Surrealism: Paraphrase Task

Surrealism: Paraphrase Task 

How was photography important to Surrealist practise?

Mary Warner Marien provides a short history of Surrealism, looking at the importance of psychologist Freud and the use of the camera in the 'transformation of human perception'. When talking of the Surrealist movement Marien describes it to crucially need and use photography as a tool to depict ''conjunctions of the mundane'' {Marien 2010 p254}with Surrealism all other preconceived ideas and established concepts we have as a society are reversed and challenged and this is vocalised through the medium of photography.
Surrealist photographic practise consists of randomly associated items within a single frame which aims to cut through ''rational thought to reach the fertile unconscious'' {Marien 2010 p254}


Raoul Ubac

Surrealism often features prints that have been manipulated and this image by Raoul Ubac is very stylized, it being a ''Brulage'' in which film is burned or melted to produce swirling shapes.  It also features the female nude, repeatedly printed which could represent the idea of the ordinary verses the extraordinary, a common theme amongst surrealist art.
Surrealism centers around the idea of the unconscious so this image references this concept through it's dreamlike quality and strange subject matter.

Modernism: Pure and Straight Photography

 

Modernism: Image Analysis Task 

Stieglitz's approach to photography is typically modernist and as such a constant emphasis is on clarity, tone and form rather than context. 

Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907 

He said of this image ''A round straw hat, the funnel leaning left...round shapes of iron machinery, a mast cutting into the sky, making a triangular shape..I saw a picture of shapes'' 

We can see then that Steiglitz didn't snap the shutter release to capture the rejected poverty of hundreds of immigrants refused entry into the United States. Similarly he was not concerned with the very physical manifestation of separating the rich journeyers from the poor steerage. Neither was he concerned with sociological perspectives.

He made this image because he was drawn to documenting formal photographic elements, composition and line seem to play heavily in this image, he is glorifying the subject for what it is physically, it's aesthetic form and so when viewing this image one must detach oneself from the specifics and look upon the scene technically and as a whole.

''Stieglitz speaks as a formalist...the entire scene is described as a composition... which bears no relationship to the facts of the scene itself''. {Graham Clarke, The Photograph as Fine Art, 169}

The tone of the image to me rather contrived and formal, typical of a modernist approach, it is a glimpse of life captured by a detached observer.

'Image makers, Image takers' by Anne-Celina Jaeger

'Image makers, image takers'

   Written by Anne-Celina Jaeger 

This book, made up of numerous interviews and selection of over 250 images, the reader has a 'behind the scenes' glimpse into the working practice of famous photographers. We are able to examine what motivates and inspires today’s photographers – and what makes them succeed.

I found this book motivates creative thought as you relate your own goals with those that have succeeded in the same ways you wish to, therefore it would be fair to say that this book is inspiring in that respect. 
This book is very different to your average art read, it provides a different way of viewing an image as you see a photographers comments alongside their work, a deeper understanding is reached as well as a heightened way of viewing. 

However it must be said that liking the work, and therefore the book, is subjective can be complicated by the photographers notes. Some were simply uninspiring! Along the same vein, the tone of some interviews were verging on depressing with some photographers lacking relatablility and seeming to be without the outward passion you would expect and look for in successful industry members. 

But to conclude, I did enjoy the broad range of photography featured, it gave a wide insight into contrasting genres as well as different photographic roles and as such it is worth a read, especially considering the book features such a simple but unique take on art and photography! 

Pictorialist Image Analysis

Anne Brigman, ca.1910

The foreground features the curved silhouette of a woman poised on a hilltop, set against mirrored rolling hills and rural landscape. Weaving about her frame is a thin striped shawl billowing in the wind, this coupled with her arms positioned romantically and outstretched, convey a soft fluidity.  

Typically Pictorialist in style, the subject and composition is designed to bring a sense of fantasy separating it from the documentation of every day life and therefore setting it apart as a thing of art. Particularly with this image the landscape carries with it a strong sense of drama and effect, making the image highly dynamic and romantic. The soft focusing, so essential in Pictorialist photography has been used to great effect, epitomizing the Pictorialist idea to note only a "pristine, romantic and vanished world." and this concept of  "aesthetic escapism" is felt keenly when considering the subjects outstretched arms, her very self set free against the sky.

Anne Brigman (1869–1950) was an American Photographer and one of the original members of the Photo-secession movement in America. Her work often depicts nude women in primordial, naturalistic contexts. After shooting the photographs, she would extensively touch up the negatives with paints, pencil, or superimposition.

Her work acted as a voice for woman during the suffragette movement, as this image celebrates female freedom and liberation just previous to women gaining the vote.