Scratching and marking prints to look more like canvas
REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Time period:
Originated in 1904, development took place in the 1930s.
Key characteristics/ conventions :
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.
Artists associated:
Ansel Adams
Charis Wilson
Wynn Bullock
Dody Weston Thompson
Key works:
Ansel Adams’ Biography, 1985
The Bowls, Paul Strand, 1917
A Sea of Steps, Frederick Henry Evans, 1903
Methods/ techniques/ processes:
Used darkroom techniques to enhance the appearance of their prints
MODERNISM
Time period:
1840s – 1960s
Key characteristics/ conventions :
Artists associated:
Key works:
Methods/ techniques/ processes:
POST-MODERNISM
Time period:
1960s – present. Came about after WW2 as a reaction to modernism.
Key characteristics/ conventions :
Modernist belief was attacked by artists in rationality, objectivity and universalism in favour of relativism as well as identity. The view that there is no objective truth.
For extra help when creating my case study, I used a interview I found with in the British Journal of Photography and a Vogue interview by Rica Cerbarano. These sources were both valuable ways in finding out more about Vanessa Winship’s project on Weather.
Research –
Vanessa Winship focuses on contemporary photography, most of her work being in black and white but as times have changed, she has brought slight colour into her photographs as well.
She studied at the Polytechnic of Central London during the 1980s when the practice of photography and cultural studies was on the rise.
Her work focuses on identity, vulnerability and the body
She dances on JacksonSnow And time foldsExamples of various books Winship has published.
Furthermore, I’m actually beginning to enjoy the possibility of how my work can speak differently if it’s color, but perhaps in a certain way there’s a slight mourning that there is a shift away from how I’m known.
Vanessa Winship
3 Key quotes –
1. “There was this incredible swirling snow: it was weather that I’m not used to and that I’m not comfortable in.”
I chose this quote because I think that it shows how Vanessa Winship went out of her comfort zone when creating her photographs regarding weather. I agree with how she has said this quote in the article, because I think that this shows how you need to be fearless and adventurous when taking photographs because you can achieve the best outcomes when you go and photograph something a little different from what you are used too.
2. “I guess this happens when you’re out in the landscape and you stop and make an image… I kept stopping and walking into the landscape itself. And of course when you have a camera, it becomes a tool of confession.”
I agree with this quote from Vanessa Winship because she explains how you can just walk into a landscape and realise how beautiful it is and want to capture its beauty, while using the camera as a tool which is used to show others of what you have discovered. This is because the camera is, metaphorically and physically, a tool that is used by photographers to confess what they are photographing and why they have chosen to photograph it for a project they may be working on or to tell a story to other people.
3. “So if you stop at a house minding your own business for example, you’re existing in someone else’s space. I made a number of images around a particular landscape [with a house],”
I chose this quote from Vanessa Winship’s interview which she did because I agree with how she states that as photographers, sometimes we have to exist in other peoples spaces to an extent while being respectful of our surroundings. This is because, as photographers, we rely a lot on creating our images around a particular subject which may include houses, public spaces, people, etc and we need to be mindful while taking into consideration that we are in or on someone else’s property. This is then where she further explains how she engaged in a conversation with an owner of a house while creating a number of images which revolved around a house that she stumbled upon and wanted to experiment photographing.
Image analysis –
A photo which is from Winships latest project called “Snow” published on March 15, 2022.
For this image which I have chosen for my image analysis of Vanessa Winship’s work, is a part of Winship’s latest project which is called ‘Snow’ and was published on March 15, 2022, it focuses on the different aspects of weather in different landscapes, as well as capturing its beauty. I decided to give this image a further analysis conceptually and contextually because I thin that it successfully shows to others how there is a main focal point with a follow up which is found within the photo which catches your attention almost immediately. This is the way that the photo is framed through the houses being on either side, and due to the photo being captured in black and white, they create a contrast against another which can suggest how the people who may live in them may be complete different people and this contrast is shown strongly through their homes where they live. I also like how there is only half of each house which has been photographed in each photo as it shows how there is a path which leads straight down the middle into the forest behind them, this is the other focal point of the photo. This is due to the fact that it can link the houses/people who live in them together because the path which is created leads your eyes down and want to look further into the photo as to why they live here and what is in the forest, because on first appearance it appears quite bleak and cold, creating a gloomy atmosphere which creates this feeling of solidarity between the people who live here, making you wonder what can be found in this beautiful forest.
To make photography an accepted art form, as it was considered to be less serious, easy to do (accessible) and quick (snapshot, as well as education-wise). The ease of use is seen in the affordable Kodak, meaning everyone can afford/use it. It was also considered to be not done by humans, by the camera itself.
Photography started out as a scientific form rather than an artform.
Influences:
Allegorical paintings – Paintings which depict hidden meanings (allegories) with often biblical/mythological imagery. As well as other perhaps religious or cultural paintings/art.
Artists associated:
Alfred Stieglitz, Julia Margaret Cameron, Hugo Henneberg, Frank Eugene, Clarence H. White, F Holland Day
Key works:
Methods/techniques/processes:
Scratching the negatives/plates, putting Vaseline on the lens and painted chemicals over the photograph were done to give the photographs colour/manipulate the tonality of the images, which gives it a closer link to traditional art. The idea that art is ‘handmade’ is also tended to by using these methods.
REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Time period:
1915 – Present
Key characteristics/conventions:
Not manipulating the images in the darkroom to create sharp, realistic, abstract images – linking to cubism. Abstraction was created at this time, Strand was inspired by cubism, Picasso/Brandt.
Influences:
People wanted to go back to the documentary side of which photography was made for. This led to cubism being implemented into photographs to create what is now known as abstract photography.
Artists associated:
Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, Ansel Adams, Alfred Steiglitz
Key works:
Methods/techniques/processes:
To produce sharp images with a lot of detail without manipulation – Returning to the documentary style that photography was originally intended for. They used the camera’s detail to record art in a way that traditional forms such as painting cannot.
MODERNISM
Time period:
Late 1800s to late 1900s
Key characteristics/conventions :
Modernism refers to the focus on the industrialisation and the new issues as opposed to traditional Victorian values in an effort to create something new and different from what was expected from art at the time. This often led to the images becoming abstract or surreal in an attempt to create something original.
Modernism focuses on the art itself and the artist’s technical ability to not only construct an image but to also evolve their own art forms to create something new and original. Object rather than subject and form rather than context.
Influences:
Cubism can be said to be an influence (as well as a product) of modernistic aesthetics. Artists like Picasso and Braque wanted to remove themselves from traditional art into something completely different – hence cubist paintings/art were produced by them and various other artist.
Montaging seemed to become very popular during the times of modernism as it allowed artists to further experiment with the mediums they chose, which led to their images being more modern aesthetically.
Artists associated:
Picasso, Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, Claude Cahun, etc…
Key works:
Methods/techniques/processes:
Photomontaging was used where parts of images (and other forms of media such as newspapers) were spliced and placed onto one big image. This seemed to give some images (such as the montage above) to have an urban, surreal and artificial feel. These montages also seemed to be a parody on media such as newspapers to give the photographs a political or social context.
POST-MODERNISM
Time period:
1970s – Present
Key characteristics/conventions :
Post-modernism focuses on themes outside of the art form and the art, bringing political, cultural, social, historical and physiological themes into the context of the artwork. Context of audience and subject reception is also key in post-modernistic art. Post-modern work makes references to previously hidden agendas within the art community, especially from art critics and museums.
Subject rather than object and context rather than form.
Influences:
Post-modernism is a response to modernism, while modernism focused on finding the ‘timeless masterpiece’, post-modernistic art aims to separate itself from the idea, creating something temporary, accessible and imperfect. This pedestalizes the idea of art being a form of expression as opposed to something cold and meaningless.
Artists associated:
Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, etc…
Key works:
Methods/techniques/processes:
Post-modernism, due to its links to social contexts, incorporates many different techniques to achieve different imagery depending on the context, such as eclecticism, parody, collaboration, reconfiguration, recycling work, bricolage, among others.
To get more ideas for my projects I looked at the book ‘Family Photography Now’ by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren, and chose a few artists that I thought had interesting photographs. I then did some research on them and their projects. This helped me get a better understanding of what I want to do, as well as give me some more ideas for my own project.
