz) whose pictures had a similar banal aesthetic, in that they were formal, mostly black and white prints of the urban landscape.

The New Topographics documented built and natural 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. The photographs, stark and documentary, are often devoid of human presence.

Jenkins described the images as “neutral” in style, “reduced to an essentially topographic state, conveying substantial amounts of visual information but eschewing entirely the aspects of beauty, emotion, and opinion”.

Topographics in general is a technique in which a scene, usually a landscape, is photographed as if it were being surveyed from afar.

On the one hand, New Topographics represented a radical shift by redefining the subject of landscape photography as the built environment. To comprehend the significance of this, it helps to consider the type of imagery that previously dominated the genre in the United States. 

Beginning in the 1920s, Ansel Adams cultivated an approach to landscape photography that posited nature as separate from human presence. Consistent with earlier American landscape painting, Adams photographed scenery in a manner intended to provoke feelings of awe and pleasure in the viewer. He used vantage points that emphasized the towering scale of mountain peaks, and embraced a wide tonal range from black to white to record texture and dramatic effects of light and weather.

Ansel Adams, “The Tetons—Snake River,” Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942

Adams wanted his pictures’ viewers to feel as uplifted as he had when looking at the scenery in person. His heroic, timeless photographs contributed to the cause of conservationism – the environmental approach that seeks to preserve exceptional landscapes and protect them from human intervention.

Despite The New Topographics being an interesting new genre for many photographers to experiment with, it was actually a controversial technique in which many photographers do not like the look of it. This may be because the photos include more of the man-made world rather than the natural world, which many can argue is more “boring”.

“I don’t like them—they’re dull and flat. There’s no people, no involvement, nothing.”

However, many photographers do enjoy photographing the man-made world as it is an opportunity for the audiences to realize how much humans rely on it. The world we live in today would not be remotely similar if we did not have all of the up-to-date buildings and technology, which is useful to everyone, every day.

“At first it’s stark nothing, but then you look at it, and it’s just about the way things are.” 

“I don’t like to think there are ugly streets in America, but when it’s shown to you—without beautification—maybe it tells you how much more we need here.”

The stark, beautifully printed images of the mundane but oddly fascinating topography was both 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.

Post-war America struggled with:

• Inflation and labour unrest. The country’s main economic concern in the immediate post-war years was inflation.
• The baby boom and suburbia. Making up for lost time, millions of returning veterans soon married and started families.
• Isolation and splitting of the family unit, pharmaceuticals and mental health problems.
• Vast distances, road networks and mobility.

Robert Adams, The New West

The artist Ed Ruscha is famous for his paintings and prints but is also known for his series of photographic books based on typologies, among them every building on the Sunset Strip, 26 gasoline stations, some Los Angeles apartments, and 34 parking lots. Ruscha employs the deadpan style found in many photographic topologies.

Parking lots, suburban housing and warehouses were all depicted with a beautiful stark austerity, almost in the way early photographers documented the natural landscape. An exhibition at the International Museum of Photography in Rochester, New York featuring these photographers also revealed the growing unease about how the natural landscape was being eroded by industrial development.

In this first image, I cropped out some of the left side which had very little nature as I think it helped keep the photograph on topic. I then decreased the exposure and increased the vibrancy because I wanted some tones and shades in the sky to be more emphasised. This looks effective because it gives a similar approach to Ansel Adams, who focuses on bringing out detail in his images. Although I kept the whites and blacks neutral as I wanted the photo to have a sense of realism and doesn’t look too different to how I originally saw the landscape with my naked eye.

My final image:

Firstly, I decreased the exposure again because it gave the photograph more life and also I think it looks better with the black and white filter, so overall it doesn’t look too washed out. I then increased the contrast like Adams does with his photos so it adds more depth into the photo, whilst also adding in more detail. I decreased the shadows which also helps to add a contrast between the lighter and darker shades. I like to keep the texture, clarity and dehaze neutral because I think they can add an artificial look to the image, which is not the approach I want to take with my photos.

My final image:

For my third image, by the angle and lighting in which I originally took it, it already had quite dull tones and shades due to the clouds covering the sky. Therefore I did not want this image to be black and white because I thought it would take away more life from the photo. Instead, I decreased exposure and increased contrast in order for the image to have some of its colours emphasised, while also increasing the highlights and shadows. By doing this, certain shades in the clouds were then made darker, which makes the overall photograph look much more interesting and less dull. By using this technique, I was able to create a similar look to some of the sublime and romanticism images we have looked at, as the image has some dull colours, but it contrasts well with the brighter tones. This also allowed the photograph to have more profundity, without looking too artificial.

My final image:

Although this image naturally has a range of colours and tones within it, I wanted to make it black and white as I believe it brings out lots of the details to the sea and sky. By decreasing the exposure I was then able to bring out the contrast in colours between the blue sky and white clouds, and then adding to this by increasing the highlights, shadows and whites. This then prevented the photo from looking monotonous, by also decreasing the blacks to emphasise the sky.

My final image:

For my final edit, I experimented with whether it looks better in black and white or in colour. This photo has a high exposure which can drain some of the other tones throughout the image, so I think it looks more effective in black and white. By decreasing the exposure it helps add interest as the viewer is able to focus on detail within the photograph and see the range of shades. However I also think this image looks successful in colour because I was able to exaggerate some of the colours in the sky and make them appear brighter. I also increased the contrast because it adds prosperity and depth.

My final images:

For this landscapes photoshoot, I borrowed a camera from school and went to a few areas in the East of the island; Gorey, Rozel, St Catherine’s and Archirondel. I found that these areas had views that incorporated nature, as well as monuments such as the castle. I think that these things together make successful and similar approach to Ansel Adams.

Next, I will flag these images to divide them into my most and least successful outcomes. This will make it easier for me to identify which images to use for future final products, and I can also see my areas for improvement and how to enhance my photoshoots.

Once you have your 3 images selected, right click on one of the images and click “photo merge” and then click “HDR“. Next select the deghost amount and change it to “high” to allow your photos to have the best quality and see the difference between each image successfully. This will give you a final result of all three exposure levels merged together to create the perfect exposure for your images.

My first example:

My second example:

My third example:

My fourth example:

During studying landscapes, we have looked at how to produce HDR images so my outcomes can obtain details from different images, merged into one. In photography, HDR stands for high dynamic range. Dynamic range is simply the range of the lightest tones to the darkest tones within a photo. In other words, it’s a measure of the light intensities from the highlights to the shadows. In photography and videography, multi-exposure HDR capture is a technique that creates high dynamic range images by taking and combining multiple exposures of the same subject matter at different exposures.

How does HDR affect my images?

The higher dynamic range your camera has, the closer the photo will compare to what an eye can see. This means that you’ll be able to capture more details in the shadows that might otherwise appear pure black, and you’ll be able to see details in the highlights that might otherwise be washed out with white. HDR captures multiple exposures of the same scene at different brightness levels. Typically, the camera takes one average exposure, an underexposed image to capture details in the highlights, and an overexposed image to capture details in the shadows.

The HDR camera setting is useful when you have trouble balancing a photo’s light. When shooting landscape photography, it can help show the details of where the sun is hitting as well as where the shadows fall.

My plan:

Before I take my photos, I will make sure to adjust the correct exposure levels for my specific images. Most photographers take three shots at exposure values of -3, 0, and +3. A negative value results in a darker exposure, and a positive exposure is brighter.

After I have adjusted my camera correctly and experimented by taking photos. I can merge all 3 images with 3 different exposure levels to create an HDR image in Adobe Lightroom. If I am not happy with my final result I can continue to edit them in Lightroom.

Mood Board:

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating “pure” photography which favoured sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph. With exquisite plays of light and dark, each gelatine silver photograph exhibits a moment captured by Ansel’s eye brought to life through his masterful touch.

Ansel’s photography has had great impact indeed, not only in awakening people to the beauty of nature but in inspiring many other photographers to turn their efforts to the natural scene and to use photography in the interests of environmental preservation.

Ansel Adams’ love of nature and his work in capturing vistas within the Sierras and other protected lands for all to see changed the American art world to include nature photography.

Adam’s background was quite challenging, therefore he took up photography as a distraction. When Adams was only four, an aftershock of the great earthquake and fire of 1906 threw him to the ground and badly broke his nose, distinctly marking him for life, also destroying his confidence growing up. He was not successful in the various schools to which his parents sent him; consequently, his father and aunt tutored him at home. While sick in bed with a cold one day at age 14, Ansel read a book that would eventually change his life. James Mason Hutchings’ In the Heart of the Sierras caught Adams’ imagination, and he soon managed to convince his parents to vacation in Yosemite National Park. From his first visit, Adams was transfixed and transformed. Equipped with a simple Kodak Box Brownie camera his parents gave him, he hiked, climbed, and explored, gaining self-esteem and self-confidence whilst snapping the first images of what would become a lifetime of incredible artistic productivity. He spent substantial time there, due to the love he had for the place, every year from 1916 to his death. In 1919 he joined the Sierra Club and then spent six summers accompanying High Sierra tour groups as trip photographer. The most important result of Adams’s somewhat solitary and unmistakably different childhood was the joy that he found in nature, as evidenced by his taking long walks in the still-wild reaches of the Golden Gate. Here, he developed a close bond with the nature around him, and began appreciating his surroundings and seeing the true beauty and potential in them.

Methodology:

“Weston is, in the real sense, one of the few creative artists of today. He has recreated the matter-forms and forces of nature; he has made these forms eloquent of the fundamental unity of the world. His work illuminates man’s inner journey toward perfection of the spirit.”

Visualisation:

Quoted by Ansel Adam’s Visualisation is “to see clearly in the mind prior to exposure, a continuous projection from composing the image through the final print”. Visualisation is the concept of being able to see the scene prior to shooting and using your mind to make the that scene as a final product. In addition to using visualisation, Ansel Adam’s alongside his fellow photographers in their group F/64 developed the ‘Zone System’.

The Zone System:

The zone system is a photographic technique for determining optimal film exposure and development. Adams described the Zone System as “not an invention of mine; it is a codification of the principles of sensitometry, worked out by Fred Archer and myself at the Art Centre School in Los Angeles, around 1939–40.”

Image analysis:

Adams commonly prioritised his photos based around the American West, in which he focused on features like mountains and rivers which can easily elevate an image. When taking these photos, Adams would adjust the camera settings to produce images that look completely different to how he saw them with his naked eye, in which he favours sharp focus and manipulates the camera settings to reach the photograph’s full potential and achieve a surreal outcome, often over-saturated with more details.

In this image in particular, Adams has clearly adjusted the ISO, shutter speed and aperture in order to emphasise the different tones and shades within the image. At the top he has included part of the sky in the angle, where the shades of grey are slightly darker around the outsides, and they get lighter towards the middle where the sun is being blocked. This is effective because from the angle of the photo, the brightness of the sky works well, with the peak of the mountains just in front, it successfully draws the viewers attention to the subject of the image. Adams has also incorporated lots of the river and trees in his image, which is effective because the tones of the trees contrast against the river, as they are very different. In my opinion, this photo looks better in black and white because it allows the lighter tones to appear brighter and the darker tones to appear more emphasised. We can also see where the sun has brightened up the river creating a reflection, which gives the overall outcome some life.

Overall, I like how Adams produces most of his outcomes in black and white as it differs from how we view things with the naked human eye, which makes each of his images more interesting. This also makes him unique to other artists. I like how he bases his photos around nature, it gives the effect that he is trying to send as message to his viewers, reminding them to appreciate their surroundings.

What is a landscape?

Landscapes are all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.

Examples of landscapes:

Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on human-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Landscape images align with the horizon line. The photo is wider than it is tall, to capture the vastness of a natural setting. This view is landscape orientation or horizontal orientation.

A lot of the reason photographers struggle with this is because unlike most other genres, you don’t get to choose what is in the scene or where it is placed, so you need to find new ways to be creative, whether that is through your choice of focal length or creative use of techniques.

 Landscape photography may include photos of artificial scenery, such as fields, orchids, gardens and architecture and human-made structures such as buildings, roads bridges etc. Landscape photography is capturing an image that embodies the spirit of the outdoors. It carries a sense of being to see something wonderful for the viewers.

Rural landscapes:

The rural landscape includes a variety of geological and geographic features such as cropland, forests, deserts, swamps, grasslands, pastures, rivers and lakes. The rural landscape provides natural resources, food and fibre, wildlife habitat and inspiration.  Rural landscapes provide both ecological and economic benefits to the region. They offer an escape from urban settings and provide valuable open space that allows for the preservation of natural resources. Additionally, they provide interesting cultural attractions and attract tourists.

 Rural landscapes are important for ecological reasons. They help to create biodiversity hotspots and preserve endangered species. They also provide habitats for plants and animals, and act as important carbon sinks.
In addition, rural landscapes can boost the local economy by providing open space for businesses, such as farms, wineries, and other agricultural activities. These activities, in turn, create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
Rural landscapes are also essential in terms of tourism. They provide a unique and attractive backdrop for tourists to explore, and allow for a more immersive experience of rural life.
Finally, rural landscapes are important in terms of culture and tradition. They are often home to traditional customs and practices, and are a valuable source of local knowledge.

Rural landscapes Mood Board:

What does landscape mean?

A landscape is a part of the earth that is captured in a singular photo. It consists of the geographic features that mark, or are characteristic of, a particular area. Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance. The word Landscape originated from the Dutch word “landschap” which was a name given to photos of a countryside. The word and technique was borrowed from artists, famous Dutch landscape painters include Jacob van Ruisdael and Vincent van Gogh. It is highly typical for landscape photos to involve naturalistic aspects such as natural mountains, rivers, fields etc. However, photographing human-made features can also be accepted as landscape photos. Landscape photos are very commonly taken in a non-human activity environment and therefore the photographer can devote their full focus so the scenery and not the people that could be involved. As well as art, the definition of a landscape photograph is broad and may include rural or urban settings, industrial areas or nature photography.

When did landscapes emerge as a genre in Western culture?

Although paintings from the earliest ancient and Classical periods included natural scenic elements, landscape as an independent genre did not emerge in the Western tradition until the Renaissance in the 16th century. Landscape painting eventually gained prominence in the late 18th century with the rise of Romanticism, and often continued to carry a religious significance. Additionally, it became a method of self-expression, with the emotions of the painter and their appreciation of nature demonstrated in the painting.

There is some evidence of a landscape tradition in Ancient Greece and Rome, but these paintings often featured other elements. Albrecht Altdorfer’s Landscape with Footbridge, which dates from the early 16th century, is considered the first true landscape in Western art history.

When did classical landscapes emerge as a genre?

In the 17th century the classical landscape was born. These landscapes were influenced by classical antiquity and sought to illustrate an ideal landscape recalling Arcadia, a legendary place in ancient Greece known for its quiet pastoral beauty. The classical landscape was ideally seen in scenes in the mythic and idyllic Arcadia of ancient Greece. The leading practitioners of the genre classical landscapes were the French-born-Italy- based artists called Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. Both artists spent their time in Rome drawing landscapes of the Roman countryside and Italy was the most common place for things like these because of the beauty of the country and unique sights. Into the 18th century, Italy kept its popularity for classical landscapes but the new centre focus was brought onto France and England.

What prompted the rise of landscape art during the late 18th/19th century?

Landscape painting eventually gained prominence in the late 18th century with the rise of Romanticism, and often continued to carry a religious significance. Additionally, it became a method of self-expression, with the emotions of the painter and their appreciation of nature demonstrated in the painting. The 19th century was a time where landscape art had gained much more attention and was beginning to be seen as a go to piece of art technique.  Romanticism was a particular movement or era in art that occurred towards the end of the 18th century during the first half of the 19th century. Romanticism often aimed to put much emphasis on emotion and individualism. Characteristics include a focus on individualism, an emphasis on nature, emotion over reason, freedom of form, an exploration of the Gothic and unknown, a return to the past, the awe and wonder, the idealization of women, the purity of childhood, and the search for subjective truth.

When did landscape photography originate?

This was allegedly the first landscape photograph ever taken, between the years of 1826 and 1827.  It was an urban landscape photo taken by a French inventor by the name of Nicephorus Niepce. This photograph took him 8 hours so it was sensible that he didn’t take a moving photograph. Due to landscapes already being a very famous and popular artistic technique, it was no surprise that landscapes also made its way into photograph once the uses of photographs were invented and gained their own popularity. Early photographers seemed to decide that landscapes made the perfect subject because they were static and so the danger of the subject moving was minimal.

Romanticism is  is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe. What are the 5 characteristics of American romanticism? Romanticism is marked by a focus on individualism, an emphasis on nature, emotion over reason, freedom of form, and an exploration of the Gothic and unknown. Artists have been painting the landscape since ancient times. The Greeks and Romans created wall paintings of landscapes and gardenscapes. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the tradition of depicting pure landscapes declined, and the landscape was seen only as a setting for religious and figural scenes. This tradition continued until the 16th century when artists began to view the landscape as a subject in its own right. The Netherlands was one of the first places that landscape had become a popular subject for painting. At this time, the rising Protestant middle class sought secular art for their homes, creating the need for new subjects to meet their tastes, in which landscapes helped fill this need.

 The hierarchy of respectable painting subjects placed history painting, which included classical and religious themes, above all other subjects. Portraits, scenes of everyday life, still life, and landscapes were seen as inferior subjects for painting. Even as landscapes became acceptable as subjects in the 17th century, they were still often created merely as settings for biblical or historical scenes.

The Modern Landscape:

Irises, Vincent van Gogh, 1889

Throughout Europe and North America landscape painting gained a new supremacy. Painters such as Théodore Rousseau and Charles Daubigny became less concerned with idealized, classical landscapes and focused more on painting out-of-doors directly from nature—a practice known as plein air painting. The 19th century also saw the birth of landscape photography, which would greatly influence the landscape painters’ compositional choices. Revolutionary artists emerged, such as Gustave Courbet, who pushed the boundaries of landscape painting even further by making it both a tactile and visual experience.

20th Century Lanscapes:

The New York Times, Robert Adams

In the early 20th century, painters continued to embrace the landscape. As photography gained acceptance as an art form, artists used this to create interpretations of the land through pictorialism. Later, through formal compositions of close-up, they cropped views of the landscape. In America, photographer Ansel Adams captured the country’s attention with his breathtaking views of the wild beauty of the American West. Even though the major artistic movements of the mid-20th century were no longer dominated by the landscape as a subject, the genre’s importance continued as artists responded to fears of increased industrialization, the threat of global destruction, and ecological disasters.

What is the Sublime?

The sublime is the quality of greatness beyond all measure. The term especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of measurement or imitation. The theory of sublime art was put forward by Edmund Burke in a philosophical Enquiry published in 1757. He defined the sublime as an artistic effect productive of the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling.

The sublime can be summed up as a combination of the internal/emotional and the external/natural world. It explores how humans allow our emotions to overwhelm our rationality as we experience the wonder of creation. It can also be described as the quality of greatness such as…

• Physical
• Moral
• Intellectual
• Metaphysical
• Aesthetic
• spiritual
• Artistic

What is the sublime in British romanticism?

The sublime is closely linked with the English Romanticism – artists and writers. In particular, those works of painting or poetry that celebrate the majesty and overwhelming power of the natural world. It is an artistic effect productive of the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling.

This is an example of a romantic landscape painting from the 16th century. It incorporates the idea of the sublime as it can be described as magical, yet also ominous. The lighting and tones in this photograph are mysterious and threatening, yet it also does not reveal a lot. This is effective as it leaves us questioning what is happening in the painting, and perhaps we wonder if the artist experienced this in real life as it has a strong sense of realism. The texture of the painting looks extremely rough, as we can see the powerful waves forcefully crashing against the sea wall. There are also contrasting colours in the waves, with hints of coral in between the blue and white tones. As there is a lot of white towards the peaks of the waves, we can assume the waves are very strong and are crashing impenetrably, which gives the image more life and expression. The dull sky also adds to the mysterious mood to the photograph, because it has similar tones and colours to the sea. The majority of the sky is one shade of dark grey, which highlights the white strip going through the clouds and makes it stand out against the rest. This contrasts well as we can determine how dark the clouds are against the singular strip of sunlight, which gives the entire image an ominous mood.

Overall, this final outcome is my favourite because I included prominent hints of my inspiration for my own image, which shows the viewer where I got some ideas from. I like how the background is all different photos of Monroe, yet I added my own image on top, to ensure it is the subject of the overall outcome. I chose to do the collage of different phots of Marilyn Monroe because I think it adds a unique effect and gives the overall outcome some life. I also like how I added coloured photos of Monroe in the background, not just black and white. This added a more appealing look. To achieve this, I adjusted the opacity of my own layer on top, which allowed the entire outcome to blend more, and have a seamless look. I like how I managed to combine my own image with my inspirations to show the similarities and differences between them, but they blend well and compliment each other due to the similar approach we did.

However, I do think I could have changed some things within this outcome. One of the main problems I faced was time management, in which I had to rush my editing process. I don’t like how prominent my image is on top of the background ones. I think it would look more successful if I had blended out the edges of my image into the background, so it creates more of a fade. I also think it could’ve looked better if I kept my own photo in colour, rather than in black and white. I think this approach would’ve made my outcome look more unique.

Within this outcome, I personally believe the editing on Lightroom went smoothly. The use of overlapping the two similar images of me and Marilyn Monroe portrays my aims and objectives to achieve. I like the lighting of my image as it is bright and luminous, which ultimately gives the4 image a happy mood. I chose to execute this technique as it shows how Marilyn was illustrated to the world as “perfect” with no flaws, which is a big part of femininity. However this contrasts with the cold tones in the image, as I made it black and white, which is similar to Claude Cahun’s photos. I overlapped these two photos smoothly so the outcome didn’t look too harsh. I did this because I think it looks more gentle, which is essentially what women are stereotyped to be. I like how the viewer can still see my entire image and also Marilyn. In addition to this, I used this photo of Marilyn because I knew it would compliment my image because of the gaze we are both doing, this is a common thing that girls do because we are stereotyped as “self conscious”.

I chose to do a virtual gallery as a final outcome, because it portrays all my best images into one. I put my most successful image in the middle, so it draws the viewers attention straight away. I think this adds to the outcome because there are many resemblances to Monroe and our inspiration photos of her. It looks good because my model is doing the “female gaze”, which is very fitting for the topic of masculinity and femininity, and is also something Monroe does in a lot of her photos. Also, I like the middle image because it has different tones to the others; the other images are completely black and white, whereas the middle one has hints of colour which is intriguing and creates a contrast. I ensured the background was black in all my images so it gives a classy effect, while also allowing the black and white to stand out more and add a mysterious effect. I like how all of my images have a clear main subject, which is mainly the hair, as again it ties in with the femininity aspect perfectly.