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Where did Photography come from?
Where did Photography come from?
What is a Photographic Movement?
What is a Photographic Movement?
Photographic movements are periods throughout history where a style or approach emerges that many photographers experiment with over that period. Another way to think about this is like a trend, but over a longer period of time than a TikTok trend or fashion trend, usually up to a decade. Frequently, photography movements were driven by technology that was available at the time, as well as what was happening in society and the Arts, with photographs responding to philosophies and ideas with themes and meaning in their images. An example of a modern photographic movement could be the use of AI in images as this has been shaped by technology available to us but has also led to creation of particular styles of images.
Innovative Photographic Movements
Innovative Photographic Movements
Man Ray (1922) 'Rayograph' URL
Abstract photography involves capturing images that do not aim to represent recognizable objects or scenes in a literal way. Instead, it relies on shapes, colours, patterns, and textures to convey emotions or ideas. This photographic movement began in the early 1900s at the same time that Art movements like Cubism and Surrealism showed a social shift towards unconventional expressions through art (meaning showing ideas and feelings more than literal depictions). Socially, the world was rapidly changing due to technological advancements like electricity and the telephone, social advancements like the civil rights movement and feminism and the affect that World War 1 had on the world. Due to so many people having different and profound experiences, artists and photographers wanted to explore subjective experience through their work.
In short
In short
Capturing images not representing recognizable objects, focusing on shapes, colours, patterns, and textures to express emotions
Emerged in the early 1900s concurrent with art movements like Cubism and Surrealism
Response to rapid changes in world (war, electricity, civil rights, feminism)
Intention to explore subjective aspects of human experience
Man Ray 'Duchamp & Brenton' (n.d) URL
Dadaist photography involves the creation of absurd and unconventional images that reject traditional art norms and embrace chaos. Originating during World War I and at the same time as the rise of the abstract movement, Dadaist photographers sought to break down established conventions, challenging the essence of what art could be. The movement was a response to the disillusionment brought about by the war, known for a rejection of logic and celebrating the irrational. Dadaist photographers used techniques such as photomontage and collage to disrupt the conventional understanding of reality and provoke a sense of absurdity. The movement reflected a broader cultural and intellectual upheaval, questioning the foundations of society and artistic expression in a world marked by uncertainty.
In short
In short
Creating absurd and unconventional images, rejecting traditional norms
Emerging during World War I alongside the abstract movement
A response to societal disillusionment, challenging established conventions
Using photomontage and collage to disrupt reality and provoke absurdity
Claude Cahun (1930) 'Aveux non Avenus' URL
Surrealism photography involves creating dreamlike or fantastical images that defy logic and reality. Overlapping with the abstract movement and also in the early 1900s, in this movement, photographers aimed to understand the unconscious mind, representing seemingly unrelated elements to create a sense of mystery and surprise. The movement was influenced by broader societal shifts during the interwar period, including the aftermath of World War I, the rise of Freudian psychology, and a desire to challenge what people considered to be 'normal' in art and society. Surrealist photographers used techniques such as double exposure, photomontage, and manipulation to show mysterious and irrational parts of the human psyche.
In short
In short
Creating dreamlike or fantastical images defying logic and reality
Emerged alongside the abstract movement in the early 1900s
Influenced by broad societal changes, like war, development of psychology and changes in norms
Intention to defy logic, create mystery and surprise, with a focus on understanding the unconscious mind
What do you feel about this?
What do you feel about this?
Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, 1917
Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, 1917
In 1917, Duchamp submitted a urinal, rotated 90 degrees and signed with a pseudonym, to a New York exhibition. He argued that anything could be considered a work of art, as long as an artist chose it and called it art.
Photographer: Man Ray
Photographer: Man Ray
Fundacio Sunol 'Man Ray' (n.d) URL
Introduction
Introduction
Man Ray was an American photographer who worked mostly in Paris, known for being a significant creator in Dadaism and Surrealism. He worked in Paris, the art capital of the world in the early 1900s and photographed and collaborated with many famous artists, known for abstract portraits of women and using shadows and negative light to create dreamlike style to his images He and friend, Marcel Duchamp wanted to bring the experimental European art movements to America, with the aim to be experimental and create artworks so absurd that they would confuse the audience's sense of reality.
Visual Work
Visual Work
Man Ray used common, everyday objects (such as ropes, lightbulbs, guns, keys and thumbtacks) in his abstract works. He sometimes captured "rayographs"(putting objects on photo-sensitive paper and exposing them to light to create artworks, rather than using the camera) to achieve imaginative and poetic reality. Other times, he created short stories with his images that used symbolic references. Ray said that his Rayographs were "designed to amuse, annoy, bewilder, mystify and inspire reflection." He felt that working more abstractly was a chance to work in visual ways that were not usual and tap in to the unconscious, using randomness and chance.
Man Ray 'Observatory Time: The Lovers (1936) URL
Audience
Audience
As Man Ray emphasised light and shadow, rather than the objects themselves, their solid, physical aspects seemed to disappear, instead portraying mystical and abstract ideas. Man Ray called himself a visual poet. Audiences of the early 1900s responded intellectually and emotionally to his work, finding it clever and humorous and the stories he told through photos topical. They found his use of every day objects easy to understand and interpret. Visual artists also appreciated how his work created bridges between photograph and art and explored art movements like abstraction and absurdity.
Kahoot Time?
Kahoot Time?
As a group
Answer the following questions:
What does 'intention' mean in relation to photographs and how can we work out what a photographers intention is?
What is a photographic movement?
What is 'Dadaism' and what was happening in society at the time that led to it?
What did Man Ray take photos of? How did he take them? Why?
In your portfolio
Start a new page with the title, 'Man Ray.'
Choose a photo from the ones below and paste it in your portfolio
Label the photographer, title of the photo and the date.
Use annotations to identify and describe the 'Make' and 'method' elements from AIMMEE.
Describe what you think the intention of the photo could be. Use the links provided to help you.
Example
Remember the Make & Method elements:
Make
Make
When you plan and make a photograph, there are many things that you use to communicate your intention to your audience. This section includes the elements that you include to produce particular thoughts, feelings or story: the things that are in front of the camera. Examples include:
Subject, the main part of the image (where your subject is a person, include positions or facial expressions)
Background (What is the background? Which type of background?)
Props & Objects
Actions that are occurring
Lighting (direction, time of day, artificial / natural, outside / inside, warm / cool tone)
Example: Metallica' master of puppets includes hands in the sky with strings attached to soldier's gravestones to represent the idea of soldiers not making their own choices but being controlled by the government.
Metallica (1986) Master of Puppets. URL.
Method
Method
Method means the process that you take to make something (for example, in a recipe, the method section tells you what to do with ingredients to cook something). In photography, this relates to the ways that you capture the things in the 'Make' section above: the choices you make behind the camera to convey your intention to your audience. These choices include:
Camera settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO)
Compositional Tools & Colours used
Angles
Using a tripod / self timer / remote
Anything you thought about or did to set up or capture your photograph
Example: In Joker (2019), the shot of the Joker on the stairs uses leading lines to draw attention to the Joker, while the low angle and fill the frame make him seem important, powerful and scary.
Gleiberman, O. (2018) Why 'Joker' is All of Us. URL.
Next Week In-Class Task (AIMMEE)
A level (ish)
Do everything required for a B but provide additional information about what was happening in society at the time of the photo in the 'Audience' section. Consider what technology was developing (electricity, telephone, cameras), what social movements were occurring (psychology, civil rights, feminism) and what was happening politically (war). Consider potential camera settings under 'Method.' Make sure to 'Evaluate' whether you think the photo achieved its intentions.
B level (ish)
Write 1-3 sentences for each section of AIMMEE. Make reference to some of the year of the photo and what photographic movement it was a part of under 'Audience' and connect that to the thoughts and feelings it creates under 'Intention.' Analyse use of light in 'Make' and name compositional tools and camera angles under 'Intention.' Consider what you like or don't like about the photo under 'Evaluate.'
C level (ish)
Write a few sentences listing multiple parts of 'Make' & 'Method' and identify the year of the photo in 'Audience' and a thought or feeling the photo creates in 'Intention.'
D level (ish)
Write dot points for 'Make & Method' elements about photo supplied.
E level (ish)
Write dot points for 'Make' or 'Method' elements about photo supplied.
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