Pictorialism: Final

Pictorialism started in the late 19th century when photos were becoming too realistic and many photographers wanted to soften and alter their photos to give them the ambiance of paintings (Kingsley). These pictorialist photos focused on light, shadow, air, water and most importantly emotion, rather than the subject or subjects contained within the shot. The point of this series of photos is to hold true the same pictorialist ideals that photographers had during the late 19th century without using computer editing software, just the camera and physical, hands on ways of changing just a photo into a feeling. Many pictorialist photographers formed groups in which they could be among peers with similar artistic visions, such as The Linked Ring (Jeffery 88). Many members of The Linked Ring took artistic nude photographs, as did many other pictorialist photographers of the time (96). These photos were done in good taste and with an amazing pictorialist eye, but I did not subject someone to posing nude for this assignment.
Instead I was inspired by the feeling of Hugo Henneberg’s Osteestrand (1898), the first two photos have a color tint to them which was done by using a blue folder and a candy wrapper. Henneberg used a gum-bichromate process to add color to his photos instead covering his lens with various objects, though many other photographers did use lens covers to alter their photographs (Jeffery 92, 94). Other photos in this series have a foggy appearance that extenuates any light being casted was done by breathing on the camera lens. During the late 19th and early 20th century this effect was obtained by having the camera slightly out of focus, due to new technology most cameras have auto focus so the easiest way to obtain the soft look is by breathing on the lens. The delicate clouds that can be seen in some of the less fogged photos draw upon Henneberg’s ability to capture the pictorialist idea of atmosphere in such photos as Osteestrand (1898) and Italienische Villa Im Herbst (1898). Henneberg was a member of The Linked Ring (Kingsely 2009), a group of both European and American amateur photographers created in 1892 (Jeffery 88).
Another member of The Linked Ring inspired all of my photos and that man is Alvin Langdon Coburn (Kingsley). Coburn produced many photos with street lamps in them, such as Westminster Abbey (1909) and Broadway at Night (1909). I looked upon his From Westminister Bridge (1909) where there almost seems to be a silhouette of the street lamp and background, and his Broadway at Night (1909) where the street lamps cast their own light producing glowing orbs, powerful shadows, and stunning reflections. These beautiful urban images are truly awe inspiring and encompass one of the most common shots of pictorialists.
I tried to capture both sides of what was most commonly shot in pictorialist photos by drawing inspiration from two photographers with photos with both influences. In the 1890s photographers focused more on nature, leaves, forests, and landscapes which is why all of my photos have some form of nature contained within them (Jeffery 101). In the 1900’s pictorialism focused more on the urban side of the world by taking photos of streets, buildings, and anything else that was industrial (101). This is just another reason why I chose to have the urban street lamp set within my photos. The combining of two main themes of the pictorialist movement together while taking photos in a way that is similar to many pictorialist photographers embodies pictorialism as a whole and that is what I did with this series of photos.

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Bibliography

Coburn, Alvin L. Broadway at Night. 1909. Photograph. Masters of Photography. Web. 20 June 2010.
Coburn, Alvin L. Westminster Abbey. 1909. Photograph. Morehouse Gallery. Web. 20 June 2010.
Henneberg, Hugo. Italienische Villa Im Herbst. 1898. Photograph. The Art of Photogravure. Web. 20 June 2010.
Henneberg, Hugo. Ostseestrand. 1898. Photograph. The Art of Photogravure. Web. 20 June 2010.
Jeffrey, Ian. "Truths Beyond Appearance." Photography a Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Print.
Kingsley, Hope. "Pictorial Photography." The Museum of Modern Art. Oxford University Press, 2009. Web. 20 June 2010.