Evolution of 20th Century Photography and Its Incorporation in Artistic Practices - Essay Example

evolution of 20th century photography and its incorporation in artistic practices Introduction Photography can be traced back in 1830s after which it was publicly recognized 10years later. At the moment, photography has turned out to be among the hobbies with most people, and the hardware alone is creating multi-billion dollar industry. Few people are aware of the camera obscura and shutter speed. Very few people are aware of the outstanding photographers of 20th century (Lucie-Smith 56). Photography began over 200 years ago, but it is only recently it has been recognized as a medium. Photography has come a long way since 19th century halftone when images were required to command readers attention as well as entice the passersby to buy the publication. This saw magazines increasing in number, with a peak in 20th century; between 19820s and 1980s. However, the increased use of internet, there has been a decline in print media. However the impact of some important images still resonates from century to century. During the twentieth century, documentary and fine art photography were accepted by English-speaking gallery system and art world. In United States, the pioneer photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston had spent their lives in advocating for photography to be used as fine art. This saw a culminating moment for photography in 1910 for both pictorialism and photography after Albright Gallery from Buffalo purchased 15 photographs. This marked the initial point for recognition of photography as an art, and was worthy of being collecting for museum representation. This paper analyzes photographs, with an explanation given for each photograph chosen (Lucie-Smith 57). Analysis and Discussion 1.0. Behind the Gare, 1932, and Roving Reporter, 1926, by L: Henri Cartier-Bresson Cartier-Bresson’s used photography to represent individual moments in time through freezing, holding and recreating them. Due to this approach, Cartier-Bresson has been perceived as the pioneer of photojournalism. This responded to accuracy spontaneity and ephemeral racing tempo for modern culture. Photograph 6.0.: Behind the Gare, 1932, and Roving Reporter, 1926, by L: Henri Cartier-Bresson The photomontage, Roving Reporter, represents the modern technologies that have played a critical role in transforming the world by influencing the ability of people to communicate. The camera eyed colossal observer demonstrates the ability of photography in altering and enhancing senses. During the early 20th century, such medium provided a potential transformative vision for the artists who searched for ways through which they could represent and comprehend the rapidly changing world (Misselbeck 14). The photography had been used extensively to represent the African American body. This replaced the traditional modes that were used in representing the black figure through paintings, illustration and sculpture. Thus, this form of photography represents a revolutionary change in the representation of Black Americans in films and it altered how the world viewed this group. Photo 3; by L: Henri Cartier-Bresson By the beginning of 1920s, technology had become an avenue where change and progress were realized. This instilled hope to many, especially after the World War I devastations. The avant-garde artist photography became incredibly appealing since it associated with technology and science. The camera technology through mechanical production enhanced the mode of production making it be a relevant avenue for visual representation in 20th century. The picture is located by Cartier-Bresson in Madrid in 1933, a plaza distance from a wall. The wall is presented with various windows of different sizes, seemingly disturbed, small in proportion to itself; it is unfeasible to infer the internal architecture from the openings that are evident. In fact, the wall looks rampart of some sort while its original purpose subverted by the squatters on the side that was punched holes, and the opening the flat is the foreground of the picture. The array of the square windows conveys a sense of meaning. Any case at the bottom of the picture, we become conscious of the rhythm it resonates. The dark shape is the head or window. Photo 4: Romance by L: Henri Cartier-Bresson The photomontage, Roving Reporter, represents the modern technologies that have played a critical role in transforming the world by influencing the ability of people to communicate. The camera eyed colossal observer demonstrates the ability of photography in altering and enhancing senses. During the early 20th century, such medium provided a potential transformative vision for the artists who searched for ways through which they could represent and comprehend the rapidly changing world (Misselbeck 14). The photos shows decades of wrought pictures issued in discipline streams that the persuasive elegance was Cartier-Bresson’s form of journalistic disinterest, a known method of covering state of affairs at any place at any time. Nevertheless, the professionalism raises several questions about the contribution and legacy of Cartier-Bresson’s as journalist. The thematic grouping makes him clearly understood as a reporter in the expansive sense. The photo presents romance in its sensitivity and sentimentality of his empathy, though not very flamboyant romantics but impartial that tends to meet the distinctness of his subjects. The photography had been used extensively to represent the African American body. This replaced the traditional modes that were used in representing the black figure through paintings, illustration and sculpture. Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century: 1972 photo of a Georgian family picnicking near a medieval monastery. Photo 7: Henri Cartier-Bresson: Dessau Germany in April 1945 This was shot by the First World War photographer, Cartier-Bresson that comprised of successful action-packed approach of his career. He was a distinguished and daguerreotypist gentleman known for his portraits of notable photos. He was simply a photojournalist within the trenches. Cartier-Bresson dedicated himself tirelessly to see the success of his career (Moore et al. 93).The photo shows the aftermath of the war, in the high exhibition section. After the End of an Era, immediately after the war broke in 1939, he joined unit of cinematographic of Third French Army. In the place, he filmed the training movement and exercise of troops along the line of Maginot. In 1940, he was taken a prisoner for three years doing various jobs. Photo 1; Normally, photography underwent numerous changes in 20th century. Every type of visual representation identifies a uniquely transformed perception of the medium. Understanding this change is the review of why photography seemed to appeal more to artists and the reasons for its incorporation in the artistic practices. Cartier-Bresson in 1932 toured the Maghreb and Southern Europe; this was a journey set to be a formative that set the rules of art for a century of various journalists that followed him. In 1933, he took a photo entitled, “Children Playing in Ruins”. Henri Cartier-Bresson in many times pitchy in describing photos and it is not clear where he took the photos or how the ruins came to be. The contact sheets show that he chose the photos. His youthful eye in this journalist photo depicted a youthful vigor springing from decayed detritus. Nevertheless, the Spanish civil war broke and affected many cities. Seville was the first place where the shots took place, and the photo with aspects of crippled children and ruined building became associated with aftermath of the horrors of war even if it was made three years earlier. Andre Breton, who was among the first people, used photographs to illustrate the chapters on Spanish Civil War as Mad Love in 1937. Many more followed, and the author believed it was made aftermath of the war. Oil and pasted paper on a canvas using rope frame by Henri Henri was motivated by extensive treatment of French postimpressionists, Paul Cézanne, who painted landscapes during 1908. This style was described as comprising of little cubes, hence the term cubism. The paintings were similar in nature making them appear identical. As the two artists worked together between 1908 and 1911, they emphasized on breaking down as well as analyzing the form, which formed their first cubism referred to as analytic cubism. The monochromatic color schemes were used since they depicted the radically fragmented motifs with various sides being shown simultaneously. His favorite subjects included musical instruments, friends and still-life objects. For instance, in 1912, he pasted a paper and oil cloth to a canvas by combining the painted areas. This formed the first collage with a Still-life Chair Caning. This technique marked the synthetic cubism transition. The second phase cubism appeared more decorative, with coloring playing a major role though the shapes remained fragmented and flat. Example is the photograph by Picasso on oilcloth and pasted paper on canvas in 1912. Photograph 4.0: Oil and pasted paper on a canvas using rope frame Henri practiced synthetic cubism throughout his photography career but had no exclusive means. His two works in 1915 demonstrated his simultaneous work through different styles. First, the Harlequin represented the synthetic cubist painting, and second, the dealer used Ingresque style of draftsmanship that emulated the 19th century neoclassical French artist, Jean-August-Dominique Ingres. Generally, Picasso involved himself in cubist sculpture and paintings. He possessed consummate skills in handling the three dimensional images. He also made constructions like Clarinet and Mandolin using metal, wood and paper that he used to explore the spatial hypotheses for the cubists paintings (Venable 45). Despite the constraints in representation of black people using photography, it has been paradoxically proved that photography formed and effective mode of challenging the negativity in representation, particularly when the camera was as a result of negative typologies referred by Benjamin as mechanical production age. It took visionary artists and photographers time to create the African American representations that exceeded the defied the dominant expectations. Much from this was a political and cultural work that was undertaken by the by empathetic photographers during the struggle between Africans and Americans. Some of the major representations include the Harlem photography (Misselbeck 15). Photograph 7.0: Harlem and Home Photograph by Paula Massood Harlem represented a space which was saturated with potential transformations and it fostered the efflorescence of the vibrant African American community for the writers, artists and other intellectuals. The community in Harlem had reverted to art, photography and literature. Photography enhanced production and dissemination of the truthful events of people in Harlem and the related technologies that were contingent on indexical properties. Those pictured in the film indexed the real bodies that stood before the camera. The cinematic and photographic productions involved constant transformations throughout the 20th century. According to Massood, Harlem embodied the racial contestations where images and ideas about blackness were under scrutiny on a constant basis. Mashood has specifically paid close attention to the gangster film genre in 1930s that was set in Harlem and primarily targeted the African American audience. Such photography embodied the tensions of the African American modernity in Harlem. A tension between the highbrow cultural production and modernity in Harlem was to articulate the discourses of the community as well as the enterprise to uplift the ideology (Warren 145). The ‘home’ photograph depicts traditional and domestic home that was composed of myriad spaces by people from Hampton University affectionately identified by the members within the community. Normally, one shot composed of many photographs for all the facets of the campus life. Other shots were for honorary quests like James Baldwin, Marian Anderson and Rosa Parks. Henri’s interests in One Shot revealed the interests in documenting the campus environs. These were thematically arranged, with one shot representing capsule of images that interestingly tied to New Negro. Conclusion The images analyzed in the current paper give the clear impression of the happenings of nature, giving a precise and factual record of the objective event. This brings together the 20th century collection of icons, with the photographs being continually redefined through successive generations in 20th century. Photography revolves around whether the image portrayed using a camera can produce a mechanical trace for the reality or whether it can be used to represent creative transformation of reality using the unique artistic vision of the photographer. Throughout the century, photography has undergone various changes. First, it was recognized as an art, used in science, research and also represented paintings. Some of the photographs championed the straight photography that focused sharply on minute and detailed images that purportedly laid bare the objective essence of things. In little over the 100 years marked by 20th century, photography had taken a full circle, right from transformation to the trace and back to the transformation. The great value of photography laid in the comprehensiveness and clarity of the evolution of the historical events. Ultimately, 20th century can be regarded as American century of photography. Human and Animal Locomotion done by Henri The science field, especially the pseudo sciences, had the photographs gaining credibility as they helped in documenting places, people and events. This saw some photographers like Eadweard Muybridge creating Photograph portfolios that were used in measuring the locomotion for both human and animals. His outstanding images recorded the incremental movement stages that were overly high for observation using the human eye (Lucie-Smith 57). His work fulfilled the promise of the camera to enhance and create new scientific study platforms. Photograph 2.0: Human and Animal Locomotion done by Henri The photograph was originally done by Eadweard Muybridge who was an English photographer and pioneer of the visual studies of animal and human locomotion. He helped settle the bet for former California governor by photographing the galloping horse. Henri invented a complex system proving that a galloping system horse can lift all the hooves off ground within a fraction of a second. In 20th century he continues his research on cataloging the human and animal movement catalogues through photo shooting hundreds of horses and other subjects while running, boxing, fencing, walking or even descending the staircases (Moore et al. 89). Henri used Freeze Frame approach, and he was an artist who encouraged the scientific investigation aura at the University in Pennysylvia. Murder of a Vietcong by the Saigon Police Chief, by Eddie Adams, 1968 Photograph 9.0: Murder of a Vietcong by the Saigon Police Chief, photo by Eddie Adams, 1968 The photographs borrowed a lot from the ideas of Henri and was considered as very powerful weapons in the current world as it was during 20th century. Adams, in his photo of an officer shooting a prisoner who was handcuffed at the head, earned this a prize in 1969 though it soured the attitudes of Americans on Vietnam War. Politically, the impact of the image was not black and white as rendered. The photograph does not reveal that the prisoner being shot was the captain for revenge squad of Vietcong which had executed many unarmed civilians the same day of shooting. This became an icon of savagery in war making an official pulling and triggered the Ngoc Loan for General Nguyen who was an iconic villain (Misselbeck 16). The photograph represented the great spiral galaxy that is similar to the Milky Way. It represented a floating serenely in inky vastness, in the space. This was surrounded by thousands tiny lights of stars that lay between people and the object in space. The photograph was shot using a large astronomical telescope that required several hours exposure in order to register on a large glass-plate negative (Edwards 20). Works Cited Edwards, Steve. Photography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print. Lucie-Smith, Edward. Latin American Art of the 20th Century. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2004. Print. Misselbeck, Reinhold. 20th Century Photography. Köln: Taschen, 2001. Print. Moore, Kevin D., James Crump, and Leo Rubinfien. Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2010. Print. Venable, Charles L., and Tom Jenkins. China and Glass in America, 1880-1980: From Tabletop to TV Tray. Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 2000. Print. Warren, Lynne. Encyclopedia of Twentieth-century Photography. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. Read More