West Wall, Rohm Corporation

Description

Lewis Baltz was at the forefront of a group of photographers known as the New Topographics. In the early 1970s, these artists expanded the definition of landscape to include those modified by humans. Through their stark photographs, they critically examined the effects of residential, commercial, and industrial development on the natural world.

Baltz approached the subjects of industrial manufacturing and warehousing with a deadpan sensibility. In this uninflected photograph of an electronic components manufacturer, he diminished the delicate tree line at the horizon and instead foregrounded the rigid geometry of the concrete structure.