HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION 3

1. HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHYSECTION 3 Artistic Movements 1860-1880

2. ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY • Some artists believed photo corrupted artistic process • Images “too real” • No room for imagination • Major effort to legitimize photo as art • PHOTO can IMITATE ART • Themes-very melodramatic, dreamlike • Reflected other Victorian era art forms

3. ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES • Very staged, and planned compositions • Combined negatives to achieve desired results • Manipulated the printing in dark room • Used models, sets, and dramatic lighting to set an artistic mood

4. Oscar Rejlander • 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 more detailed and elaborate compositions Boy and Girl in Colonial Costume-1860, albumen print

5. Oscar Rejlander Portrait of Two Girls-1860 Putto as allegory for Painting-1886

6. Oscar Rejlander • “The Bachelors Dream” • 1860 • Albumen Print

7. Oscar Rejlander • “Hard Times • Spiritual Photograph • Combination Albumen Print (two negatives) • 1860

8. Oscar Rejlander • “The Two Ways of Life” • Theme- Virtue vs. Vice • 1858- Gelatin Silver Print • 30 separate negatives used • Elaborate staging and costumed models used

9. 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…”

10. Henry Peach Robinson • “Fading Away” • 1858- Albumen Print (5 negatives used) • Tried to make statement about pain and sorrow • Public reaction negative-thought it was real representation, was viewed literally

11. Henry Peach Robinson • Dedicated to Artistic Photography (even after Rejlander drops out) • Strange duality in his statements: • Beautiful photos can be made,” by the mixture of the real and the artificial” • “this perfect truth, this absolute rendering of light,shade, and form…beyond the reach of the painter and sculptor”

12. Henry Peach Robinson • His Philosophy of Artistic Photography: • “Any dodge, trick, and conjuration of any kind is open to the photographer’s use so that it belongs to his art, and is not false to nature…It is his imperative duty to avoid the mean, the bare and the ugly, and to aim to elevate his subject, to avoid awkward forms, and to correct the unpicturesque.” When the Days work is done-1877 (above) Holiday in the Wood- 1860 (below)

13. Julia Margaret Cameron • First Famous Female Photographer • Did dream-like portraits of people • Especially fond of children

14. Julia Margaret Cameron

15. PICTORIALISM • PHOTOGRAPHY IS ART • No staging or props needed, BUT • Manipulation of negatives and printing process is acceptable • Art is a hands on process-physical manipulation is accepted as a means to an end • Wanted to separate themselves from the public • Subject matter similar to Impressionists (nudes, landscapes, children, nature)

16. Peter Emerson • Photography is legitimate artform • “Field workers at rest” • 1885, platinum print

17. Peter Emerson “Gathering Water Lilies-1886, Platinum Print

18. Peter Emerson • “Furze Cutting”-1885, Platinum Print “the Haunt of the Pike”-1885

19. Peter Emerson“A winter’s sunrise”1890

20. Other Pictorialist Work Emile Puyo- the Gorgons Head-1898 Sealey- The Firefly, 1907

21. More Pictorialist Work Edward Steichen- Self Portrait, 1901 Clarence White- Morning, 1908