New Topographics
Encyclopedia
"New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape" was an exhibition that epitomized a key moment in American landscape photography
. The show was curated by William Jenkins
at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House
(Rochester, NY) in January 1975 .
The exhibition had a ripple effect on the whole medium and genre, not only in the USA, but in Europe too where generations of landscape photographers emulated and are still (2009) emulating the spirit and aesthetics of the exhibition. Since 1975 "New Topographics" photographers such as Robert Adams
, Lewis Baltz
, Bernd and Hilla Becher
, Frank Gohlke
, and Stephen Shore
have influenced photographic practices regarding landscape around the world. Moreover, and as a proof of the impact of this exhibition beyond the American scene, three out of the ten photographers in the show were later commissioned by the French
government for the Mission de la DATAR, namely Lewis Baltz, Frank Gohlke, and Stephen Shore.
For "New Topographics" William Jenkins selected eight then-young American photographers: Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal
, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon
, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel, Jr.
He also invited the German couple, Bernd and Hilla Becher, then teaching at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
(Germany). Since the late 1950s they had been photographing various obsolete structures, mainly post-industrial carcasses or carcasses-to-be, in Europe and America. 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—they are currently the only photographers exhibited at the Dia Beacon, a vast space dedicated to conceptual art in Beacon, NY.
Each photographer in the New Topographics exhibition was represented by 10 prints. All but Stephen Shore worked in black and white. The prints were in a 20 cm × 25 cm (8″×10″) format except for Joe Deal (32 cm × 32 cm), Frank Gohlke (24 cm × 24 cm – close enough to 8”×10”), and the Bechers with typical European (for the time) 30 cm × 40 cm prints.
In his introduction to the catalogue, Jenkins defined the common denominator of the show as "a problem of style:" "stylistic anonymity", an alleged absence of style. Jenkins mentioned Edward Ruscha
's work, especially the numerous artist books (“26 Gasoline Stations” (1962), “Various Small Fires” (1964), “34 Parking Lots” (1967), etc.) that he self-published in the 1960s as one of the inspirations for the exhibition and the photographers it features (except for the Bechers).
"The pictures were stripped of any artistic frills and reduced to an essentially topographic state, conveying substantial amounts of visual information but eschewing entirely the aspects of beauty, emotion and opinion,." "[...] rigorous purity, deadpan humor and a casual disregard for the importance of the images." Technically, half the photographers were working with 8″×10″ (20 cm × 25 cm) large format view camera
s; those who were not were using either square medium format (Deal, Gohlke), or in the case of Lewis Baltz 35 mm Technical Pan, a slow
and high-definition Kodak film that the photographer printed on 8″x10″ paper. Only Schott and Wessel were using regular 35 mm cameras and film. A notable element of the show was that the artists were, or would be, linked with higher education as students, professors, or both—a change from the preceding generations. The shift from craft or self-teaching to academia had somewhat been started by photographers such as Ansel Adams
and Minor White
, but the new generation was turning away from the approach of these forebears. This was illustrated by the subject matter that the New Topographics chose as well as their commitment to casting a somewhat ironic or critical eye on what American society had become. They all depicted urban or suburban realities under changes in an allegedly detached approach. In most cases, they gradually revealed themselves as coming from rather critical vantage points, especially R. Adams, Baltz, and Deal.
Some thirty years after its opening "New Topographics" still remains an exhibition of great impact and influence on western landscape photography, an influence that even extended to Japanese landscape photography (see Naoya Hatakeyama
’s work for instance) and whose long-term effects can even be identified in contemporary Chinese photography.
The exhibition was recreated in various locations: in 1981, six years after its original presentation, it was shown in reduced form at the Arnolfini
Gallery, Bristol, UK, under the auspices of Paul Graham
and Jem Southam. A large scale presentation of the exhibition was organized in 2009 at the Center for Creative Photography
in Tucson. "New Topographics" began an international tour in 2009, with stagings at the George Eastman House
in Rochester
, New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
. The exhibition is currently on view at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam
, Netherlands, and is scheduled to continue on to the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
in Spain.
Landscape photography
Landscape photography is a genre intended to show different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. This popular style of photography is practiced by professionals and amateurs alike. Photographs typically capture the presence of nature and are often free...
. The show was curated by William Jenkins
William Jenkins
William Jenkins may refer to:*William Albert Jenkins , British politician, former MP for Brecon and Radnor*William Jenkins , youngest Royal Marine to win a DSO in the Second World War...
at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
(Rochester, NY) in January 1975 .
The exhibition had a ripple effect on the whole medium and genre, not only in the USA, but in Europe too where generations of landscape photographers emulated and are still (2009) emulating the spirit and aesthetics of the exhibition. Since 1975 "New Topographics" photographers such as Robert Adams
Robert Adams (photographer)
Robert Adams is an American photographer who has focused on the changing landscape of the American West. His work first came to prominence in the mid-1970s through the book The New West and the exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape...
, Lewis Baltz
Lewis Baltz
Lewis Baltz is a visual artist and well known photographer who became an important figure in the New Topographic movement of the late 1970s....
, Bernd and Hilla Becher
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Bernard "Bernd" Becher , and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser , were German artists working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their extensive series of photographic images, or typologies, of industrial buildings and structures.- Biography :Bernd Becher was born in Siegen...
, Frank Gohlke
Frank Gohlke
Frank Gohlke is a leading figure in American landscape photography. He has been awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts...
, and Stephen Shore
Stephen Shore
Stephen Shore is an American photographer known for his deadpan images of banal scenes and objects in the United States, and for his pioneering use of color in art photography.- Life and work :...
have influenced photographic practices regarding landscape around the world. Moreover, and as a proof of the impact of this exhibition beyond the American scene, three out of the ten photographers in the show were later commissioned by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
government for the Mission de la DATAR, namely Lewis Baltz, Frank Gohlke, and Stephen Shore.
For "New Topographics" William Jenkins selected eight then-young American photographers: Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal
Joe Deal
Joseph Maurice "Joe" Deal was an American photographer who specialized in depicting how the landscape was transformed by people....
, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon
Nicholas Nixon
Nicholas Nixon is a photographer, known for his work in portraiture and documentary photography, and for championing the use of the 8x10 inch view camera.-Biography:...
, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel, Jr.
Henry Wessel, Jr.
Henry Wessel, Jr. is an American photographer noted for his descriptive, yet poetic photographs of the human environment.- Photography career :...
He also invited the German couple, Bernd and Hilla Becher, then teaching at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, formerly Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, is the Arts Academy of the city of Düsseldorf. It is well known for having produced many famous artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky...
(Germany). Since the late 1950s they had been photographing various obsolete structures, mainly post-industrial carcasses or carcasses-to-be, in Europe and America. 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—they are currently the only photographers exhibited at the Dia Beacon, a vast space dedicated to conceptual art in Beacon, NY.
Each photographer in the New Topographics exhibition was represented by 10 prints. All but Stephen Shore worked in black and white. The prints were in a 20 cm × 25 cm (8″×10″) format except for Joe Deal (32 cm × 32 cm), Frank Gohlke (24 cm × 24 cm – close enough to 8”×10”), and the Bechers with typical European (for the time) 30 cm × 40 cm prints.
In his introduction to the catalogue, Jenkins defined the common denominator of the show as "a problem of style:" "stylistic anonymity", an alleged absence of style. Jenkins mentioned Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
's work, especially the numerous artist books (“26 Gasoline Stations” (1962), “Various Small Fires” (1964), “34 Parking Lots” (1967), etc.) that he self-published in the 1960s as one of the inspirations for the exhibition and the photographers it features (except for the Bechers).
"The pictures were stripped of any artistic frills and reduced to an essentially topographic state, conveying substantial amounts of visual information but eschewing entirely the aspects of beauty, emotion and opinion,." "[...] rigorous purity, deadpan humor and a casual disregard for the importance of the images." Technically, half the photographers were working with 8″×10″ (20 cm × 25 cm) large format view camera
View camera
The view camera is a type of camera first developed in the era of the Daguerreotype and still in use today, though with many refinements. It comprises a flexible bellows which forms a light-tight seal between two adjustable standards, one of which holds a lens, and the other a viewfinder or a...
s; those who were not were using either square medium format (Deal, Gohlke), or in the case of Lewis Baltz 35 mm Technical Pan, a slow
Film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
and high-definition Kodak film that the photographer printed on 8″x10″ paper. Only Schott and Wessel were using regular 35 mm cameras and film. A notable element of the show was that the artists were, or would be, linked with higher education as students, professors, or both—a change from the preceding generations. The shift from craft or self-teaching to academia had somewhat been started by photographers such as Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
and Minor White
Minor White
Minor Martin White was an American photographer born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.White earned a degree in botany with a minor in English from the University of Minnesota in 1933. His first creative efforts were in poetry, as he took five years thereafter to complete a sequence of 100 sonnets while...
, but the new generation was turning away from the approach of these forebears. This was illustrated by the subject matter that the New Topographics chose as well as their commitment to casting a somewhat ironic or critical eye on what American society had become. They all depicted urban or suburban realities under changes in an allegedly detached approach. In most cases, they gradually revealed themselves as coming from rather critical vantage points, especially R. Adams, Baltz, and Deal.
Some thirty years after its opening "New Topographics" still remains an exhibition of great impact and influence on western landscape photography, an influence that even extended to Japanese landscape photography (see Naoya Hatakeyama
Naoya Hatakeyama
is a renowned Japanese photographer.Hatakeyama was born in Iwate, Japan in 1958. He graduated from the University of Tsukuba, School of Art and Design in 1981 and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Tsukuba in 1984.-Books:...
’s work for instance) and whose long-term effects can even be identified in contemporary Chinese photography.
The exhibition was recreated in various locations: in 1981, six years after its original presentation, it was shown in reduced form at the Arnolfini
Arnolfini
The Arnolfini is an arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, live art, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a specialist art bookshop and a café bar. Educational activities are undertaken...
Gallery, Bristol, UK, under the auspices of Paul Graham
Paul Graham (photographer)
Paul Graham is an English fine-art photographer whose work has been exhibited, published and collected internationally. In 2009, he won the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize...
and Jem Southam. A large scale presentation of the exhibition was organized in 2009 at the Center for Creative Photography
Center for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
in Tucson. "New Topographics" began an international tour in 2009, with stagings at the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
in Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
. The exhibition is currently on view at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Netherlands, and is scheduled to continue on to the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is an art museum located in the city of Bilbao, Spain...
in Spain.