PICTORIALISM

Time period: 1880s – 1920s

Key characteristics/ conventions: From the 1880s and onwards photographers strived for photography to be art by trying to make pictures that resembled paintings. A lot of nude photography and nature was present.

Artists associated: Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), Peter Henry Emerson (1856-1936), The Vienna Camera Club (Austria), The Brotherhood of the Linked Ring (London), Photo-Secession (New York) founded by Alfred Stieglitz.

Key works: H P ROBINSON – HE NEVER TOLD HIS LOVE (1884), ALFRED HORLSEY HINTON – FLEETING AND FAR (1903), GEORGE DAVISON – REFLECTIONS (1899). Alfred Stieglitz:  Equivalent (cloud studies).

Methods/ techniques/ processes: Using Vaseline to blur the lens. Scratch the images/ use chemicals to alter the colors etc. Manipulating images in the darkroom, scratching and marking their prints to imitate the texture of canvas, using soft focus are among other techniques.

REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

Time period:

Key characteristics/ conventions:

• REALISM – 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.

• STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY – Were 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.

• SOCIAL REFORM PHOTOGRAPHY – The rural poor or the urban environment were not subjects for Pictorial photographers. But when A Danish immigrant , Jacob Riis published his book, How the Other Half Lives’ about the slums of Manhattan a new kind of realism was born with a socialist dimension. A number of photographer’s such as Lewis W Hine and Dorothea Lange began to document the effects of industrialization and urbanization on working-class Americans. Their work brought the need for housing and labour reform to the attention of legislators and the public and became the origins of what we now call photojournalism.

Artists associated:

Walker Evans (1903-75). Often considered to the leading American documentary photographer of the 20^th century. He rejected Pictorialism and wanted to establish a new photographic art based on a detached and disinterested look. He most celebrated work is his pictures of three Sharecropper families in the American South during the 1930s Depression.

Key works: Walker Evans, Hale Country (1936),

Methods/ techniques/ processes:

Cubism and Fauvism, Abstract geometric forms and structure of subjects.

MODERNISM:

For my first photo shoot I will photographing myself and my boyfriend lounging around in his house as I want to capture pure moments of love, vulnerability and intimacy. I will be using natural lighting as I think its the best way to capture the moment naturally.

Final Photos (Unedited):

Final Photos:

How I edited these images:

First I went on the basic setting in light room and pressed the auto button to put the auto editing on.

I then scrolled down and adjusted the settings to get the image to what I wanted it to look like.

After, I scrolled down and went to the lens correction option and clicked on the ‘enable profile corrections’, then clicked ‘make’ and selected Canon.

I then went on the transform section and clicked the auto option.

Next, I went onto the grain setting and selected medium and high settings depending on what look I wanted.

Lastly, I went onto the creative setting and clicked the vintage instant setting to get the desired look for my images.

Conclusion:

To conclude, I am really happy with how this photo shot came out as I was able to capture the ideas that I had. I wish I took a few more photos to capture more raw emotions, but overall I am satisfied with the outcome of this photo shoot. I am really happy with how I edited these photos and will use this technique in future photo shoot.

For my first full photo shoot for my personal study I want to explore themes which I started uncovering when on the Paris trip. These themes mainly include using street photography to further delve into the idea of being lonely in a crowd, but also to contrast this, using angular buildings and shadows in an abstract manner to show an almost prison like demeanor. I decided to do this to show how people become trapped in their own heads a lot of the time. I also wanted to try out a few more ideas around people on public transport, as well as concepts involving more bold colour.

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This is a moodboard I have made of my inspirations and similar ideas to photo shoots in my personal study.

Surreal Photography by Christopher Ryan McKenney

Harvard System of Referencing

Bibliography:

Barthes, R.(1993).Camera Lucida.

London:20 Vauxhall Bridge Road

Quote inside text:

Critic Roland Barthes says; ‘Hence it was necessary to take a look for myself.'(Barthes 1993:18)

This project shows the the work in jersey, potato picking in particular from the perspective of the migrant workers. They are usually seasonal workers and on minimum or a low wage. Their side of the story is never really displayed, making them almost invisible within the society of Jersey.

The workers have been working in Jersey for around 150 years and have been a crucial part of Jersey's economy and this project wants to show that although they are in Jersey to work, they too are humans with emotions and lives and that the people of Jersey need to treat them as humans rather than immigrants or workers. 

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MAIN THEMES/IDEAS:

• HOUSING CRISIS: A topic which I am highly interested in and am willing to explore is the housing crisis which affects a large population of Jersey. Not only the immigrants but young people and the elderly all face institutional discrimination which makes it extremely difficult to get on the property ladder or be able to find housing in Jersey. There is an extreme lack of affordable housing for low income families and young people alike, who start out on the bottom earning minimum wage at the start of their careers.

• NOSTALGIA: with the use of film, an older method of photography, I am hoping to capture images that capture a nostalgic and reminiscing feel. The fuzziness and grain which can be captured using this flash provokes ideas of the old and outdated, much like the housing in Jersey, lacking houses and slats which are safe and regulated for people to live in.

• CONTROL: the lack of control within the Jersey housing market means that landlords are able to set prices ad regulate the market as they please, often providing overpriced and unsuitable living conditions for the families which will be moving there. A large part of this study is to highlight an area of Jersey life which impacts the lower and working class which suffer as a consequence of politicians and the rich.

MOOD BOARD: