The Issues Surrounding the Entry of Photography into Modernism - Case Study Example

Introduction Photography is defined as the science, art and practice of picture creation through recording of radiation on some medium that is sensitive to radiation like a photographic film. It can also be recorded on electronic image sensors. The word photography was introduced to the world by Sir John Herschelin in his lecture to the ‘Royal society of London.’ The word photography means drawing with light when translated into Greek. The discovery of photography formed part of the modernization process1.During the 19th century many more goods which were formally made by hand were now being produced through machines. Images were also being produced by machines. Photography is the modern version of making images. By the start of the 20th century photography turned into medium for mass communication by the spread of illustrated news papers and magazines. Photo journalism gained glamour and authority and photographic documents were applied in advertising to symbolize modernity. Mass communication could be seen to have marked the entry of photography into modernism. Photographers and artists began looking at photographs that were in use in mass culture. “Mechanized vision was made into art through foregrounding its formal structure as an image and not its subject matter.” In Europe artists tried to do away with the traditional art definitions. They welcomed the means of production that were advanced technologically, created mixed media services and began dealing with political and social issues. 2In developing modern photography, re-categorization has been done for functional photographs or documentary in the context of art. After 1945 the modernism of America started dominating the west as it placed emphasis on purity and specialization. At the same time it downplayed the political orientation of avant-garde groups that were there earlier. In order to become modern every discipline was supposed to refine how it defined its competencies. 3Photography turned into art by going through its reality. The works of critic Greenberg and Beaumont who was a photographic historian and the MOMA New York exhibitions placed emphasis on aesthetic and formal qualities which defined canonical and masters images which went beyond their social and historical context. A tradition of certain important values of photography was cut out for photographers to learn and push for higher limits. This approach is normally contrasted with photographic meaning theories which were in existence since 1970s. Modernism surely theorized about photography and this happened implicitly by use of a universal value language which wiped out any evidence of its ideological construction. Robert Frank and his work He was born in 1924 in Switzerland of Jews parents and grew to become a crucial figure in photography in America. His mot popular work was the photographic book of 1958 known as ‘The Americans’ had a heavy influence in the period after the war. It made Frank to be compared to a modern time de Tocqueville for being a skeptic and maintaining the view of an outsider as far as the American society was concerned4. Later on Frank switched to video and film and tried his hand at manipulating photographs and compositing them. Frank’s way of understanding oppression was affected by the threat of the Nazis during World War II since he was a Jew. Since his family was confined by business at home he decided to switch to photography. He was trained by some graphic designers and photographers before making his first book of photographs made by hand in 1946. In 1947, Frank moved to the United States where he became a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar. He later left for Europe and South America and while in Peru he made another book of photographs which was hand made before returning to the U.S. Frank participated in the 51 American photographers group show at the museum of modern art. In his works Frank was so optimistic about the American society and its culture. 5With encountering the busy life in American his view changed. In his later photographs he started emphasizing on this. He wanted to show his dislike for the fast paced American life which put a lot of emphasis on money. He started displaying America as a lonely and bleak place in his subsequent photographs. Frank received assistance form Walker Evans to secure some grant from ‘John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation’ which would help him to traverse the U.S as he took photographs of the American society at every stratum. He went to cities such as Houston, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Montana, and California among others. On his trips he took 28,000 photographs. Out of the 28000 he selected only 83 to be published in his work The Americans. When he went back to New York from his trip to Paris in 1957, he met Jack Kerouac a Beat writer and showed him the photographs he had taken during his travels. Kerouac decided to write something concerning the pictures. He took part in making the introduction to the United States edition of the Americans. The irony which Frank experienced in the wealth and culture of the Americans made him produce photographs that with an big contrast to the ones produced by the most contemporary photojournalists in America. His works also displayed the use of low lighting, unusual focus and cropping which clearly went against the acceptable photographic techniques. By deviating form the contemporary standards in photography, Frank had as hard time finding an American publisher 6. Frank’s works Les Américains was published for the first time in Paris in 1958 by Robert Delpire and later in the US by Grove place although it was initially very much criticized. Frank’s images were not received very well by many people since he had decided to focus on the negative side of the American society. Popular photography for example derided them as muddy exposures, grain, meaningless blur, general sloppiness and drunken horizons. He received low sales in the beginning for his work but the introduction of Kerouac made him receive higher sales. Robert Frank’s the Americans was the most notable and influential book in the 20th century. However it was the most enigmatic. However for along time the book was not penetrated by many since people could not tell what it was about. Frank’s photographic style and formal aspects have been criticized by many in America. For along time people disliked his pictures and never bothered delving into them. His images were regarded as careless, a compositional off angled, grainy and lacking respect. His critics studied his work and agreed that he had shown America the wrong way. However a new generation composed of younger artists of photography came to appreciate his street photographs. By the 1970s it had become clear that Frank’s work the Americas was the most important photographic work with the highest influence on the 20 to 30 years that had passed. The style he had been using was good after all. What he focused on in the images was the one that made people reject them. They displayed America as impoverished, without taste and humorless. The Americans turned around the whole art of American photography7. Franks photographs may have been disliked but he chose to expose what he thought was the filth in the American society. Robert Frank was more interested by social concerns than anything else. He wanted to focus on the cultural issues that were ignored by the Americans themselves. He was concerned with showing the real side of life in America the way it was. He had the capacity to see the hidden aspects in daily life as a strange thing in the normal people’s lives which was important in helping him to emphasize on the cultural issues that existed during his time. Frank had an interest in exposing the awkward side of the busy, fast paced life in America. He looked at it as a society that was trapped by money to serve it since too much emphasis was being placed on making money and spending it. This he disliked. What he thought was wrong, was right in the eyes of those who did it. The materialism in the society gave him one aspect on which he based his photography. He wanted to boldly show the social ills within the society hopefully to make people change form the wrong things to the right ones. He was also interested in political events as he took photographs depicting political scenes. All of these images targeted the wrong and bad side of the politics in the society in those days. He definitely believed that something was wrong in the political atmosphere and therefore something had to be done. In his photographs was highlighting the negative side of politics and in other words raising criticism against them8. Robert Frank’s awkward view of the United States could have been inspired by the comparison he made between the US and his home country Switzerland. On some of his international travels he could have experienced some different lifestyles that to him looked better than what he saw in the United States. Putting all these together made him skeptical of the US society. Conclusion In conclusion, this paper has delved into the issues surrounding the entry of photography into modernism and the evaluation of Robert Frank’s photography especially his remarkable book The Americans. Robert Frank in his work focused on the social, political and cultural issues of society. He chose to base his book on the American society through which he placed 83 photographs of the 28000 he had taken in America. All of them were depicting the impoverished and sick side of America. He was not at home with the materialistic, busy and socially ailing side of the American society. He therefore chose to show these in his works. However, Americans did not receive his book well. They criticized it for showing the bad side of America. Nevertheless Frank’s work has been seen to be the most import and with the greatest influence as far as photography is concerned. Bibliography Harrison C., and Wood, P. (eds.), Art in Theory 1900-1990 (1992). Edwards, S., “‘Photography and Modernity in Nineteenth- Century France’”, in P. Wood (ed.), The Challenge of the Avant-Garde (1999). Green, Jonathan. – American Photography: A Critical History (Abrams).  Chapter 5, "The Americans: Politics and Alienation" Gefter, Philip. - Photography After Frank (Aperture, 2009): Childs, P., Modernism (2000). Nesbit, M., “‘Photography, Art and Modernity’”, in J. C. Lemagny and A. Rouillé (eds.), A History of Photography (1987). Papageorge, Tod. – Walker Evans and Robert Frank: An Essay on Influence New Haven, CT, Yale University Art Gallery, 1981 Nericcio, William Anthony. – Cinematography, Photography, and Literature: The Aesthetic Triptych of Robert Frank (MOPA, San Diego, 2000) An online essay on Pull My Daisy with illustrations and film-clip Leo, Vince. – Robert Frank: From Compromise to Collaboration. ("Parkett" Issue 42 1994 Pg 8-23) Varnedoe, K., A Fine Disregard: What Makes Modern Art Modern (1989). Read More

Robert Frank and his work He was born in 1924 in Switzerland of Jews parents and grew to become a crucial figure in photography in America. His mot popular work was the photographic book of 1958 known as ‘The Americans’ had a heavy influence in the period after the war. It made Frank to be compared to a modern time de Tocqueville for being a skeptic and maintaining the view of an outsider as far as the American society was concerned4. Later on Frank switched to video and film and tried his hand at manipulating photographs and compositing them.

Frank’s way of understanding oppression was affected by the threat of the Nazis during World War II since he was a Jew. Since his family was confined by business at home he decided to switch to photography. He was trained by some graphic designers and photographers before making his first book of photographs made by hand in 1946. In 1947, Frank moved to the United States where he became a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar. He later left for Europe and South America and while in Peru he made another book of photographs which was hand made before returning to the U.S. Frank participated in the 51 American photographers group show at the museum of modern art.

In his works Frank was so optimistic about the American society and its culture. 5With encountering the busy life in American his view changed. In his later photographs he started emphasizing on this. He wanted to show his dislike for the fast paced American life which put a lot of emphasis on money. He started displaying America as a lonely and bleak place in his subsequent photographs. Frank received assistance form Walker Evans to secure some grant from ‘John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation’ which would help him to traverse the U.

S as he took photographs of the American society at every stratum. He went to cities such as Houston, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Montana, and California among others. On his trips he took 28,000 photographs. Out of the 28000 he selected only 83 to be published in his work The Americans. When he went back to New York from his trip to Paris in 1957, he met Jack Kerouac a Beat writer and showed him the photographs he had taken during his travels. Kerouac decided to write something concerning the pictures.

He took part in making the introduction to the United States edition of the Americans. The irony which Frank experienced in the wealth and culture of the Americans made him produce photographs that with an big contrast to the ones produced by the most contemporary photojournalists in America. His works also displayed the use of low lighting, unusual focus and cropping which clearly went against the acceptable photographic techniques. By deviating form the contemporary standards in photography, Frank had as hard time finding an American publisher 6.

Frank’s works Les Américains was published for the first time in Paris in 1958 by Robert Delpire and later in the US by Grove place although it was initially very much criticized. Frank’s images were not received very well by many people since he had decided to focus on the negative side of the American society. Popular photography for example derided them as muddy exposures, grain, meaningless blur, general sloppiness and drunken horizons. He received low sales in the beginning for his work but the introduction of Kerouac made him receive higher sales.

Robert Frank’s the Americans was the most notable and influential book in the 20th century. However it was the most enigmatic. However for along time the book was not penetrated by many since people could not tell what it was about. Frank’s photographic style and formal aspects have been criticized by many in America. For along time people disliked his pictures and never bothered delving into them. His images were regarded as careless, a compositional off angled, grainy and lacking respect.

His critics studied his work and agreed that he had shown America the wrong way.

Read More