Chapter 11 Photography
Photograph Phos is Greek for light Graphos is Greek for writing Photography means writing with light
How is photography like collage? The world is essentially a store house of visual information. Creation is the process of assemblage. The photograph is a process of instant assemblage, instant collage. Robert Rauschenberg This is important, because it highlights the fact that it is the artist s eye - what the artist sees - that makes the art. Text How someone sees and what someone sees is just as important, maybe more, than technical proficiency.
Photography captures a moment in time. Walker Evans. Roadside Store between Tuscaloosa and Greensboro, Alabama. 1936.
Camera means room in Latin. Artists used rooms like these to make more accurate drawings. Unidentified Photographer. Camera Obscura.
Invention of Photography From now on, Painting is dead! Paul Delaroche - Two different forms of photography were invented around 1839. One form was invented in England by William Henry Fox Talbot. The other form was invented in France by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. - William Henry Fox Talbot invented the photogenic drawing. - Louis Jaques Mande Daguerre invented the daguerreotype.
This is a photogenic drawing. Paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals. William Henry Fox Talbot. Mimosoidea Suchas, Acacia. c. 1839.
Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. Le Boulevard du Temple. 1839. This is a daguerrotype. It is made on a metal plate.
Richard Beard. Maria Edgeworth. 1841. 2 1/8 x 1 3/4 in. daguerrotype The daguerrotype became very popular for portraits.
How is a daguerrotype made? A thin layer of silver is coated over a copper plate. Iodine, bromine and chlorine coated on plate. Plate is kept completely in the dark until the image is exposed to it. It often took approximately 10 minutes for the image to be imprinted onto the plate. *The daguerrotype was not reproducible. The process only produced one image
William Henry Fox Talbot. The Open Door. 1843. This is a calotype.
Calotype Process Silver iodide on paper, not metal. A negative was made from which prints could be developed. Calotype process was reproducible, but the image was not as clear as a daguerrotype.
This is a process called wet plate collodion. Image was exposed and developed within 15 min. Julia Margaret Cameron photographed the best known English writers of her time. Julia Margaret Cameron. Portrait of Thomas Carlyle. 1863. 10 x 8 in.
Photography was a very scientific, chemical process. Many people wondered if it was considered a true art form. Julia Margaret Cameron attempted to capture the inner psychology and character of her sitters. She sought to capture their soul. This elevated photography to art. It was more than technical observation.
Photojournalism Photography soon began to be used for documenting important events and occurrences Timothy O Sullivan is considered one of the first photojournalists. Timothy O Sullivan. Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pa. 1863. these are union soldiers
Alfred Stieglitz. The Steerage. 1907. 13 3/16 x 10 3/8 in. Immigrants coming from Europe (the old world) to the U.S. (the new world)
Eadweard Muybridge. Annie G, Cantering, Saddled. December 1887. sheet: 19 x 24 in., image: 7 1/2 x 16 1/8 in. This is the first motion picture
Eventually, we see that Photography uses the same Elements and Principles of Design as Painting.
Charles Sheeler was asked to create promotional photos of the Ford plant in Michigan. These images are a celebration to industry. What is propaganda? Charles Sheeler, Criss-Crossed Conveyors-Ford Plant 1927 Gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 in.
Walker Evans, Alabama Tenant Farmer's Kitchen (Washstand with View into Dining Area of Burroughs Home, Hale County, Alabama). 1936. 35mm photograph.
Training maneuvers of soldiers preparing for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq at 29 Palms, California in 2003. Sublime An-My Lê, 29 Palms: Night Operations III. 2003 04. Gelatin silver print, 26 37-1/2".
The Decisive Moment what is it? Henri Cartier-Bresson. Athens. 1953.
Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico. 1941. Gelatin silver print, 18-1/2 23".
Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled (rock component). 1970 Jerry N. Uelsmann. [Fig. 11-18]
Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled (tree component). 1970 Jerry N. Uelsmann. [Fig. 11-19]
Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled (hands component). 1970 Jerry N. Uelsmann. [Fig. 11-20]
Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled (first version). 1970 Jerry N. Uelsmann. [Fig. 11-21]
Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled (second version). 1970 Jerry N. Uelsmann. [Fig. 11-22]
One of first to use digital photography as an artform. Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland Sublime Andreas Gursky, Ocean II, 2010. chromogenic print, 134 1/4 x 98 1/8 in.
Film
Sergei Eisenstein Battleship Potemkin What is montage?
Sergei Eisenstein Battleship Potemkin, 1925
Sergei Eisenstein. Still from Battleship Potemkin. 1925.
Sergei Eisenstein. Still from Battleship Potemkin. 1925.
Sergei Eisenstein. Still from Battleship Potemkin. 1925.
Sergei Eisenstein. Still from Battleship Potemkin. 1925.
Charlie Chaplin s films are a social critique of American idealism and life. Silent film 1894-1925 Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush. 1925.
The burning-of-atlanta scene from Gone with the Wind. 1939. Films began to be made in color in 1939.
How is Jeff Wall Text making this older Japanese image more contemporary? What does this image mean? Jeff Wall. A Sudden Gust of Wind (After Hokusai). 1993. 90 3/16 x 148 7/16 in.
Sakino Hokusai. Shunshuu Ejiri, from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. 1831. 30 1/2 x 46 in. Artists always borrow from the past.