Joe Deal’s ‘Untitled View’ and Mark Power’s ‘26 Different Endings’ both represents humans’ use of land and development to create buildings and homes. Each of these photographs show a similar theme but both being opposite sides of the spectrum: Deal’s image represents the early stage of building infrastructure and Power’s showcases what this development leads to as the image shows an established suburban area. Deal’s 1974 photo explains the early stages of a town and how the land is stripped back and prepared for houses. The roads within the scene also infers how the land, which was once whole and connected, has been split up into segments. Power’s scene shows a much more connected area which has been well rounded and developed into a functioning network. The focus on the roundabout within the road infers a choice for a driver who can take multiple exits along their journey. The use of grass as the roundabout also portrays a segregation between the natural land mass due to man-made creations.
The juxtaposition between Deal’s black and white and Power’s colour image can be taking as a metaphor for beginning and end of property/society development; the use of black and white depict a much more morbid and destructive element, which works parallel with the theme of land disruption within property development. On the other hand, Power’s use of colour produces a calmer, more rounded feeling within the frame which resonates with the finished product of the suburban town.
Joe Deal
Joe Deal was an American photographer who was renowned for his focus on natural landscapes which had been disturbed by human development and artificial infrastructure within nature. His most famous series ‘Photographs of a Man Altered Landscape’ was chosen to feature within the ‘New Topographic Exhibition’ in 1975 with the likes of Robert Adams and Nicholas Nixon, who also focused on similar themes. For this exhibition, Deal produced a series of eighteen, 32cm by 32cm black and white prints, featuring scenes in which newly constructed homes within building sites. Deals work is known by photographers as a key watershed moment during 20thcentury photography, which broke away from the romanticism within the likes of Ansel Adams work; Deal opposed this movement and supported the view of ‘Anthropological rather than critical, scientific rather than artistic’ (Grimes, 2010).
Deal’s work mostly depicts scenes of human built infrastructure which has been placed within a desolate American dessert. Each of Deal’s photographs has equal weight and presence, produced by a dramatic use of composition and the use of black and white film. Deal also focused on shooting his photographs from an aerial perspective, similar to a view captured from a small plane or helicopter. The use of his aerial view ‘can reveal design features impossible to record from ground level’ (Hedgecoe, 1999) and produce a different perception for the viewer. Deal’s work makes the viewer consider many themes such as of old and new, natural and man-made, rural and urban – making the viewer consider how a natural landscape can quickly be destroyed for human pleasure without any thought about the aftereffects. The scenes which were captured focus solely on the white from the buildings, while the natural landscape is much more dark toned; possibly with the use of a red filter, which causes green tones on black and white film to become darker, making the light tones from the infrastructure more prominent.
After noticing Deal’s work in contextual studies lecture two, I started to research him and some of his other work and found it very interesting. I enjoy the theme of human development and how it effects the natural landscape which we decided to reside on. His use of black and white film also gives his work a very serious effect in the final outcome as the viewer is forced to focus on composition and shapes within the frame rather than being distracted by colour. Deal’s work is in some ways the dark side to Simon Robert’s ‘We English’ which holds a much more optimistic tone of how humans use their local environment. In another way, Deal’s images can be interpreted as the start of society/ building development and Robert’s series can be used to represent the end product.
After researching Deal’s work, I feel greatly compelled to shoot a series of images of a similar theme. There is currently a housing development site near where I live and I might shoot a roll of black and white film, from a hill near the site to achieve a similar effect as Deal. I am also going to focus in the shoot between finished product and homes which are halfway from being built, juxtaposing the two together. Similar to the landscapes that Deal focused on, while shooting at the site, I will capture the large amount of environment which has been disrupted and cleared for the buildings to be built on.
Grimes, W. (2010). Joe Deal, a Landscape Photographer, Dies at 62. Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/arts/design/23deal.html (Accessed 12 Oct. 2019).
Hedgecoe, J. (1999). John Hedgecoe’s The Art of Colour Photography. London. Mitchell Beazley, p.202.
Joe Haines 