This essay will contextualise Pictorialism as a genre or photographic style, and explore it’s shift to ‘Straight’ photography. In order to further understand the origins and attitudes of Pictorialism this essay will discuss the Romanticism movement within art, literature and philosophy which emphasised emotion and individual experience, upholding the belief of imagination, creative freedom and the artistic ‘genius’. The movement widely known as Pictorialism began in the late 1800s and aimed to elevate the photographic genre to rival what was considered true art at the time; posing the argument that photography could be an art from in itself. A mixture of inventions spurred on the development of Pictorialist attitude; amongst them the ‘Daguerreotype’, ‘Calotype’ and the ‘Box Brownie’. …show more content…
In 1910, a gallery made the purchase of 15 Stieglitz photographs to which Stieglitz responded to as follows; “It is high time that the stupidity and sham in pictorial photography be struck a solar plexus blow…Claims of art won’t do. Let the photographer make a perfect photograph. And if he happens to be a lover of perfection and a seer, the resulting photograph will be straight and beautiful - a true photograph” (Stieglitz in Adato, 2001) and thus the idea of ‘Straight and True’ photography was born. The last issue of Stieglitz’s Pictorialist magazine ‘Camera Work’ released in 1917 featured Strand as the first photographic feature outside of the Pictorialist style, for many marking the end of Pictorialism and beginning of ‘Straight’ photographic
"History of Art: History of Photography." History of Art: History of Photography. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2014. .
Johnson, Brooks. Photography Speaks: 150 Photographers on their Art.” New York: Aperture Foundation Inc., 2004. Print.
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter. Alfred Stieglitz was very instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form (The Art Story). Unlike Doretha Lange, Alfred Stieglitz tried making photography an art. Alfred Stieglitz once said that photography was not just about the subject of the picture, but the manipulation
2. Strand was the first photographer to acheive a really decisive break with pictorialism and apply some of the lessons of the new modern art to photography.
2 Gustavon, Todd. Camera: A History of Photography from daguerreotype to Digital. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing, 2009
Tolmachev, I. (2010, March 15). A history of Photography Part 1: The Beginning. Retrieved Febraury 2014, from tuts+ Photography: http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/a-history-of-photography-part-1-the-beginning--photo-1908
"A photograph is not merely a substitute for a glance. It is a sharpened vision. It is the revelation of new and important facts." ("Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History."). Sid Grossman, a Photo League photographer expressed this sentiment, summarizing the role photography had on America in the 1940’s and 50’s. During this era, photojournalism climaxed, causing photographers to join the bandwagon or react against it. The question of whether photography can be art was settled a long time ago. Most major museums now have photography departments, and the photographs procure pretty hefty prices. The question of whether photojournalism or documentary photography can be art is now the question at hand. Art collectors are constantly looking to be surprised; today they are excited by images first seen in last week’s newspapers as photojournalism revels in the new status as art “du jour” or “reportage art”.
The essay How You See Yourself by Nicholas Mirzoeff discusses the evolution of art. The author discusses the use of art to represent changing identities over the years including cultural practices and societal expectations. The selfie, according to Nicholas Mirzoeff’s essay, is the equivalent of a self-portrait in the previous centuries preceding the technological development required for the present day selfie. The essay explores the different periods and the significance of art, particularly self-portraits, the selfies of the time, and their development over time. The author focuses on different themes including heroism, gender definition, and the focus of an image. Mirzoeff effectively provides examples illustrating and reinforcing the themes he highlights in his essay.
From the creation of art to its modern understanding, artists have strived to perform and perfect a photo realistic painting with the use of complex lines, blend of colors, and captivating subjects. This is not the case anymore due to the invention of the camera in 1827, since it will always be the ultimate form of realism. Due to this, artists had the opportunities to branch away from the classical formation of realism, and venture into new forms such as what is known today as modern art. In the examination of two well known artists, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, we can see that the artist doesn’t only intend for the painting to be just a painting, but more of a form of telling a scene through challenging thoughts, and expressing of the artists emotion in their creation.
Whereas men had a so-called “head-start” with painting and sculpture, photography was pioneered by and equally associated with both genders. Sexualized images of women circulated via mass media. Described as a voyeuristic medium, photography was a powerful tool in deconstructing the male gaze and bringing private moments into the public domain (Bonney 1985: 11).
As seen in paintings of battle scenes and portraits of wealthy Renaissance aristocracy, people have always strived to preserve and document their existence. The creation of photography was merely the logical continuum of human nature’s innate desire to preserve the past, as well as a necessary reaction to a world in a stage of dramatic and irreversible change. It is not a coincidence that photography arose in major industrial cities towards the end of the nineteenth century.
"History of photography and photojournalism.." History of photography and photojournalism.. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .
“When photography was invented it was thought to be an equivalent to truth, it was truth with a capital ‘T’.” Vicki Goldberg
Their pictures of nature became livelier and more realistic. They loved to describe rural scenes. graveyards, majestic mountains and roaring waterfalls. With this Romanticism grew, but it can not be accurately defined. The.... ...
In Sontag’s On Photography, she claims photography limits our understanding of the world. Though Sontag acknowledges “photographs fill in blanks in our mental pictures”, she believes “the camera’s rendering of reality must always hide more than it discloses.” She argues photographs offer merely “a semblance of knowledge” on the real world.