Pictorialism Revised

 Pictorialism, an art movement that dominated photography during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was dedicated to promoting the medium as a fine art. It was an ever evolving movement that drew from popular painting techniques and was split into two major camps. The first consisted of artists who used photo manipulation while the second camp held true to the photographic process with little to no manipulation. The first group were taking inspiration from symbolism, poetry, and history while emphasizing texture. The second was using the ideas of composition, tone, and line in much the same way as the Cubists, Fauvists, and Futurists were at the time. (1)

Gertrude Käsebier, The Road to Rome, 1902 (image source)

 

In the image above, artist Gertrude Käsebieri is using photo manipulation to create a pictorial image. Gertrude has done a number of different manipulations in order to create this pastoral scene including painting on the gum-bichromate print. The layering of paint renders the scene less focused on detail and more on tonal structure. The use of chiaroscuro, or treatment of dark and light, leads the viewer down the path of innocence-the symbolism. She has created a more expressive photo than the original through her manipulations, and in keeping with the Pictorialist methods is playing on symbolism to enrich the story. (1)

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Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage (1907) (      image source)

The next image is a photo taken by Alfred Stieglitz in 1907 entitled The Steerage. This photograph is quite different from the one by Gertrude Käsebier. It is a prime example of the second school of pictorialism where no manipulations have been added, and the artist is relying on the sensibilities of the abstract art movement for inspiration. Steiglitz was very proud of this photo because he was able to capture a perfect abstract-like composition of strong diagonals and lines contrasted by round and triangular shapes. There’s a nice balance of contrasting lights and darks for appeal as well. Steiglitz was not trying to produce an emotional connection to the people in this photo, even though a case could be made for that. He was simply using compositional devices like an abstract painter by capturing interesting lines, shapes, and tones through his lens. (2)

Pictorialism was an important and ever changing movement that sought to legitimize photography as a fine art. Whether it was being done with photo manipulation and symbolism, or by comparing a straight image with an abstract painting it didn’t matter.  The end goal was always the same, that photography could be more than mere documentation. It could be as beautiful and expressive as a painting. 

Sources

1. Bunnell, Peter C, “Towards New Photography, Renewals of Pictorialism,” in A New History of Photography, Köln: Könemann, 1998 17th Ed, 311-326.  

2. Belden-Adams, Dr. Kris, “Steiglitz, The Steerage,” in Khan Academy, accessed September 14, 2020, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/a/stieglitz-the-steerage