Modernism

Modernism is a photographic genre that along with cultural trends and changes, started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It occurred when technology had improved throughout the interwar period and more people became involved in Art and Media. 

The Mantra of Modernism which basically means that a photograph should look like a photograph instead of a pictorial style image. 

Pure and Straight photography began when a group of american photographers including Willard Van Dyke and Ansel Adams founded a society called f.64. Active in San Francisco bay area around 1930 to 1935, the founders took its name from one of the smallest aperture stops available on a large format camera which gives an image a lot of clarity and depth of field which was not a common technique at that time as pictorialism was still a major style of photography.   

This Image taken by f.64 photographer Ansel Adams was shot in 1925 at Kings Canyon National Park, 

During the 1930s Adams was experimenting with sequences and what he called “extracts”, that is, showing small, isolated details of life & death, growth & decay, but not a true abstract.  Around this time he also started adopting the Modernist aesthetic with the other members from f.64. He would also photograph the same scene from different viewpoints and in different light.  This is a technique he may well have adopted from painters such as Monet, as he increasingly photographed the light rather than the scenery.

In this image you can see a landscape shot of the Canyon, I really like the refections of the trees agains the water and the strong clarity from the captivating horizon. 

Pictorialism

Pictorialism 

Pictorialism is a reference to a style of photography that was introduced during the late 19th and early 20th century it demonstrates an ornamental movement that gives an almost painted soft look that is commonly illustrated through portraits of wealthy or famous people during the reign of Queen Victoria. 

The technique normally causes a ghostly subject as the exposures were extremely long with a sepia tone which now is not a very common effect photographers use. 

Although many photographers used this style with landscape and street photography as it gives a chilling misty result outdoors. 

This image taken by photographer George Seeley titled ‘Brass Bowl’ in 1907 is a very good example of the style of pictorialism as you can see it gives a ghostly essence to the photograph. 

The image shows a young woman wearing some type of head piece looking into a brass container, she could be inhaling some sort of incense or medicine as she looks very drained especially how pale her skin . As the image is so soft it is difficult to decipher her surroundings. I have found it difficult to understand the technical aspects of this photograph as the piece is rather flat, although I can see that Seeley has used a light on the bottom right of the image because there is hardly any shadows visible on the woman’s face and their is a bold reflection against the object she is holding and the metal in her head piece.