redefining myself as a photographer, discoverer, observer

 

Some readings, arranged chronologically

  

Pictorialism (1895 - 1910) was a photographic term used to describe images that emphasized the artistic quality of the photograph rather than the scene it depicted. The movement’s primary aim was to bring photography into the fine art realm. Also concerned with aesthetics and impact, Pictorialists sought to produce images that were not solely about the objects in front of the camera. Techniques used by these photographers to create a more painterly effect included combination printing, focus, and manipulation of the negative.

 

Alfred Stieglitz (1846–1946) 291, Camera Work

   

Pure photography refers to photography that attempts to depict a scene as realistically and objectively as permitted by the medium, renouncing the use of manipulation.

 

Founded in 1932, Group f/64 who championed purist photography, had this to say:

 

Pure photography is defined as possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form.

 

Ansel Adams (1902–1984) ƒ/64

   

Social Realism also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic. The movement is a style of painting in which the scenes depicted typically convey a message of social or political protest edged with satire.

 

Dorothea Lange (1903-1983) archivesnational archives