Pictorialism (Revision)
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Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864–1946) An Icy Night, New York, 1898 Carbon print; 26 x 34 cm (image/paper/mount) Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.689 |
Pictorial Photography arose during the 1860s and became very popular through the twentieth century. This approach to photography was to be seen as more than just the reality of the subject matter. It was meant to inspire personal expression through this medium. To encourage people to take photos out of love of the art form rather than just taking a photo to take a photo. Various techniques were used by pictorialists in order to make their photographs have more artistic values. “They labored in the darkroom to produce unique works of art, employing time-consuming processes, such as gum bichromate printing and photogravure, that showed the artist’s hand.” - Art Institute of Chicago
The photograph I chose is by Alfred Stieglitz a photography enthusiast who looked more for the aesthetic potential within his work rather than the subject matter and reality of the picture itself. Alfred developed his own techniques in order to produce the sense of a painting within his work through several different tones. He often produced platinum prints that provided a huge range of tones throughout his work. The platinum print process is based on the characteristics of light-sensitive iron salts, which react with platinum salts to form platinum metal. To achieve the pictorial aspects he would use natural elements such as snow, rain, and steam to unify the components of his pieces.
The photograph above is one of his pieces taken in New York in 1898. He was inspired by English photographer Paul Martin who had studied how to perfect getting shots during the night. Stieglitz wanted to try this technique that Martin had perfected and with many surprises, he had a way shorter exposure time of 58 seconds versus Martins at 30 minutes. The two of them had separate desires as Stieglitz wanted to broaden the light source and give it a softer look while Martin wanted to conceal the light and have a darker turnover. In doing so, it was either for Stieglitz because he wanted that more softer look which is an increase of halation rather than lack there of.
When we compare pictorialism to straight photography we can see the obvious difference of an unmanipulated photograph from ones that are manipulated. Straight photography doesn’t really take much technique as it is simply an unedited picture. Whereas there is an extended amount of technique that goes into manipulations as you are the artist that gets to add more quality and meaning to each piece. Personally, I feel like both approaches are very beautiful, but pictorialism carries a little more uniqueness and you really get that sense of what the artist is trying to portray. Just as if it was a painting or a sculpture.
An icy night, New York, 1898. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2021, from https://archive.artic.edu/stieglitz/portfolio_page/an-icy-night-new-york-1898/.
Pictorialism. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2021, from https://archive.artic.edu/stieglitz/pictorialism/.
Hi Emily! This is such a cool photo, I love that you touched on the specifics of taking a photograph at night, because that would obviously be a huge obstacle at that time. Interesting to think about how they would have had to change their process to get enough light. It's also interesting to hear your opinion about "pure photography" vs. manipulated "pictorialism". This photo is an example of Stieglitz's desire to meet in the middle, creating art pictures using unmanipulated photography. Do you think he was successful in doing so?
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! When I saw the picture I knew I have to read the blog post about it. In many pictorialist photos there is an aura of mystery - and this picture is a great example of that. It is said that it was taken in New York, so I assume NYC and not some other place in New York? I am wondering, because I don't get the 'big city feel' out of this picture, and that is probably exactly what the artist wanted to achieve by focusing on the snow-covered trees rather than buildings, which are barely visible at all in the distance.
ReplyDeleteI like your discussion on pictorialism and 'pure' photography. I like both approaches - depending on what is the purpose of the photograph, both can be useful. However, it is interesting that even in 'pure' photography the more artistic quality might be achieved on accident, even when the photographer doesn't intend to do that, if for example the light is cast in a certain way etc.
Hello Emily! This is one of my favorite photos I found when researching Stieglitz's work and its a very good example of the way his process created those different tones. His process really creates these images that feel so surreal, the way the tone shifts depending on the weather he photographed in really makes you explore his images. What do you believe he wanted his viewers to feel when seeing his work?
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