Final Major Project
Booker Skelding
Lewis Baltz
Historic Documentary Photographer
I wrote an essay two years ago on my research and findings of the photography genre 'New Topographics'. New Topographics is a genre of landscape photography that illustrates the effects of human impact on the land and the environment. The term itself came from a 1975 exhibition curated by William Jenkins, for which he chose 8 individual male photographers and the couple Bernd & Hilla Becher. The photographers in their own style made photographs that reflected the impact that man has on the land. One of those photographers that inspired me the most was American freelance photographer Lewis Baltz .
Lewis Baltz focused on ‘The effects of civilisation on the Landscapes’ and photographed areas on the outskirts of urban wastelands in California. His photographs tended to be of negative space, minimalist, abandoned industrial sites and warehouses, bland brick walls, doors and windows. It is said by Galeriezander.com that he photographed areas that were classed as ‘Suburbs’: on the edge of the city, places that became non-city. (galeriezander.com)
The bright window opening, situated in the middle of the room dominates this image and the extreme brightness shining through lifts my mood. The mottled textures on the walls create a softer image in comparison to Baltz's usual strong contrast images in this series.
This image is my favourite of Baltz within his series of new topographics. The image boasts strong contrasts and texture. The depth of the black kerb against the white in pavement draws my eye. The door seems infinite in comparison to the 'Sand Dunes' sign. Every time I look at the door its perspective changes because of the shape and shadow around the recess.
My view works around the image in an anticlockwise direction, always starting with the sign on the left, my gaze finally rests on the writing on the door.
