HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
SECTION 3
Artistic Movements
1850-1900
ART (artistic) PHOTOGRAPHY
• Some artists believed photography corrupted the
artistic process
– Images were considered “too real”
– No room for imagination
• Major effort to legitimize photo as Art
• The ‘new’ idea was that PHOTOGRAPHY can
IMITATE ART
• Themes - very melodramatic, dreamlike
• Reflected other Victorian era art forms
ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES
• Very staged and planned compositions
• Combined negatives to achieve desired results
(ie. sort of an early version of photoshop layers)
• Manipulated the printing in dark room
• Used models, sets, and dramatic lighting to set
an artistic mood
• These early ‘artistic’ photographs are identified
as art -- as relevant as painting
Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813-1875)
• Considered the “father of
Art photography”
• Inspired a movement of
artists to follow his artistic
vision for photo
• --“we can make
photography the next
great art form”
• Criticized by other
photographers for using
manipulation
• Started with portraits later created more
detailed and elaborate
compositions
Boy and Girl in Colonial Costume -1860, albumen print
Oscar Rejlander
Portrait of Two Girls --1860
Putto as Allegory for Painting --1886
Oscar Rejlander
The Bachelors Dream—1860, Albumen Print
Oscar Rejlander
Hard Times --1860
– Spiritistic Photograph
– Combination Albumen Print (two negatives)
Oscar Rejlander
•
The Two Ways of Life -- 1858 -- Gelatin Silver Print
–
–
–
Theme- Virtue vs. Vice
30 separate negatives used
Elaborate staging and costumed models used for photo
Oscar Rejlander
• Becomes tired of making artistic photos
• Writes letter to Henry Peach Robinson:
--“I am tired of photography for the public,
particularly composite photos, for there can be
no gain and there is no honor but cavil* and
misrepresentation…”
* (‘cavil’ means petty or unnecessary objections)
Henry Peach Robinson (18301901)
• English pictorialist photographer
• Best known for his pioneering combination
printing
• In 1856, with Rejlander, founded the
Birmingham Photographic Society
• Forced to give up his studio at age 34 due to illhealth from exposure to toxic photographic
chemicals
• Continued to work with theoretical practices in
writing and advocacy
Henry Peach Robinson (contd.)
• 1869 published a book entitled Pictorial Effect in
Photography: Being Hints On Composition And
Chiaroscuro For Photographers
• In this he maintains that the composite image is
directly affected by his hand, and therefore Art
• One of the primary forces behind the rise of
pictorialism was the belief that straight
photography was purely representational ‒ that
it showed reality without the filter of artistic
interpretation – therefore simply a record of
facts, lacking artistic intent or merit
Fading Away – 1858 - composite image from five different negatives
When the Day’s Work is Done – 1877, composite image from six different negatives
Julia Margaret Cameron (18151879)
• Came to photography at age 48 when
daughter gave her a camera
• Within a year, became a member of the
Photographic Societies of London and
Scotland
• Known for soft focus “fancy” portraits
taught to her by David Wilkie Wynfield who
had developed a technique of shallowfocus portrait photography
Julia Margaret Cameron
(contd.)
• The bulk of Cameron's photographs fit into two
categories—closely framed portraits and
illustrative allegories based on religious and
literary works.
• The allegorical work most closely resembles the
work of the Pre-Raphaelites, with far away looks,
limp poses and soft lighting
• Significance of her work attributed to making the
only photos of famous figures (especially
literary)
Pre-Raphealite work
Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rosetti
1874, Oil on canvas
Peter Emerson (1856-1936)
• His photos are early
examples of promoting
photography as an art form
• Most work displays a natural
setting
• Believed the photograph
should be a true
representation of what the
eye saw
• Claimed that photography
should be seen as a genre of
its own, not one that seeks to
imitate other art forms.
Field Workers at Rest
1885, platinum print
Impressionist Paintings
(artistic style of the time period 1860’s-90’s)
Luncheon of the Boating Party -1881 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte (1884-86)
-Georges Seurat
Characteristics of
Impressionism
•
•
•
•
Visible brush strokes
Open composition
Ordinary subject matter
Emphasis on depiction of light in its
changing qualities (accentuating passage
of time)
• Inclusion of movement as a crucial
element of human perception
• Unusual visual angles
Peter Emerson
Gathering Water Lilies-1886, Platinum Print
Peter Emerson
In the Barley Harvest -1890
Broxbury Church -1888
Peter Emerson
Furze Cutting -1885
Platinum Print
The Haunt of the Pike -1885
Peter Emerson
A Winter’s Sunrise --1890
Pictorialism further defined:
• Lack of sharp focus
• Printed in one or more colors (browns to
deep blues)
• Not composites, not exaggerated or
melodramatic
• Possible manipulation of surface
• Projecting emotional intent upon the
viewer’s imagination (in common with the
‘artistic style)
Alfred Steiglitz (1864-1946)
• Father of Modern Photography
• Started out as pictorialist, but
thought manipulation wasn’t
necessary
• Opened Little Galleries of the
Photo-Secession (more well
known as ‘291’- an art gallery in
NYC located on 291 Fifth Avenue)
– Promoted art, and
photography (often together)
– Emphasis on design
concepts such as
composition, shape,
form, etc.
– Published Camera Work to
promote the new art of
photography. Established new
modern aesthetic (Modernist’)
Sunlight and Shadows - 1889
Alfred Steiglitz –
The Terminal, 1893
Alfred Steiglitz
Spring Showers
NY- 1901
Flat Iron Building
NY- 1903
Alfred Steiglitz
Venetian Boy-1887
Alfred Steiglitz
The Steerage -1907
Other Pictorialist Work
Emile Puyo - The Gorgons Head -1898
George Seeley - The Firefly -1907
More Pictorialist Work
Edward Steichen - Self-Portrait 1901
Clarence White- Morning -- 1908
Portrait of J.P. Morgan
1903
By Edward Steichen
The Flatiron
1904
By Edward Steichen