Week 4 Discussion Board

What were Stieglitz’s main interests? What's Pictorialism and what is Naturalism? Did he stay devoted to these movements? What do you see in his photographs?

Alfred Stieglitz’s main interest was to promote photography as art. Stieglitz wasn’t the only photographer who took interest in making photography art. Many other photographers had joined side with Stieglitz forming a group called the “ Photo-Secession “. This is where Pictorialism kicks in. Pictorialism is the art of taking photographs and applying the practices of a painter to your pictures creating a work of art. Pictorialism was also a movement group led by Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz thought of it as using his camera as if it were a paintbrush. Naturalism however, was the form of taking pictures making them look and seem as natural as possible. Naturalism focuses on pictures of people and nature, with nature as a background and people as the main focus. Naturalism is kind of self-explanatory considering the root word “Natural”; aiming to captures pictures as if the camera was a human eye. Unfortunately Stieglitz did not stay devoted to the two movement groups. Stieglitz actually scrapped both movements in belief that his photographs just looked like photographs and no longer look like art. He also convinced himself that photography is just not art. In his photographs I see art. He was a creative photographer who I believe captured his vision of turning photographs into art. Stieglitz really went in depth when producing a photograph and the one thing I admire about his photos is that he really was able the grasp the Pictorialism concept.

What was White's impact on photography as a medium? What do you see on his photographs?

Minor White was always one to add a bit of texture to his photos. He was a textural artist. Creative and smart White wasn’t just interested in taking pictures, he also took interest in how others view and understand the photographs that they are shown. I believe Whites impact on photography was that you were able to see a small portion of yourself or a real life factor in his photographs. White was person who took mainly black and white landscape photos of people. He very rarely took colored photos. He took things like lighting background and effect very personal and you can tell through his photos. White was also a teacher in a California school who was afraid of the public due to his sexual preference.

What do you see on Man Ray's photos? Are they similar or absolutely different than Steiglitz's photos?

Man Ray took pictures that look magazine ready, or like he caught a still image of a commercial clip. Most of his pictures are of beautiful women who look like models. How ever, these women do look lifeless in almost all his photos. Man takes pictures that are appealing but simple, while Alfred takes more complex photos; things that are hard to capture. Man Ray tends to take pictures with less emotion and more eye-catching beauty while Alfred’s photos have more emotion in them. Alfred’s photos had more of an artistic effect to them while Mans photos are clear steady images.

What do you see on Moholo-Nagy's photographs?

 László Moholo-Nagy’s photos have more of an abstract feeling to them. They are quit weird but really creative. His photos have more of a shaky dizzy feel to them also. I like to call his photos question marks mainly because at first glace all u can do is wonder what is going on. I think László does this on purpose to keep the viewers guessing, which is understandable because his photos really do look like he threw a bunch of pictures together and said “ahhhh”. László is a good artist but you can tell a lot of his work was later computer generated.

Are these photographers painters? Do they all paint with their cameras or maybe only some of them?

These photographers are not considered painters. In my eyes you are only a painter when you dip a paintbrush into paint and actually PAINT a picture. The credit I can give them is that their photos can paint pictures in your head. I also believe a picture was painted in each of their heads before they took every photo. In other words I think they had an image in their head before every shoot and they would set out to capture that picture. Artists yes. Alfred Stieglitz was my favorite of all four photographers. I choose him because in his photos you can see he had an idea. Something he had to capture through his camera and it had to be perfect. I could be wrong but this is the feeling I get from his photos. All in all I believe only Alfred Stieglitz and Minor White used their cameras as paintbrushes.

Week 3 Discussion Board: Can Art Be Mechanically Reporduced ?

When something is reproduced for so many times is that art? What's the importance of the mechanical reproducibility of the art? What was the impact on mechanical reproducibility on the society? 

I believe art can be mechanically reproduced. Recreation and innovation is frowned up on by many in belief that you were not the first creator or inventor. I believe recreation has a purpose. the first plane was made by two brothers but that plane couldn’t carry hundreds of passengers. It took years of innovation for hundreds of passenger to board a plane and have it fly safely. This is why i believe if something is reproduced many times it is still considered art. In this day and age new inventions are hardly even created. A lot of things created in today's society are innovated and are made to replace the originals in positive ways. We would call these copies, but just a minor adjustments to a mechanical figure such as a car, or even a minor adjustment to a photograph can ultimately make it your idea or innovation. Many things in today's society are digitally reproduced like photographs. Software's such as Photoshop can help us reproduce original photos or even create our own, but it is important to respect the originator of the art. The impact of mechanical reproduction on society is massive considering the fact that we see or do it every day. Mechanical reproduction can be as simple as changing a few sentences on a hand out or lecture or as complex as adding new features to a 2015 corvette from the older 2014 model. Every day, legally and illegally, art forms are mechanically reproduced.

Is photography art, or contribution to the art? Is it just a tool used by artists? 

If photography isn’t art then I don’t know what art is. Photography is art in so many different ways. Most painters paint things because they have a vivid image stuck in their heads. Most painters reproduce pictures in their paintings also, and isn’t painting art? Modeling is also a form of art and to capture a picture of a model can really show your creativity in field of a photographer. To edit a picture of a model can show your creativity in the field of an editor, both are considered artist. In the English dictionary it also tell you photography is a form of art. I don’t think photography is just a tool used by artists. One photo says a thousand words, and that is art to me.

How and why Henry Pitch Robinson created Fading Away? What was the reason? 

Henry Pitch created Fading Away by using the five negatives. In one picture Henry explains so much. A dying girl brings much sorrow to her family. A photo like this is able to control the viewer and grasp their attention. This kind of photo makes your mind wander and makes you wonder what is truly going on. Photos such as this weren’t common in the 1800’s such sorrow, and for some far to gruesome. I believe Henry wanted his audience to feel or at least understand the pain this family feels in this photograph.

Photography has impacted the world of art and influenced some changes in the area of accessibility to art. If mechanical reproduction created revolution, what is happening now with the digitalization? 

Mechanical reproduction helps us along the path of digital reproduction. In toady’s society most edits or modifications are done on the computer. Computers are one of the biggest mechanical reproducers of art. With the right software they can help us edit a picture to our liking, make or edit figures, shapes, and models. Computers are so advanced these days we can even edit videos on them. Almost every art form at this point can be mechanically and digitally reproduced, and with the new technology digitalization of art is becoming more easy to do.

Eye of the Tiger