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.