Postmodernism Essay

Introduction

In order to discuss the quintessential role of the photographic medium and the way that it was utilized in postmodern times it is essential, on the first place, to get familiar with the meaning of postmodernism. Generally speaking, in its shortest explanation, postmodernism can be understood as a reaction against modernism.

“ To speak of postmodernism means that we have some idea of that which has been superseded- modernism.” (Edwards in Wells: 2003: 188).

Following this path it is essential then to understand the meaning of the era that was before- modernism, which shaped the modern times and in turn led to the birth of postmodernism. Both of these phenomena were influenced by current economic and political changes and it’s

Main feature of this movement was an intellectual belief in science, reason, rationality and progress that were intended to save the world and establish the universal ‘truth’. The main assumptions were the individual and freedom. From the political perspective it was time of the creation of the egalitarian social order. From the perspective of art and photography, modernism consciously rejects set conventions of the past as a model for the art, that were treated as outdated and not relevant in the face of changes (industrialization, capitalism, democracy, urbanization). It was a new era, era of the modern man and many artists meant to reflect those strongly innovative times also through the photography. Important part was an issue related to aesthetics of photography and what constitutes it as art. Institutional character of museums, galleries and their curators (e.g. Szarkowski in MoMA) dictated those rules by setting canons for ‘ art photography’.

“ (…) John Szarkowski’s defining characteristics of photographs as the thing itself, the detail, the frame, time, and vantage point sought to make the medium unique, and especially different from painting. Modernists favor symbolist rather than narrative photographs, and realism over instrumentalism. Modernists believe the straight photograph to be the embodiment of what photography does best. “ (Barrett 2005: