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Shift from impressionism to post impressionism
Shift from impressionism to post impressionism
Shift from impressionism to post impressionism
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Documentary photographers valued the clarity and sharpness of the images as they believed that photography's mission is to inform rather than inspire or express personal feelings, while pictorialists believed that photography should be used as a tool to express beauty rather that the fact.
The goal of documentary photographers was to promote photography to a mean capable of creating an exemplary record as a camera provided the ability to represent reality and the solid facts in an objective, unaltered manner. Pictorialists, on the other hand, regarded the sharpness and the clarity of the image as a limitation that inhibits the artistic and a self-expression. They employed the manipulation of the photographic prints as a means to express individuality. They held and believed that photographs are and should be regarded as art and treated as such by the artistic establishment.
Documentary photographers such as Timothy O'Sullivan chronicled the drama of the Civil War, depicting its reality. His photographs, though, reflect an attempt to show the reality of
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war in an emotional, moving way. His attempt at artistic expression was revealed in the images he created, manipulating the camera in such way that the images in the far plane appear slightly out of focus. He has done it, though, without compromising their value as a factual reflection of reality. Other documentary photographs depict the demolishing of the old and rebuilding of the new America during the Second Industrial Revolution. The image the Construction of the Statue of Liberty by Albert Fernique is only one example of an image that reflects reality with such sharpness and clarity that it serves as historical documents bringing us closer to the lives of the people of an era gone by. The pictorial photographers employed the manipulation of the photographic prints as a means to express individuality.
Their attitudes toward photography, so different from documentary photographers, are reflected in photographs such as "Summer" 1903, by E.J. Constant Puyo, or Bradbury Mill Pond, No2,1903 by Henry Ward. The images in both photographs remind more of paintings by famous artists such as Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne, rather than photographic representations of reality. There are so blurred, and their sharpness out of focus that it is difficult to distinguish the details represented in these photographs. They depict the attitude and the emotional state of the photographer more so than they depict the reality of the landscape. Pictorialists views and works stand in direct opposition to those held by the promoters of photographic documentation as a mean for expanding the knowledge of the visible
world.
“The documentary tradition as a continually developing “record” that is made in so many ways, with different voices and vision, intents and concerns, and with each contributor, finally, needing to meet a personal text” (Coles 218). Coles writes “The Tradition: Fact and Fiction” and describes the process of documenting, and what it is to be a documentarian. He clearly explains through many examples and across disciplines that there is no “fact or fiction” but it is intertwined, all in the eye of the maker. The documentarian shows human actuality; they each design their own work to their own standards based on personal opinion, values, interest and whom they want the art to appeal to. Coles uses famous, well-known photographers such as Dorthea Lange and Walker Evans, who show the political angle in their documentations and the method of cropping in the process of making the photo capture exactly what the photographer wants the audience to view. In this paper I will use outside sources that support and expand on Coles ideas with focus on human actuality, the interiority of a photograph, and the emotional impact of cropping.
Shaw, William B., et al. A Photographic History of the Civil War. Six Volumes. New York, New York: The Blue and Grey Press, 1987.
A. PLAN OF THE INVESTIAGTION This investigation explores to what extent did realism presented by photography impact the public opinion of the Civil War? The Civil War was the pioneering war in terms of actively using photography as a means of recording. The investigation focuses on photography’s role in capturing the war at face value. Photos of major battles and scenes that exposed citizens to the reality of war will be analyzed, as well as how their opinions changed because of it.
In the chapter, “The Mirror with a Memory”, the authors, James Davidson and Mark Lytle, describe numerous things that evolved after the civil war, including the life of Jacob Riis, the immigration of new peoples in America, and the evolution of photography. The authors’ purpose in this chapter is to connect the numerous impacts photography had on the past as well as its bringing in today’s age.
The Civil War: A Visual History Ed. Dunne, Jemima, Paula Regan. New York: DK Publishing. 2011.
5 Light, Ken. Tremain, Kerry. Witness in our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.
The camera is simply a portable extension of our eyes that captures images we may otherwise never see, and freezes them into eternity for our scrutiny. If photographs provide any true knowledge, it is that of a visual stimulus, a superficial comprehension that barely scratches the surfaces. What would photographs be without captions? Merely anonymous pictures of anonymous things, anonymous places, and anonymous people. Photography all...
Documentary is a term that stresses a broad category of expression that is based on the attempt to ‘document’ reality. The classification of documentary includes formally structured or seemingly unstructured films that are either non-fictional or entirely fictional. From around 1921, early films captured real people with everyday situations and filmmakers edited these footages to create a structure with either a story or an argument. By 1932, John Grierson had formulated a definition that distinguished between documentary and other factual forms of cinematic journalism, travelogue and scientific or nature films. Grierson found documentary beyond arrangement and description because it used a ‘creative treatment of actuality’. This shaping offered
The Civil War was the first major conflict to be documented by photography. At the time of the Civil War, it was vital to have public support on both the North and the South side of the dispute. It is also said that if war efforts do not have complete support of its’ citizens that it will not result to any benefits. Photography was one way that was almost guaranteeing support of citizens on the homefront. Photographers had power within their photographs, toying with the pathos of the civilians, and causing them to feel whatever the photographers wanted them to. This power was abused at time by manipulating people’s opinions towards the war. There were pictures coming back from the warfront one after the other which made it impossible for people to feel an emotional connection to the soldiers at war. These photographs allowed events happening miles away to feel like they were closer to home causing people to support the war efforts more heavily. Instead of people having their own opinions during the war, photographers used manipulative
"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”.
2. Nichols, Bill. ‘Documentary Modes of Representation (The Observational Mode).’ Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington & Indianapolis; Indiana University Press. 1991. 38-44
These people made lots of money just by selling these images that they had created. The photographers that had to take pictures of the battlefield had a very long stressful process. Cameras in the time of the Civil War were big and bulky and mostly difficult to use. Photography in the 1860's seemed
Women desire to become beautiful and powerful, even if they don’t say it in words. And the Photographer plays with that concept and creates that desire, that you can become that person you see in the photograph. And live that lifestyle. Photographers use techniques from the cinema/cinematic, to create the desire of viewers/Buyer/Consumers. The cinematic techniques made it possible the way people lived and the...
Photojournalism is a specific form of journalism that employs the use of images to form a news story that meaningfully contributes to the media. This allows a photographer to capture stills that tell the story of a moment in time. Photojournalism creates a transparency between the media and the people as it depicts an accurate representation where meaning can be misinterpreted through text. Photojournalism largely contributes to the way we understand the reality of a moment. Becker (1982) supports this concept as he compares photography to paintings. He says that paintings get their meaning from the painters, collectors, critics, and curators; therefore photographs get their meaning from the way people understand them and use them. Photojournalist’s
In today’s day and age, we take even the simple things, like photography and film, for granted. Everything has become more user friendly, simpler, and faster by changing over to the digital realm. Photographers and film makers from the 20th century had it a lot harder than we do today. They basically had to do everything manually; even including something as small as flash photography. Both pictorialism and film play an important role in documenting events in the world around which we live, though have very different meanings when it comes to their expressions of art styles. This paper will examine the works of D.W. Griffith and Alfred Stieglitz, and cover how pictorialism and film changed how we as a society view the photography and film industries today.