LEWIS BALTZ


Baltz' work is focused on searching the beauty in desolation and destruction. The images he creates describe an architecture of the human landscapes, offices, factories, and parking lots. They all are a reflection of control, power, and influenced by and over human beings.
I find Baltz' work fascinating because of its total lack of people in the pictures. Although the landscapes are all very "human", we never see a person in it. As if a nuclear bomb has extinguished al of humanity. The 60 and 70's, the period Baltz made most of his pictures, is not surprisingly the period of the cold war and nuclear threath.
But what I like the most about these photos is the composition. Every line in the frame has its place. He shows the beauty in details, in common things normal passers-by wouldn't notice. 

 Public Places, Berkeley, 1972

 New Monterey, 1968


 Gelatin silver print, Monterey, 1967


 New Industrial Parks, Irvine, 1974