Copyright Jason Lazarus 2009The New Topographics photography movement, started in the 1970s. Mainly through young photographers looking to explore how the planet we inhibit is viewed, perceived and ultimately treated. It challenged back then the idea or thought process behind what a landscape photograph was, questioning the work of Ansel Adams for example and how imagery like this sits in todays contemporary world; does anyone see scenes like this anymore, and does anyone want to see things like this anymore. Is the romanticism of these scenes lost on todays individual?
"Exploring man’s inherent interaction with nature – its manipulation, destruction, and regeneration – adds an element of stark honesty into an otherwise romanticized and phony idyll that is landscape photography."
Jonathan Feinstein
HIs book titled “In the Dirt: Young Photographers Rethinking the Human Relationship to the Contemporary Landscape” sheds light on the predecessors, whose influence is important, but gives a much-needed fresh perspective. worth a read!
Jason Lazarus’ photograph “Wall of Fire” presents just that: an ominous blaze whose destructive power is palpable but just far enough for the viewer to enjoy the surrounding beauty it can potentially devastate. The image is at once that of a sculptural structure and an elemental force. An equally poignant work is Rachel Sussman’s photograph of a forlorn tree standing alone amidst a rock quarry, large cracks ready to open and swallow the little tree fighting for survival. Sussman’s image reconfigures societal problems and human shortcomings by capturing a scene in the isolation of pure nature.
Source Block Magazine
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