This is going to be our last week to study a new style of photography. We are looking at fine art photography.
The best place to start looking at fine art photography is with Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz solidified photography as an accepted form of art. Until Stieglitz's work and influence, photography was mostly thought to be a supporter of other art forms. Stieglitz and his powerful influence helped to make photography appreciated for its own aesthetics and styles. Here is a bio on him for you to read
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/S/stieglitz/stieglitz_articles1.html
The next link is Diane Arbus. A photographer known for her photos of "freaks". She often photographed those not accepted by society. This includes transvestites, mentally handicapped, members of the circus and nudist colonies.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arbus.html
Hopefully throughout the last several weeks you have noticed how unique each style of photography is while each are tied together. To bring this full circle, we want to once again look at Ansel Adams. Adams is an awe inspiring example of how a photographer can work in several types of photography at once.
Sorry this went up a lot later than I thought. But don't worry! You still have two weeks to get everything read. Remember, our next class is March 22.
Have a good break!
Stephanie
Diane Arbus seemed to be someone who was in search of something, but only found difference. Reading her story, I just feel worse than I did before hand. It is always nice to see the beautiful pictures that Ansel Adams is able to capsure. It is such a relief after hearing about the sadness in Arbus story. As far as steiglitz is concerned, it is interested to know that he and O'Keefe still very interested in each others work til the end. It seems that many photographers seem to live a troubled life (suicide, heart disease) then again, who doesn't these days.
ReplyDeleteOf course Adams was stil by far my favorite. you cant help but to love looking at his pictures. Arbus pictures were very interesting, it was if she had an idea but completlly got a different feel after taking the picture. steiglitz's photos i did like, he had a big city feel to his photos and that was nice to see.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that Arbus stated she had never experienced adversity growing up. Most people feel awkward and unsure if they've never been around people different than them but Arbus sought out people who were different, not just to her, but to most of the rest of the world as well. She sought out groups of people that most people try to ignore. I thought that was pretty cool. Her pictures as well as Stiglitz's pictures were still disturbing to me at times but i still admire her for doing something different than most photographers. I just wonder if her being around people who had such hard lives if she took on their sorrows too much. Such a sad ending, but like Ben said, there seems to be a pattern of suicide and famous photographers. As for Adams, his pictures are always some of my favorites. I just love his work.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think about photographers like Stieglitz having to fight for photography to be considered a form of art. Then, looking at Diane Arbus' work places photography in the realm of nothing but artistic imagination. The interesting thing about Arbus' work is that she captures the bizarre and the out-of-the-ordinary, and there is an artistic individuality to her pieces, but she captures people and their individuality. As a painter, one creates a piece of art. As a photographer, there is room for setting up an artistic shot, but the subject, as Arbus demonstrates, brings another level of individual creativity to the final product. It seems, in her search for the marginalized people of society, Arbus found the creativity of the individual and the capacity for this creativity to mesh with the photographer's.
ReplyDeleteStieglitz certainly seemed to be a man of great personality. Yet for all his elitism about photography, he sounds at least on paper as if he was pretty embracing of the elements of individual style and expression. When I Googled his work, i found an interesting mix of classic photography and more edgy styles with some of his nudes and photographs of women. There is a certain raw texture to his images that I find particularly pleasing.
ReplyDeleteI've always been a bit enthralled by Diann Arbus. She has a way of capturing individuals that really points into you, partly due to her choice of subjects. I find her statement about freaks as "aristocrats" to be interesting, but I'm not convinced that her work with them was not at some point exploitative. Everyone has their thing, I suppose, but much of the wonder of looking at a photograph of a retard, a giant, a midget, and a transvestite comes out of the subject itself, not the way the photograph is taken. However, there is something to be said about her timing. She captures moments that accentuate freakishness and make the subjects even more alien. I think I prefer her more "normal" subjects, because they allow me to enjoy elements of composition without distraction from the subject or questions about the ethics of the image.
I am not the biggest fan of either one of these photographers, and I can't pinpoint why. Stieglitz has some amazing pieces, but then others look nothing more than a snapshot, or out of focus. I do like him better than Dianne though. I think she wanted to find a world that was different from her own life. Growing up in a wealthy Jewish family, she had no need, and nothing out of the ordinary. So that is exactly what she found. These photos creep me out, but they still seem a lot more artistic. I seemed to be mesmerized by many of them, even though they didn't make me feel comfortable, I wanted to keep looking through all of them. I give both photographers respect, but defiantly not my favorites.
ReplyDeletei love Arbus's work and how she takes pictures of people a normal person would not take. :) and adam's is always wonderful to look at and always very inspiring. i'm not sure if i like stiegiltz i'd have to look up more of his work before i made a decision
ReplyDeletewhoops, sorry this one is way late! I really liked looking at Arbus's work. It really felt like she invested a lot of time to get to know her subjects well. It's pretty easy for a photographer to see something, ask permission, and just snap a shot and add their own statement of the photo's "artistic significance," but Arbus really knew who she was photographing so there's a level of comfort you can just kind of see in her subjects eyes - because she's just not just snapping a shot of a freak show, she knows who they are. Much more personal, I like it.
ReplyDelete