PICTORIAL AND MODERN PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ART COLLECTION
Southeast Museum,
12.09.2014 - 14.12.2014
The evolution of photography as an art form has been influenced by countless individuals, thematic styles, and chemical processes. At its earliest, photography was largely utilized to document images of what surrounded or intrigued the public eye. Daguerreotypes captured portraits of military and presidential figures. Large format cameras were brought onto the battlefield to portray the true nature of war. Carte de visites revealed foreign lands and served as souvenirs of a journey. As more individuals gravitated towards the new process, the idea that photography could be a form of art rather than a form of documentation captured the attention of many artists, most notably Alfred Stieglitz. The result was the formation of the Photo Secession and the establishment of Pictorialism.
© Alfred Steiglitz, The Steerage, 1907
"There were men, women and children on the lower level of the steerage….The scene fascinated me: A round straw hat; the funnel leaning left, the stairway leaning right; the white drawbridge, its railings made of chain; white suspenders crossed on the back of a man below; circular iron machinery; a mast that cut into the sky, completing a triangle. I stood spellbound for a while. I saw shapes related to one another-a picture of shapes, and underlying it, a new vision that held me…" - Alfred Stieglitz
© Adolf Fassbender, The Sailors Menace, 1930
Pictorial Photography emerged from the shadows of a “point and shoot” craft into an aesthetic where artists strived to create painterly, romantic images. Through the use of soft focus lenses, photographers believed they had found a unique outlet for artistic expression. More importantly, the utilization of labor intensive printing processes such as the Photogravure and Chloride Print allowed the artist an opportunity to mimic brush strokes, eliminate the sharpness of a photographic image, and create rich tones in printed images. This stylistic choice is evident in Adolf Fassbender’s The Sailors Menace. The photograph’s soft, undefined lines could easily allow the image to be mistaken by the naked eye for a painting, etching, or drawing.
© Berenice Abbott, Fulton Fish Market, c1949, from the series, Changing New York
However, as the processes associated with the medium evolved so did the concept of photography as an art form. What was considered the preeminent method to express artistic vision through the camera soon fell out of fashion as a more modern concept of photography emerged. The artists who once embraced the illusion of manipulated photographs, such as Paul Strand, began to favor a straighter version of photography. This form of photography, termed Pure or Straight, focused on recreating a scene as truthfully as possible without any manipulation. It was the opposite of its pictorial ancestor of the early 1900s. As such, Modern Photography was born.
© Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Retrato de lo eterno [Portrait of the Eternal], 1935
There was no longer the need for direct manipulation in photography in order to justify it as art. The pure beauty of a photograph was beginning to shine through as Modern photographers learned how to capture images that had always surrounded us, yet were seldom seen. As a result, images emerged that portrayed men at work, angles of light highlighting a woman’s profile, and the inner beauty of a Calla Lily. Unseen by many on a daily basis, these subjects were now captured and intensified by the wonder of photography. The modern ideal was to make these unique perspectives seen and in doing so create an aesthetically pleasing, pure photograph.