Typological photography

I'm Maurice van Es, a second year photography student at the Royal Art Academy in The Hague. I've set up four blogs, about: My own work Family photography Typological photography Phenomenon photography

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Stephen Gill #1

I yesterday bought Stephen Gill's book "Field Studies" which is full of typological photography.

A field study is a term used by naturalists for the scientific study of free-living wild animals in which the subjects are observed in their natural habitat, without changing, harming, or materially altering the setting or behavior of the animals under study. Field study is an indispensable part of biological science. It helps to reveal the habits and habitats of various organisms present in their natural surroundings.

Stephen Gill does the same, but then projecting this method of looking on people. He also adds historical importance to his subjects cuz he's very aware of why he photographs it now. 

Listening to music in public for example changed the public space. When you see this body of work hundred years later you're looking at a document who shows the beginning this change. Gill is especially interested in the "invisibible everyday", the things we see but never pay attention too. 

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Nicolas Nixon

I love the way Nicholas Nixon uses typology in his sisters project. We are all accustomed to seeing images of children as they grow up. There is usually a record of our parent’s love, starting with our baby book and on to our college graduation photos. But it is rare to see that method used to record the love a husband has for his wife, which includes her family. I imagine being married to a women who has three sisters can be perilous, female politics are complicated. But what I love about those images, is the closeness visible in the sisters relationships – they have such a strong presence. Nixon’s photographs seem almost jealous. One of the expectations of a marriage is that husband & wife become closer to each other than anyone else. The ‘us versus them’ phenomenon, but Nixon has to compete with his wife’s three sisters. The yearly photograph becomes a testament not only to Nixon’s love for his wife, but also of the many ways in which families form and interact with each other.

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Hilla and Bernd Becher

The Becher’s typology is arguably one of the most important developments in the history of photography. The photograph was and is so often used to classify and record information. In medicine, criminology and astronomy, the photographic image is proof that something happened or it is used as a means of comparison. Their grain silos and exploration of the post-industrial revolution world created an entirely new conceptual framework for the fine-art photograph. No longer was is it about recording a moment of beauty, or a emotional human experience, but to document a world, where the cold, ugly and mammoth blight of human technology had taken over the landscape. The typology form became an almost ubiquitous conceptual tool. Certainly the artists of Dusseldorf school have led the way in co-opting, transforming and re-imagining the typology.

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What is typological photography?

Is the most important question I ask myself while making this blog. Other questions I want answers for are: How is typological photography been used?How has typological photography develloped itself?What's the function of typological photography?

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What is typology in general?

"Typology" is the study of types. More specifically, it may refer to:

Typology (anthropology), division of culture by races

Typology (archaeology), classification of things according to their characteristics

Typology (theology), in Christian theology, the interpretation of some characters and stories in the Old Testament as allegories foreshadowing the New Testament

Typology (urban planning and architecture), the taxonomic classification of characteristics common to buildings or urban spaces

Linguistic typology, study and classification of languages according to their structural features

Morphological typology, in linguistics, a method of classifying languages

Typology, in psychology, a model of personality types

Typology, in creation biology, a system for classifying life into groups know as baraminology