Macro Expressionism is a term used to describe a style of photography which focuses on enlarging small subject matter in a non-objective manner. Macro Expressionism emphasizes what is important in the photographer’s frame at the moment and isn’t concerned with the representation of the object as a whole. Where a pure macro photograph of a fly, for example, may show the entire fly in close-up with all details clearly visible, a Macro Expressionist may show the wing of the fly or the texture of the eye as an abstract subject matter.
Preferring to photograph objects up close and from a shallow depth of field, Carlin Felder began using extension tubes and magnification filters to enhance the details and environment of the subject. She first introduced the concept of Macro Expressionism in January 2012 while describing her photographic style. The result of pushing and pulling objects through the frame by selective focusing or by moving herself nearer or farther from the object allowed her to create a world of imagery.
Whereas many photographers are intent on mirroring the world around them from a distance and in sharp focus, she interprets an unseen world most photographers fail to discover. By leaning into the subject matter and magnifying minor details of often negligible importance and photographing them with blur and movement, she brings a level of atmosphere and artistic intent to macro photography.
The following essay and accompanying images expand on the subject to provide a manifesto for Macro Expressionism.
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place.... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliot Erwitt
Macro Expressionism is rooted in the discovery by the photographer of subject matter in the environment from a close-up perspective. The frame becomes the “arena in which to act” which is similar to the technical description the art critic Harold Rosenberg ascribed American Expressionist “Action” painters in the 1950’s. Rosenberg stated these painters have “an arena in which to act. What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event."
Similarly, Macro Expressionists use the camera to move through the environment to discover subject matter, to push and pull the image in and out of the frame at a close-up perspective. They use the camera to create blur and atmosphere and to capture the moment in time with the shutter click.
Discovering subject matter in the environment, moving the lens closely around objects in search of content to fill the frame is a driving force. Macro Expressionists are motivated by the moments of feeling immersed in the environment while engaged in the act of photography.
For the Macro Expressionist neither the technical merits of the photograph nor the literal aspects of the equipment are the impetus. The f/stop, ISO and camera lens or body are not as important to the Macro Expressionist as the outcome. Macro Expressionists are driven by an innate desire to decipher from their surroundings viable content. The image is a synthesis of the struggle to discover content and the ability to overcome the limitations of the naked eye. The process of discovering in the unseen world an exquisite subject matter and bringing forth an atmosphere or a feeling from the object propels creation.
Conversely, traditional Macro photography is rooted in showing what is unseen in pure clarity without subjective interpretation. Macro photography is a form of Straight Photography which is characterized by sharp subject matter and technical perfection. Macro Expressionism differs from pure macro photography in that Macro Expressionism is not intent upon depicting a clear image of the subject matter. That the subject is in or out of focus or the exposure is technically perfect matters little to the Macro Expressionist. The act of creation and post production subjectivity are the emphasis in Macro Expressionism.
Macro Expressionism and macro photography have a similar dichotomy as do two schools of photography from the 20th century – Straight Photography, led by Ansel Adams, and Pictorial Photography, led by Alfred Stieglitz.
Ansel Adams and the West Coast Photographers of the early 20th century were considered Straight Photographers. They depicted the environment as closely to reality as they could. Their focus was tack sharp, and their subjects were often rooted in nature or the world around them. Their aim was for un-manipulated and objective depictions as the camera would capture them from a reasonable distance, at a great depth of field and with a “pure” point of view.
Although Straight Photography did depict the environment purely, their photos were grand and did create a sublime interpretation for the viewer. Pure macro photography attempts to achieve a similar intent but from a smaller scale. It presents the object from a close-up perspective to the observer without manipulation or subjectivity applied. It tries to speak the truth of the subject objectively.
Pictorial Photography was the style many East Coast photographers pursued in the early 20th century. Pictorial photographers interpreted the world around them, often shot with mood enhancing blur, and altered their photographs in post-production to be less representational and less photorealistic. These photographers were influenced by Impressionistic painters such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissaro, and Edgar Degas.
Renowned Pictorial photographer Alfred Stieglitz described it’s essence as this: "Atmosphere is the medium through which we see all things. In order, therefore, to see them in their true value on a photograph, as we do in Nature, atmosphere must be there. Atmosphere softens all lines; it graduates the transition from light to shade; it is essential to the reproduction of the sense of distance. That dimness of outline which is characteristic for distant objects is due to atmosphere. Now, what atmosphere is to Nature, tone is to a picture."
Macro Expressionism’s intent is similar to Pictorial Photography – to capture a mood, create an atmosphere and bring forth the unseen by subjective means. The act of photography can be manipulated to achieve a subjective point of view as Stieglitz described, “For that is the power of the camera: seize the familiar and give it new meanings, a special significance by the mark of a personality.”
In 1948, S. D. Jouhar defined a Pictorial photograph as "mainly an aesthetic symbolic record of a scene plus the artist's personal comment and interpretation, capable of transmitting an emotional response to the mind of a receptive spectator. It should show originality, imagination, unity of purpose, a quality of repose, and have an infinite quality about it." For the Pictorial Photographer, subjectivity and visual effects were the drivers of their art.
Macro Expressionism is also influenced by 20th century Abstract Expressionistic painters such as Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still (Color Field), Richard Diebenkorn (Abstract Expressionism), Jackson Pollock (Action Painting), and the Surrealist painter Arshile Gorky.
These painters, and others like them, focused on abstraction of subject matter and de-emphasized representation. Their anti-figurative content represented spontaneous, automated or subconscious creation which is parallel to the goal of the Macro Expressionist.
Gorky’s quote on abstraction is relevant to Macro Expressionism: “Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes... Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas.”
“The painter no longer approached his easel with an image in his mind; he went up to it with material in his hand to do something to that other piece of material in front of him. The image would be the result of this encounter.” Harold Rosenberg
Macro Expressionism abstracts from the environment what man cannot see with his physical eyes and allows the photographer to represent what is beyond the tangible. It emancipates the mind from the finiteness of the environment. It is a photographic step into the world beyond physical limitations. It is the art of bearing witness to the unseen. It is the act of discovery and the process of imperfectly revealing the infinite through photography by the means of Macro Expressionism.
“There are many schools of painting. Why should there not be many schools of photographic art? There is hardly a right and a wrong in these matters, but there is truth, and that should form the basis of all works of art.” Alfred Stieglitz
Macro Expressionism’s key tenets are:
Emphasize non-representational subject matter
Subjective views of minute details
Expose the unseen
Action and movement toward or away from a subject while photographing
Use of tools to create mood - such as blur, bokeh and post-production manipulation
Lack of emphasis on technical perfection
Abstract imagery from objects in the environment