Download - PHOTOGRAPHY - Recording the Image

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.5 Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY - Recording the Image

“Photography” derives from two Greek words, “drawing

with light”

photos means “light” and graphein means “to draw”

Collecting the image

Film: negative and positive

Digital: pixels, computer

Camera vs. human eye

Today, the camera is a mechanical recorder and an artistic

tool


PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES


The History of Photography Camera obscura

Projection of outside scene

First drawn, then captured on light-sensitive material

Room-sized then portable (eighteenth-century) camera obscura

Negative/positive processes

Cyanotype-blue line on white background

Calotype-a negative image is turned into a positive one using

sunlight circa 1841

Daguerreotype

Digital Processes

Pixels, digital files, display, manipulation

Rainer Gemma-Frisius, first published illustration of a camera obscura, 1544.

William Henry Fox Talbot, The Oriel Window, South Gallery, Lacock Abbey, 1835 or 1839. Photogenic drawing negative, 3¼ x 4¼”.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES


Portrait Photography One of photography’s popular uses

Substitute for more costly painted

portraits

People could eventually take their own

pictures

Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt, 1865.

Albumen print, Bibliothèque

Nationale, Paris, France

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MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt was a famous actress

this would have been “in vogue and

cutting edge” in her time

Nadar’s distinctive style:

When posed scenes and elaborate props

were common at the time, he avoids a

busy setting

Focuses on the sitter:

• Wrapped in fabric, leaning on a column,

with a plain backdrop

• Highlights Bernhardt’s elegance and her

introspective side


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MEDIA AND PROCESSES


Landscape

Pictures of the land and its natural features

Scenic records

Can highlight ecological concerns

How might such images be used?

By organizations like the Sierra Club (dedicated to preserving

America’s wilderness)?

Other possibilities?

Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes,

Sunrise—Death Valley National

Monument, California, c. 1948

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MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes, Sunrise Death Valley National Monument, California

Black-and-white photography

Adams’ style (“zone system”)

Arranges black, white, and gray tones

Creates a balanced effect

Entire picture in clear focus - a

hallmark of his style

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, The Artist’s Studio, 1837. Whole-plate daguerreotype.

Still Life Photography

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MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, The Artist’s Studio

Exposure times in mid-nineteenth-century photography were long

Over 8 minutes for indoor scenes (low light=long exposure) so it

was nearly impossible to photograph a living person


PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES


Photojournalism The use of photography to tell a news story

Dates back to the Civil War

Now we accept that photographs only

give a partial view

• They can be manipulated, altered,

cropped and can distort, exaggerate,

even lie

Photography was once believed to be

inherently truthful

• Credibility is crucial for news

reportage

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XONXeUndHl8

Has partially led to the media blitz today and is being led by it, too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XONXeUndHl8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XONXeUndHl8

PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES


Matthew Brady

Lincoln granted permission in 1861 with the proviso that

Brady finance the project himself. His efforts to document the

the war, bringing his photographic studio right onto the

battlefields earned Brady his place in history.

He employed traveling darkroom and had 17 fellow

photographers to go out and photograph scenes from the Civil

War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koLnFvPaya0



Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner, Whitnel Cotton Mill, 1908. Photographic print. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner, Whitnel Cotton Mill

Used photography to tell the story of child labor

Impersonated a salesperson, inspector, etc., to get access

Took careful notes about the working conditions

Published the photos to inform the public

Resulted in laws protecting young children

Nick Ut June 1972

Near Trang Bang Vietnam

Pulitzer-Prize Photo

John Filo

Kent State University

1970 Pulitzer-Prize Photo


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MEDIA AND PROCESSES


The Art of Photography

A Great Debate

Record of “reality” or artform?

Does photography have to be one or the other?

Contemporary art

Photo-based art is very widespread as stand alone work and as tool

Fine-art museums began collecting photos in the 1980s


PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES


Making “Artistic” Photographs

How do methods used in other media relate to

photography?

What effects are distinctive to the medium of

photography?

Other ways to make “artistic” photography

Clarity and realism

Optical effects

Photocollage and photomontage

Colorizing or altering the image in some way

Message and/or strength of the image?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpJOA4J57o4

Basic photo developing -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpJOA4J57o4

Brian Lukas Hurricane Katrina The Rescue Boats 2012

The Photography as Fine Art Debate When is the line? How much does the equipment get in the way?


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MEDIA AND PROCESSES


Photocollage and Photomontage

Collage

Both the process and the product

Created by gluing together separate materials on a single support

Can be made with photo-based materials

• Called photocollage

Photographs, text, pre-printed materials

Unique product

Photomontage

• Made to be mass-produced

• Layered beforehand, re-photographed, or scanned

Oscar Gustav Rejlander, The Two Ways of Life, 1857. Albumen silver print, 16 x 31”. Royal Photographic Society, Bath,

England

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MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Oscar Gustav Rejlander, Two Ways of Life

Steps to make the combination prints in the darkroom:

Rejlander made thirty separate negatives

Cut out each area like a puzzle piece

Exposed the negatives one at a time

Covered the rest of the picture while each part was exposed

Took six weeks to make

Looks like one seamless scene

Photomontage-the photogapher for the first time is altering

the photo(s), adding his “hand” to the final product

2.86 Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl, 2006. Ilfochrome print, 11⅞ x 15⅞”

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MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl

Digital process to assemble compositions

Lux subtly manipulates the color and proportions, sometimes makes

painted backgrounds. Then digitally retouches.

It takes several months to a year to create each

image

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MEDIA AND PROCESSES



Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats

Brightly colored “tableau” or arrangement

Green becomes more intense against the gray

Altered in such a way that looks Surreal

Combination of fact and fiction

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