Surrealism

Surrealism was an art movement based in Paris, originating in the 1920’s. Freuds theory of unconsciousness influenced a lot of surrealists and the techniques to expose them. These include socially unacceptable thoughts such as sexual desires, traumatic experiences and painful emotions. Dreams and the change in perception became main themes.

Brassai’s photographs display surrealism in many ways, his series “Paris by night” 1933 celebrates the edges of society, juxtaposing the ordinary next to the extraordinary which a main theme recurring throughout many photographers work from the same time. On the other hand his series/picture “Involuntary sculpture” 1933 depicts accidental and coincidental discoveries. Although it might take a while to defer what the object is, this image shows a bus ticket folded and rolled up at the ends. This leads to many questions that arise from one photograph. It may depict someone’s boredom waiting either for or on the bus, unintentionally rolling the ends up. The title suggests that the object was come across by chance but Brassai made it a sculpture by taking a photo of it.

Other types of surrealism included Man Rays tests with film and exposing it to light, titled “Rayographs”, solarising the images. The print or negative is briefly exposed to the light during the development which creates the reversal of tones, especially at the edges.

In conclusion the key features of surrealism are themes such as the female body, representing sex, body vs mind and the unconscious. The visual language includes photomontages, juxtapostions, symbolism and solarisation.

Pictorialism

“Winter-fifth avenue” 1892

This is image, by Alfred Steiglitz, is a black and white image of a horse drawn carriage in the snow, leaving trails behind it. The photograph appears smoky and mystical showing elements of pictorialism. This photo was a result of the experimentation of movement and the want to produce an atmosphere in an image.

This sort of picture is typical of pictorialism, creating a mood rather than just documenting a subject.  The smoky effect made is slightly atmospheric and could almost be brush strokes, standing up for photography as an art form. There was usually a lack of sharp detail in pictorialist images. Steiglitz and his pictorialist group (Photo secession-1902-1910) believed that the work of art should be seen for the manipulation etc rather than even considering that it was taken by a camera.  They were known as a group of men that broke away from tradition and the group was invitation only.

Pictorialism originated after George Eastman Kodak evented plastic film and the first amateur camera using the slogan “you press the button, we do the rest”. This of course meant that photography became enormous and practically everyone could take a photograph. The need for professional photographers declined rapidly and the debate arose that if anyone could take a photo then was it still an art? Pictorialism challenged this with the use of manipulation and mimicking styles of contemporary painting. Creating an image rather than simply recording it using tinting/toning, emulsion, drawing onto etc. 

Pure and Straight Photography

Pure and Straight Photography

This is an image called “Shell”,  1927 by photographer Edward Weston. The object in the image is a shell, against a black back ground. The shell itself is an obscure shape with many different tonal areas, a highlight on the top of the shell and some darker areas towards the bottom, which pick up on the texture.

There are many ways in which this particular image depicts the visual information of pure and straight photography.  One example, as mentioned, is the vast range of tonal colours. The key highlight being on top of the shell and the other extreme being the darker area used to back the shell. The distinct lines and textures that are shown on some areas of the object were also used a lot in straight photography, showcasing the strengths of a camera by offering a new detailed view of a shell. In addition to this there is also quite a large depth of field, not just focusing on one aspect of the item.

Edward Weston was known the want to be able to illustrate his love for life through his work,  he felt he may be able to do this by demonstrating nature truthfully.

“To clearly express my feeling for life with photographic beauty, present objectively the texture, rhythm, form in nature, without subterfuge or evasion in technique or spirit, to record the quintessence of the object or element before my lens, rather than an interpretation, a superficial phase, or passing mood—this is my way in photography. It is not an easy way.”- Edward Weston (taken from minimalistphotography101.com)