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transcript
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
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
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
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
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
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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
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
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
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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
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
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
PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
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
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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
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
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
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
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 -
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?
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
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
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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”
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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
Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats © 1980. Cibachrome or pigmented inkjet color photograph, 25⅝ x 35”
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Chapter 2.5 Photography
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
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