HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Section 4The Popular Revolution & Art

Movements of the 20th Century

The Popular Revolution

• Invention of the half-tone printing process in the 1880’s– Allowed pictures to be

printed in newspapers and magazines

– Broke down images into series of dots, when viewed comprise our picture

– Allowed pictures to become part of everyday life

– Communicated story more effectively than just words alone

• George Eastman and the Kodak Company (1880’s)– Invented the modern

photographic industry– Pioneered Roll film (LSM)– Put affordable cameras in

the hands of everyday people

– Allowed people to record everyday life – and the “snapshot” is born

George Eastman

• Became interested in Photography and sold “dry plates”

• Introduced “roll film” (1888) and later “transparent film” (1889)

• Kodak Company revolutionizes photography as an industry

George Eastman aboard SS Galia-1890 (Kodak #2 snapshot-albumen print)

The Original Kodak camera

• Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co.- June 1888

• Had Barrel shutter• $25 retail price• 50 or 100 image

paper roll film• Circular image• “You press the button,

we’ll do the rest”

The Original “Brownie”

• Eastman Kodak Co. -1900

• Patent Date-4/11/1899

• Production dates: 1900-1901

• 117 exposure roll film

The “Brownie Revolution”(1900-1950’s)

• Brownie #1 camera (above)– ONLY $1 IN PRICE– 1901-1904 production– 117 exposure roll film

• Kodak snapshot-(right)– Samuel Castner Jr.– (1890)

More “Brownies”

• #2 Brownie- Eastman Kodak Co. (1904)– Production 1904-1907– 120 exposure roll film

#3 Folding Brownie-Model D (1909)Eastman Kodak Co.production 1909-1915124 exposure roll film

Original Price $9-11

(back to artistic movements)

THE PHOTO SECESSION

• Movement to break away from the Pictorialists

• Ideology: PHOTOGRAPHY IS ART, BUT NO MANIPULATION IS NECESSARY

• Photographic work can stand on its own as art - as long as photographer approaches it in an artistic way, using the conventions of art.

Alfred Steiglitz• Father of Modern Photography• Started out as pictorialist, but

thought manipulation was not necessary to create artful photography

• Opened gallery 291– Promote art, and photography

(often together)– Emphasis on design concepts

such as composition, shape, form, etc.

– Published “Camera Work” to promote the new art of photography. Established new modern aesthetic.

Sunlight and Shadows-1889

Alfred Steiglitz

Venetian Boy-1887

The Terminal-1893

Alfred Steiglitz

Night, NY-1896

The Steerage-1907

Alfred Steiglitz

Spring Showers, NY- 1901

Flat Iron Building NY- 1903

Alfred Steiglitz

Georgia O’Keefe-Hands and Thimble-1919

Winter, Fifth Avenue--1893

Alfred Steiglitz

Mountains and Sky, Lake George -1924

Equivalent-1931

STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

• Movement led by Paul Strand- Straight forward approach

• Focus is on composition, shape, line, and form• Image is sharp, and in focus (no more blurry,

soft-focus images)• Beauty in everyday objects when captured by

the artist’s eye• Movement mirrored similar modernist

movements in other art forms

Paul StrandWhite Picket Fence -1916

Paul Strand

City Hall Park, NY-1915 Wall Street -1915

Paul Strand

Blind-1916 The Family - 1953

Paul Strand

The Lathe #3 - 1923 Leaves II - 1929

Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham

Edward Weston

Cabbage Leaf - 1931

Edward Weston 1886-1958• Considered one of the most innovative and

influential American photographers; and one of the greatest photographers who ever lived

• Developed a quintessentially American, and especially Californian, approach to modern photography

• Focused on the people and places of the American West

• Began as a pictorialist, then abandoned for a highly detailed photographic images

Edward Weston

Edward Weston

Edward Weston

Pepper No. 30 Two Shells

Edward Weston

Ansel Adams• Considered a ‘straight’

photographer• Member of Group f/64

– Seven San Francisco photographers who all believed in sharp, in-focus images (particularly from a western American viewpoint)

• Great Landscape Photographer

• Used burning/dodging to make pictures higher in contrast and drama

Ansel Adams

Lake Macdonald

Mono Lake

Ansel Adams

Mt. McKinley Minarets

Ansel AdamsClearing After Storm

Ansel Adams“Clearing in Winter”

Ansel AdamsGrand Tetons

Ansel AdamsMoonrise, Hernandez

Ansel AdamsWinter Sunrise

Ansel AdamsMoon and Half-Dome

Ansel AdamsOak Tree, Snowstorm