New Objectivity: Final

New Objectivity, also known as New Photography, was started in the 1920s when photographers decided to stop focusing on nature and start focusing on civilization and its advancements (Jeffery 110). This new movement in photography gave way to many great photographers such as Alexander Rodchenko, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Lucia Moholy. Rodchenko was one of the fist Russian photographers to start shooting in this New Objective style. He photographs usually consisted of abnormal angles where he would take them from a super low angle or an extra high angle to see things from a different perspective (112). Since the point of New Objectivity was to capture an image that was hard, clear, and cold most photographs were taken during the day time so that lines and shadows could appear in their purest form (119). Moholy-Nagy was one of the most well-known photographers of New Objectivity. He took high angle shots of subjects that are very impersonal and industrialized, which is a staple of New Objectivity photography (125). Moholy-Nagy was also a professor at Bauhaus, a German art school that was formed during the World Wars, and taught some New Objective photography (Auckland). Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s wife, Lucia Moholy, attended Bauhaus and became one of the great New Objectivity photographers due to her ability to photograph the reality of many urban structures (Auckland). The point of this series of photographs is to capture the essence of the New Objectivity movement by using acute angles and extreme clarity on the advancements in society.
I was inspired by Rodchenko’s use of almost extreme angles, especially in his Fire Escape (1925). The camera shooting from almost directly below the subject and person in this photograph parallels with the first photograph in my series. Both of the people are made into universal figures by having the bright sky behind them cause them to almost silhouette while they both use manmade objects to keep themselves from falling. Although this one was not done on purpose, my photograph containing the two male waiters shares similarities with Rodchenko’s At Myasnitskie Gate (1932). In both urban settings the eye is drawn to the two men wearing white shirts but then is blocked by on object to the right. Even though both photographs have lamps in them Rodchecko uses his as a block while mine is not. Opposites occur in comparing these photographs; Rodchecko chose to use more tilt than I did, but I chose to shoot from a higher elevation to my subject matter.
The large difference between photographing New Objectivity today and when it first started is that in the 1920s photographers were intrigued by new taller buildings and the ability to shoot a subject from above that could never be done before. Now if we were going to be taking photos from the highest height we could we would be getting a photograph of Earth from space. Nevertheless things do not have to be taken to their extremes so just altering the angle or tilt of a shot a little bit brings back feeling of the New Objectivity movement, and that movement is what this series of photographs is truly all about.

Bibliography
Auckland Art Gallery. "Bauhaus Photography: An Educational Resource." Auckland Art Gallery. Web. 23 June 2010.

Jeffrey, Ian. "Looking to the Future." Photography a Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Print.

Rodchenko, Alexander. At Myasnitskie Gate. 1932. Photograph. Moscow House of Photography. Web. 23 June 2010.

Rodchenko, Alexander. Fire-escape. 1925. Photograph. Moscow House of Photography. 2001. Web. 23 June 2010.