Realism is the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly.

Straight photography refers to photography that attempts to depict a scene or subject in sharp focus and detail, in accordance with the qualities that distinguish photography from other visual media, particularly painting.

Straight photography came from photographers who believed in the intrinsic qualities of the photographic medium and its ability to provide accurate and descriptive records of the visual world. These photographers strove to make pictures that were ‘photographic’ rather than ‘painterly’, they did not want to treat photography as a kind of monochrome painting.  Photographers taking this approach attempted to depict a scene or subject in sharp focus and detail.

This style of photography appeared in 1904, when the Magazine ‘Camera Works’ stated that the term was a more pure form of photography in comparison to pictoralism which is photography which tends to be seen and then manipulated to take another form. Photographers  Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitzpioneered Straight photography in New York while the Hungarian-born László Moholy Nagyexploited pure photography to maximize the graphic structure of the camera-image.

Western photographers  such as Ansel Adams (left) and Edward Weston (right) brought this concept of Straight photography to life. They photographed natural scenes which they took as they saw it with there minds eye. Although not manually manipulated when the image was taken, photographers did use techniques such as  darkrooms to enhance the appearance of prints to have greater contrast. The term came to be known for images which had a big tonal range and high contrast. The two above photographers are both good examples of the vast tonal range included in Straight photography images, which highlights the use of natural structures of landscapes to create romantic landscapes.

The West Coast Photographic Movement refined straight phtography in the 1530s. During this period, with a skillful use of composition, natural scenes where captured in sharp focus  with expressive tonal ranges, light and texture. The use of this photography “engages the camera’s own technical ability to produce images sharp in focus and rich in detail”.   

Weston emphasised the simplistity that this type of photography could be when he said “Get your lighting and exposure correct at the start and both the developing and printing can be practically automatic.”, this view was reinforced by Ansel adams who stated that “the photographer visualizes his conception of the subject as presented in the final print. He achieves the expression of his visualization through his technique – aesthetic, intellectual, and mechanical.” The photographs show the mediums own technical language which conveys the reality of what the photographers are actually seeing.

In 1907 Stieglitz took this picture, The Steerage and thereby rejected Pictorialism’s aesthetics and the modernist straight photographers whom Stieglitz would promote later in his career included Paul Strand, Ansel Adams, and Eliot Porter. Paul Strand became a particular fan of his work calling it ‘absolute unqualified objectivity’ and ‘straight photographic means’. Stieglitz and Strand was also influenced by European avant-garde art movements such as Cubism and Fauvism and some of their pictures emphasised underlying abstract geometric forms and structure of their subjects.

Research Source

Realism, closely associated with ‘straight photography’, photography grew up with claims of having a special relationship to reality, and its premise, that the camera’s ability to record objectively the actual world as it appears in front of the lens was unquestioned. This supposed veracity of the photographic image has been challenged by critics as the photographer’s subjectivity (how he or she sees the world and chooses to photograph it) and the implosion of digital technology challenges this notion opening up many new possibilities for both interpretation and manipulation. A belief in the trustworthiness of the photograph is also fostered by the news media who rely on photographs to show the truth of what took place.

http://landscapephotographyblogger.com/straight-photography-and-abstraction/

Pictoralism

Time period : 1845 – 1915

Key characteristics : manipulate images with the intent to strip reality from it by adding effects

Artists associated : Alfred Stieglitz rejected the movement and Ansel Adams didn’t agree with the art form because he thought photography was fine art itself and did not need altering.

Julia Margaret Cameron

Key works : allegorical paintings and paintings from the Italian Renaissance

Methods / Techniques / Processes : used darkroom process to add effects – noise, different colours, lights and textures. Would also use Vaseline to make it more unphotographic and more as an art painting.

Modernism

“A style of post-1960s art which rejected the traditional values and politically conservative assumptions of its predecessors, in favour of a wider, more entertaining concept of art, using new artistic forms enriched by video and computer-based technology.”

Postmodernist Art refers to a wide range of contemporary art founded in the 1970s onward’s. The elements of this movement is the rejection of the  aesthetics upon the predecessor. The ideologies which are founded in modern art such as ideas needing to be elevated from popular tastes. Postmodernism has lead to decades of experimental art in new media and art forms. This includes conceptual art, performance art and installation art. This new form has amplified the definition of art to the point where “anything goes”.

The 1960’s were a period of monumental political, social and artistic activity. The young artists of America and England began to make popular culture their subject matter for their works of art. Postmodernist philosophical ideas and analysis of culture and society express the significance of critical theory within literary work and art.

It is consider that there are three principles of “Postmodernist Art”, instant meaning, art can be made from anything and the idea matters more than the work itself. From the start the Pop Art movement, postmodernist painting and sculptures were abstract and bold but were instantly recognizable. Postmodernist have been able to create pieces of art from the most unlikely materials as well as scraps and rubbish. The idea to democratise art making it more accessible for people from all walks of life. Postmodernist gave a stronger feeling in the concept behind the work of art rather than the actual work itself. The postmodernist aesthetic is thus defined by the (political) sense of this multiplicity of practices.

There are various sub-movements which are included in the post modernism movement such as the Pop Art movement, Graffi Art movement, Neo- Expressionism and many more. These allow many artist to express their own abstract ideas which may be rejected in their society for not being classically picturesque but their is substance to their works of art.

The leading influences in the rise of the postmodern art movement was architecture, urban planning, literature, music and graphic design. Postmodernism bought a change from the conventions of planning and architecture which can result in a social reform.  The development of modernism to postmodernism was drastically seen in the world of architecture in the 1970s. The city of Las Vegas became the ultimate expression of postmodern architecture

Well known artists such as Andy Warhol is a key influence in the Moderism movement.