Photographic Movements – New Topographics
From my experience, one of the best ways to develop your own personal photographic style is the emulate that of other people in order to test out what you like and don’t like. As the saying goes, imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I have always found it best to imitate photographers whose work I love.
A photographic movement I got really into during high school was the New Topographics movement, specifically the photographer Lewis Baltz. A bit of background information about Baltz, he was an American photographer born in Newport Beach, California in 1945. As an artist, his work was primarily done in the Sierra Nevada region, with Baltz highlighting the industrialization and suburbanization of the land around him. Baltz worked for many years as a freelance photographer, publishing multiple books throughout his career; he passed in 2014 (“Lewis Baltz.”).
Baltz was one of the most notable photographers is in the New Topographics movement. Defined by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, New Topographics is “… a radical shift away from traditional depictions of landscape. Pictures of transcendent natural vistas gave way to unromanticized views of stark industrial landscapes, suburban sprawl, and everyday scenes not usually given a second glance.” (“New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape ...”). While photographers such as Ansel Adams and the other members of f/64 found success out in California in the mid-1900’s, the New Topographics movement shifted away from documenting the natural world to documenting the ways in which we were augmenting it.
Lewis Baltz, South Wall, Semicoa, 333 McCormick, Costa Mesa, from the portfolio The New Industrial Parks near Irvine, California, 1974
“Construction Detail, East Wall, Xerox, 1821 Dyer Road, Santa Ana,” 1974 from “The new Industrial Parks near Irvine, California.” Gelatin silver print. (Lewis Baltz/Courtesy Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne)
To learn from and emulate a style well, you must analyze it. Baltz was mainly inspired by modern minimalist artistic movements and the effects of industrial civilization on landscapes. He shot in black and white with a wide depth of field (meaning that the entire image is in focus). His photographs are very minimalist and rely on geometric shapes and sharp contrast to add visual interest.
Whatever styles or movements you are drawn to, you can extract the key elements of them and learn from them to develop your own skills and style. Whether it be for landscape, portrait, minimalist, pure photography, or pictorialist, there are always new things to try and more to learn.
Works Cited
“Lewis Baltz.” International Center of Photography, 2 Mar. 2016, www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/lewis-baltz?all%2Fall%2Fall%2Fall%2F4.
“New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape …” SFMOMA, www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/new-topographics/.
For more on Lewis Baltz click here.
1. The post doesn’t necessarily respond to a problem per se, but it gives insight as to who or what inspired your style of photography, as well as introduces the reader to an art movement that’s not very mainstream.
2. The title drew my attention because I thought the usage of topography and photography was a clever play on words. I like how you mentioned Ansel Adams, who most people are likely familiar with, and contrasted Baltz with him. It creates a greater connection to the reader in this way. Perhaps you could have included some of your own photography from high school that emulated Baltz’s works to draw the reader in even more.
3. Yes! We love those short paragraphs! Consider putting hyperlinks for the New Topographics art movement or Ansel Adams in case the reader wants to further explore these two avenues.