AOTM (November)
-William Eggleston and Lewis Baltz-
2 ¼ series, 1970s, Eggleston.
November has come and gone which only means it is again time for a new AOTM!! For November I bring you two exceptional photographers, whose careers both spanned primarily across the 1960s-1980s; yet, their work conveys opposing thoughts, feelings and politics. William Eggleston and Lewis Baltz are iconic photographers who have had instrumental impact on their industries, and people I have personally found really interesting to look at as I learn more about photography and photographic communication.
William Eggleston is renowned for his bright, friendly photos that concentrate on mundane or abandoned objects that appear in our everyday lives. The soft colour tones and depictions of quiet, friendly downtown streets, Eggleston’s work is an aesthetic embodiment of the 1970s; capturing fleeting, minimal moments in time as something sentimental and beautiful. This feels articulately done by careful consideration of angles to create images that perceive a sense of familiarity. Photos have often been taken on a flat, front on angle, at eye level, creating an immerse, almost tangible scene to the viewer.
Despite the almost boring or routine subjects of his images, Eggleston’s warm colour palette and familiar imagery, romanticise small town American life. In this sense they almost offer as a form of propaganda for the success America's industrial and consumer industries, and thus perpetuate the American Dream.
The Democratic Forest, 1980s, Eggleston.
Eggleston’s photography holds more nuance when considering his work in comparison to Lewis Baltz. Reaching the heights of their respective careers at similar times (through the 1960s and 70s), where Eggleston celebrates and thrives in the ‘American identity’ through a ‘sophisticated understanding of colour, form and composition’ (Zwirner, D. 2023), Lewis Baltz’s strong, monochromatic photos condemns it.
Unknown, 1970s, Baltz.
Lewis Baltz played a vital role in the New Topographics movement of the late 1970s. The New Topographic movement focusses largely on photographs having the ‘similar banal aesthetics’ (Tate, 2023) within each series. Baltz explored this through his observation and isolation on ‘suburban landscapes and industrial parks’ (Tate, 2012) across the United States. Baltz worked exclusively with a consistent black and white aesthetic. This juxtaposed the ‘bulimic capitalism’ (Baltz. L, 1992) of big buildings and bright billboards, which Baltz found to be surging across the West Coast and his home in Orange County.
Southwest Wall, Ware, Malcolm, and Garner, 16722 Hale, Irvine, 1974, Baltz.
Over his career Baltz used his platform of work to push increasingly political opinions. With mass-spread suburbia and rapid urbanisation across California Baltz seemingly aimed to push back against the growth of capitalist spaces as they promoted an ‘increasing homogenisation of the suburbs’ (O’Hagan. S, 2014), shown through the greyscale focus, which emphasises a ‘void of the American Dream’.
However, despite this and his ‘sense of unspeakable horror at being born when and where I [Baltz] was’ (Baltz. L, 1992), Baltz ‘remained preoccupied with the impact of industrialised buildings on the environment, and on the culture and society they grew out of and … helped to shape’ (O’Hagan. S, 2014). His documentation of industrial parks thus not only tries to fight capitalist growth in media and entertainment but also acts a social commentary on urbanisation and how it might change a place economically for the better, but not necessarily in a socially positive way.
As ever reading and learning about these photographers has been incredibly interesting and informative of photography history and movements. Photography is a vital tool in visual communication and can thus be used as propaganda or informative tool about an individuals or collectives view. Due to this is I thought it would be interesting to compare elements of Baltz and Eggleston’s work. Although Eggleston’s have a strong feeling of warmth and comfort, the angular shapes and harsh compositions apparent in Baltz’s photography is striking.
References:
William Eggleston
* https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/william-eggleston
http://egglestonartfoundation.org
https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/vernacular-photography
https://www.port-magazine.com/art-photography/william-eggleston-the-democratic-forest/
Lewis Baltz
https://www.atlasofplaces.com/photography/the-new-industrial-parks/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-29-ca-372-story.html
https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/lewis-baltz?all/all/all/all/0
*https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/04/lewis-baltz
