HistoryOfPhotography:Early20thCentury

LewisHine LewisHinewasanAmerican sociologistwhotookup photographyin1905. Heuseditasadocumentary tool,toshowtheworkingclass conditionsofthepoor immigrants(especially children)fromEurope. Bythe1930s,withthehelpof hisphotographs,childlabor wascontrolled.

JacquesHenriLartigue Hestartedtakingphotoswhenhe was6,hissubjectmatterbeing primarilyhisown(privileged)life andthepeopleandactivitiesinit. BornoutsideofParis,heismost famousforhisstunningphotosof automobileraces,planesand fashionableParisianwomenfrom theturnofthecentury.

AlfredStieglitz OwnedGallery291which helpedbringartphotography tothesamelevelof appreciationinAmericaas paintingandsculpture. Publishedthemagazine CameraWork Laterusedthisspaceto introducetotheUnitedStates theearlymodernistartworks fromEuropeanartistssuchas Matisse,Rodin,Rousseau, Cezanne,andPicasso. Alsoknownforhismarriageto painterGeorgiaO'Keeffe.

Edward Weston CofounderofF64. BeganasaPictorialist, butlaterrenouncedit infavorofstraight photography. Knownforhisnudes andinanimateobjects reminiscentofthe humanform.

MinorWhite Hebecameinvolvedwithacircle ofinfluentialphotographers includingStieglitz,Weston,and AnselAdams;hearingStieglitz's ideaof"equivalents"from Stieglitzwascrucialtothe directionofWhite'swork. The"equivalents"ofWhitewere oftenphotographsofbarns, doorways,water,thesky,orsimple paintpeelingonawall:things usuallyconsideredmundane,but oftenmadespecialbythequality ofthelightinwhichtheywere photographed.

JamesVanDerZee JamesVanDerZee(bornin1886) wasanAfricanAmerican photographerbestknownforhis portraitsofBlackNewYorkers. Hewasaleadingfigureinthe HarlemRenaissance. HarlemRenaissancewasa floweringofAfricanAmericanart, literature,musicandcultureinthe UnitedStatesduringthe1920s& 30sledprimarilybytheAfrican Americancommunitybasedin Harlem,NewYorkCity.

HenriCartierBresson HenriCartierBressonFrench photographerknownforcapturing thedecisivemoment. CartierBressonisconsideredtobe thefatherofmodern photojournalism. Hewasoneofthefirstserious photographerstoshootinthe smaller35mmformat. Hehelpedtodevelopthe"street photography"stylethatinfluenced generationsofphotographersthat followed.

ManRay Americanartistwhospentmostof hiscareerinParis,France. Perhapsbestdescribedsimplyasa modernist,hewasasignificant contributortoboththeDadaand Surrealistmovement. Bestknownintheartworldforhis avantgardephotography,Man Rayproducedmajorworksina varietyofmediaandconsidered himselfapainteraboveall.

AndrKertsz AndrKertsz,bornin1894, wasaHungarianborn photographerdistinguishedby unusualcompositionsandby hisearlyeffortsindeveloping thephotoessay. Usedunorthodoxcameraangles andsymbolism. Kertszisnowrecognizedas oneoftheseminalfiguresof photojournalism.

TheW.P.A.WorksProgressAdmininstration DuringtheGreatDepression ofthe1930s,theUS government(underFDR) hiredphotographersto documentthestruggleofits citizens. BestknownwereDorothea LangeandWalkerEvans. Theimageontheright, MigrantMothermaybe thebestknownofallimages madeduringthistime.

DorotheaLange:AboutMigrantMotherThephotographthathasbecomeknownas"MigrantMother"isoneofaseriesof photographsthatDorotheaLangemadeinFebruaryorMarchof1936inNipomo, California.Langewasconcludingamonth'stripphotographingmigratoryfarmlabor aroundthestateforwhatwasthentheResettlementAdministration.In1960,Langegave thisaccountoftheexperience: Isawandapproachedthehungryanddesperatemother,asifdrawnbyamagnet.Ido notrememberhowIexplainedmypresenceormycameratoher,butIdoremembershe askedmenoquestions.Imadefiveexposures,workingcloserandcloserfromthesame direction.Ididnotaskhernameorherhistory.Shetoldmeherage,thatshewasthirty two.Shesaidthattheyhadbeenlivingonfrozenvegetablesfromthesurroundingfields, andbirdsthatthechildrenkilled.Shehadjustsoldthetiresfromhercartobuyfood. Thereshesatinthatleantotentwithherchildrenhuddledaroundher,andseemedto knowthatmypicturesmighthelpher,andsoshehelpedme.Therewasasortofequality aboutit.(From:PopularPhotography,Feb.1960).

LifeMagazine Lifewasthefirstall photographyU.S.news magazineanddominatedthe marketformorethanforty years. Themagazinesplaceinthe historyofphotojournalismis considereditsmostimportant contributiontopublishing. Theimagedepictedonthe coverisbyEugeneSmith.

W.EugeneSmith WilliamEugeneSmith(1918 1978)wasanAmerican photojournalistknownforhis refusaltocompromise professionalstandardsandhis brutallyvividWorldWarII photographs. OnOkinawa,Smithwashitby mortarfire.Afterrecovering, SmithcontinuedatLifeand perfectedthephotoessayfrom 1947to1954.

RobertFrank

Swissphotographer Hismostnotablework,the1958photographicbooktitledsimplyTheAmericans, washeavilyinfluentialinthepostwarperiod Skepticaloutsider'sviewofAmericansociety. Franklaterexpandedintofilmandvideoandexperimentedwithcompositingand manipulatingphotographs.

IrvingPenn Americanphotographer bornin1917. KnownasThearistocrat offashionphotography. Pennisknownforhis fashion,portraitandstill lifephotographythatblurs thelinebetween commercialandfineart photography.

ArnoldNewman ArnoldNewmanisfamousfor portrayingartists,writers, actors,composers,politiciansin hisuniquestyle. placesthesubjectinacarefully composed(ruleofthirds) settingtocapturetheessenceof theirworkandpersonality. Hasbecomeoneoftheworld's mostrenownedportrait photographers. *EndofSection2