Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow New Objectivity Photography: Frontal, level, centered, with the same background every time
- Type
- Set in New Objectivity Photography's manner (No headlines, only the subject name and conditions in one fixed format), and let New Topographics's lettering (Captions carry place and date only, in one fixed form, with no comment.) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in New Objectivity Photography's material (Deep depth of field, even overcast light, fine grained printing); bring in exactly one thing from New Topographics (Even overcast light, deep focus, processing that never lifts saturation.).
- Colour
- Build on #e5e2da, #81817d, #242423 and admit one accent from #d8d4c8, #8b897b, #4c4a44.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Photography Movements, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- New Objectivity Photography One frame is no typology, and without matched conditions it ends as a pile of expressionless pictures. Do not trust the pose of objectivity, and read the bias that classification and viewpoint produce.
- New Topographics Posing as neutral while choosing light and framing too carefully produces scenic photography in documentary clothes, and the change goes unread.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from New Objectivity Photography (Style, 1920s–1930s) and its accent from New Topographics (Style, 1975–). Structural cues: Sharp focus; Frontality; Repetition and types; Material detail. Accent cues, used sparingly: Empty suburbs; Frontality; Dry color; Man-altered landscape. Composition: Frontal, level, centered, with the same background every time. Type and lettering: No headlines, only the subject name and conditions in one fixed format. Let one material quality come from the second style: Even overcast light, deep focus, processing that never lifts saturation.. Mood: Trust, Technology, Calm, Rebellion. Color: build on #e5e2da, #81817d, #242423 with a single accent drawn from #d8d4c8, #8b897b, #4c4a44. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- New Objectivity Photography 1920s–1930s / Style / Photography Movements
Steps back from sentiment and records the structure of people and things coolly: sharp focus, frontality, typology.
- New Topographics 1975– / Style / Photography Movements
Turns from grand natural scenery to the landscapes people have altered, recording suburbs, graded building sites and industrial zones without heat.
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