Cibachrome was the first commercially viable color process using the additive color method.

thgatear3_pptlecture_ch2-08_20181017.pptx

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Recording the Image: Film to Digital

The word photography derives from Greek, “writing with light”

Collecting the image

Film: negative and positive

Digital: pixels, computer

Camera mechanics are similar to those of the human eye

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Traditional photographic processes recorded an image onto a light-sensitive material, usually film, which darkened when it was exposed to light

Produces a negative (a piece of film in which the lights and darks are the opposite of what we see in life, with the tones reversed)

This negative can be reversed again to make an infinite number of positive prints, called photographs

Today, digital photography is the most common way of creating photographic images

Light enters the eye through the pupil; similarly, light enters the camera through a small opening, the aperture

In both eye and camera the lens adjusts, or is adjusted, to bring things into focus and give a clear vision of what is being viewed

The Dawn of Photography

Camera obscura (Latin for dark room) used for centuries as an aid to drawing

In the 1800s, inventors found ways to make images permanent (fixed)

Daguerreotype, Calotype, Cyanotype

Invention of digital cameras c. 1980s

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Daguerreotypes were invented during the 1820s and 1830s by two Frenchmen—a painter and stage designer, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787–1851) and a chemist, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833)

Created very detailed images

Only one single, positive image on a metal plate

In 1839, English scientist John Herschel (1792–1871) discovered a chemical compound that could fix camera obscura images; also invented cyanotypes

Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) developed the calotype process; discovered how to reverse the negative to make numerous positive prints (basis of film photography)

Artwork: Optics: the principle of the camera obscura

2.8.1 Optics: the principle of the camera obscura, 1752. Engraving, 3¾ × 6½"

Optics: the principle of the camera obscura

A camera obscura is created by placing a small hole (aperture) in an exterior wall of darkened room

Outside scene is flipped upside down and backward on opposite wall

A person could trace over the image projected on the wall to capture it

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Smaller, portable models that often reversed the image (to the right way up) using mirrors became widely available in Europe in the eighteenth century.

Artwork: Abelardo Morell, Camera Obscura Image […]

2.8.2 Abelardo Morell, Camera Obscura Image of the Panthéon in the Hotel des Grands Hommes, 1999. Gelatin silver print, 20 × 24"

Abelardo Morell, Camera Obscura Image

Morell turned an entire hotel room into a camera obscura

Projects an upside-down image of the Panthéon in Paris

Temporary projected image until he took a picture of it

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Cuban-American photographer Abelardo Morell (b. 1948) records camera obscura images in his photographs.

Artwork: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras

2.8.3 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras, c. 1826. Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras

To create this work, Niépce used a method that he kept secret

He worked with Daguerre to develop a process known as daguerreotypes

A technique for fixing a camera image on a metal plate

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French Chemist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1763-1833) accidentally captured a camera obscura image on a metal plate

The exposure time was about 8 hours

Artwork: Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, Boulevard du Temple

2.8.4 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, Boulevard du Temple, c. 1838

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, Boulevard du Temple

This work is one of the earliest photographs created

This daguerreotype captured only one person on this busy street (the man getting his shoes shined stayed still during the 8-10 minute exposure)

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Some of the first commercially viable photographic images made using a camera obscura came to be known as daguerreotypes

This process was developed and invented during the 1820s and 1830s by two Frenchmen—a painter and stage designer, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787–1851) and a chemist, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833)

Daguerreotypes produced very clear images, but they were single, direct positive prints and could not be used to make multiple prints

Negative/Positive Process in Black and White

Cyanotypes

Calotypes

Collodion or Wet-plate process

Albumen prints

Gelatin silver prints

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In 1819, the English scientist John Herschel (1792–1871) discovered a chemical compound that could fix, or make permanent, camera obscura images

Using another of Herschel’s processes, the English botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799–1871) made cyanotype images in 1843

Calotypes: invented by English scientist and photographer William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) in c.1841

Collodion or Wet-plate process: invented by English inventor Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857) in 1850-51

Albumen prints: paper prints made from collodion/wet-plate glass negatives

Gelatin silver prints: introduced to the public in 1871

Also known for her portraits of celebrities, the British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) intentionally avoided the sharp focus that many photographers sought from the collodion process

The French photographer Nadar (1820–1910) made collodion negative/albumen print portraits of many well-known artists, writers, and politicians

Artwork: Anna Atkins, Halydrys siliquosa ß minor

2.8.5 Anna Atkins, Halydrys siliquosa ß minor, 1843. Folio 19 from Volume 1 of Photographs of British Algae. Cyanotype, 5 × 4". British Library, London, England

Anna Atkins, Halydrys siliquosa ß minor

This work is a cyanotype image

Algae placed on light-sensitive paper

Areas exposed to light turned the paper dark; shaded places stayed white

Looks like a film negative

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Anna Atkins (1799–1871) made cyanotype images in 1843–44.

Artwork: William Henry Fox Talbot, Oak Tree in Winter

2.8.6 William Henry Fox Talbot, Oak Tree in Winter. Left: Calotype, c. 1842–43; and Right: salted paper print, c. 1892–93

William Henry Fox Talbot, Oak Tree in Winter

Talbot's image is an example of a calotype image

Talbot invented calotypes

Discovered how to reverse a negative to make numerous positive prints

Basis of modern black-and-white film processes

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Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) captured on light-sensitive paper a negative image of a tree

The shades of gray in the negative calotype are reversed to make a positive print that matches the lights and darks of the original scene

Diagram of Film Photography Darkroom

2.8.7 Diagram of film photography darkroom

A camera is loaded with film; film is loaded into a canister; the unrolled film contains several images; an enlarger with light bulb projects an image; the photograph is placed in a developer bath, a stop bath, and a fix bath.

Artwork: Maia Dery, Storm Drain–Cape Fear River Basin

2.8.8 Maia Dery, Storm Drain–Cape Fear River Basin, 2013. Caffenol negative/Caffenol silver gelatin print, 9¾ × 7½”

Traditional and Alternative Darkroom Methods

An enlarger reverses the tones of a negative, projecting a positive image onto light-sensitive paper

A series of chemical solutions reveal and fix the image

Caffenol (a coffee-based developer) is an alternative to toxic chemicals

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In 1995 Scott A. Williams, PhD, and his Technical Photography class at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, discovered that prints could be made using a coffee-based developer

The ingredients are simple: caffeinated instant coffee, washing soda to adjust the pH, and vitamin C

Artwork: Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt

2.8.9 Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt, 1865. Albumen print, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France

Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt was a famous actress and Nadar's photographic portrait helped to increase her celebrity

Nadar’s style is straightforward; simple props (fabric, column), and focuses attention on the sitter

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French photographer Nadar (1820–1910) made portraits of many well-known artists, writers, and politicians.

Artwork: Julia Margaret Cameron, Angel of the Nativity

2.8.10 Julia Margaret Cameron, Angel of the Nativity, 1872. Albumen print, 12⅞ × 9½". The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

Julia Margaret Cameron, Angel of the Nativity

Cameron believed photography could show allegorical, poetic, and intuitive aspects of life

Known for her portraits of celebrities

She used special lenses and long exposure times to create a soft-focus look

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British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) transforms her niece into a cherub, similar to those commonly featured in Renaissance and Baroque paintings.

Artwork: Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes, Sunrise […]

2.8.11 Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes, Sunrise—Death Valley National Monument, California, c. 1948. Gelatin silver print, 19½ × 14¾"

Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes, Sunrise […]

Adams preferred gelatin silver as it allowed him to capture his subject with everything clearly in focus

Arranges black, white, and gray tones to achieve a balanced effect

He was deeply involved with the Sierra Club, dedicated to preserving America’s wilderness

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For Ansel Adams (1902–1984), a balanced photograph contains a range of tones that help us see the subject the way the artist wants us to, with everything in the picture clearly in focus.

Artwork: Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30

2.8.12 Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30, 1930. Gelatin silver print, 9⅜ – 7½".

Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona

Digital rights not available for this image. See p. 321 of the textbook.

Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30

Weston concentrates the viewer’s attention on the form and texture of the vegetable

Enhancing visual experience through the camera lens

So focused on the object it starts to look abstract

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American Edward Weston (1886-1958), like Adams, wanted to photograph the subject as he found it and made sharply focused gelative silver prints on glossy papers

He framed them simply with white mats and simple frames

In Living Color

First color photographs were made by hand tinting black and white images

Autochromes

Chromogenic or C-prints

Cibachrome (or Ilfochrome)

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By the early 1900s motion could be stopped on film

Photographers sought an even greater degree of reality by recreating color in their photographs

Early color processes were very unstable and faded quickly

Hand tinting: applied like painting; made black and white photographs more lifelike

Later processes used various systems to achieve color images

Autochromes: the first commercially viable color photographic process

An additive color process made using potato starch grains, RGB dyes, and glass plates used as a transparent screen

Chromogenic or C-prints

Subtractive color process: create light-sensitive material by replacing silver with a color emulsion

The emulsion reacts chemically to form dyes that absorb the opposite colors in a negative (they are reversed to make the image positive)

Cibachrome

Additive color process

Uses layers of CMY dyes that are bleached away based on the exposure

Forms a transparent, direct positive image

Artwork: Alfonse van Besten, Fragility

2.8.13 Alfonse van Besten, Fragility, c. 1912, autochrome

Belgian painter and photographer, Alfonse van Besten (1865-1926).

Alfonse van Besten, Fragility

This work was made using the autochrome process

Autochrome characteristics: sharp contrast, areas of atmospheric blur, and areas where colors pop

Why might the title be Fragility?

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The title may be a general reference to the fragility of all living things, like a still life as memento mori. It could also be specific reference to the symbolism associated with flowers.

Artwork: Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats

Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats

This work was made using the Cibachrome process

The print is a direct positive image

Cibachrome characteristics: bright, crisp colors and high-gloss base

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American Sandy Skoglund (b. 1946) creates a surreal combination of factual and fictional elements that make us question whether seeing should really be believing

Surreal effect of the image is enhanced by the way the artist uses outlandish color

Photojournalism

The use of photography to tell a news story

Some of earliest examples date back to the American Civil War

This medium was once thought to be inherently truthful, and even today credibility is crucial to news reportage

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Nowadays we accept that photographs can distort, exaggerate, and even lie about the truth, but originally photojournalism was thought to be inherently truthful and this reputation lives on today.

Portal Artwork: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother

4.8.9 Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The impact of this famous photograph on its subject, Florence Owens Thompson, has raised issues about ethics in documentary photojournalism.

Artwork: Steve McCurry, Rabari Tribal Elder

2.8.15 Steve McCurry, Rabari Tribal Elder, India, 2010

Steve McCurry

For 75 years, Kodachrome film was known for its rich, vibrant colors

To mark the demise of the film, McCurry launched a project to use the final roll (2009)

Made a series of portraits in various locations (New York, India, Kansas)

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Perspectives on Art:

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McCurry decided to make a series of portraits because it was the final roll of film and he could not take as many risks as outdoor settings and street scenes would require

Along the way, McCurry worried about technical mishaps common with film as opposed to digital cameras – light damage can ruin the photographs

McCurry used his digital camera to set up the lighting, determine the composition and design, and make test photos before shooting a frame of the film with his analog (traditional) camera

Artwork: Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner […]

2.8.16 Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner, Whitnel Cotton Mill, 1908.

Photographic print. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner […]

Hines used photography to expose the injustice of child labor

Impersonated a salesman, inspector, etc., to get access and record the dangerous working conditions and ages of children

Led to the establishment of new laws

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American Lewis Wickes Hine (1874–1940) used photography to expose the injustice of child labor in the early 1900s.

Artwork: Hiroko Masuike, Here Is New York […]

2.8.17 Hiroko Masuike, Here Is New York: A Democracy of Photographs,

exhibition at the New York Historical Society, September 2007

Hiroko Masiuke, Here Is New York […]

This exhibition was organized just a few days after the attacks of September 11, 2001

Gave voice to almost 800 people who experienced the attacks

The exhibition traveled all over the world

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Professional and amateur photographers were exhibited.

Photocollage and Photomontage

Fragments of separate materials (photo-based and pre-printed) are glued together to form an image

Photocollages are unique artworks that are not generally reproduced

Photomontages are made to be reproduced (re-photographed or scanned)

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Artwork: Oscar Gustav Rejlander, The Two Ways of Life

2.8.18 Oscar Gustav Rejlander, The Two Ways of Life, 1857.

Albumen silver print, 16 × 31". Royal Photographic Society, Bath, England

Oscar Gustav Rejlander, The Two Ways of Life

Emulated the appearance and process of painting, hoping his photographs would earn the same respect

Made thirty separate negatives, cut out like puzzle pieces, and exposed them one at a time

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Swedish photographer Oscar Gustav Rejlander (1813–1875) worked in a time-consuming way, just like a traditional artist

Took six weeks to make finished image

Artwork: Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl

2.8.19 Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl, 2006. Ilfochrome print, 11⅞ × 15⅞"

Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl

Lux photographs her friends’ children and subtly manipulates the colors and proportions to give an otherworldly effect

Sometimes paints the backgrounds and uses digital retouching

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German photographer Loretta Lux’s (b. 1969) subtle use of digital technology allows her to alter certain attributes, such as scale and proportion, to create the effect she wants

Takes up to a year to complete each work

Artwork: Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife […]

2.8.20 Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany, 1919–20. Photomontage and collage with watercolor, 44⅞ × 35½". Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany

Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife […]

Höch was one of the first artists to make photomontages

Protests social conditions during and after World War I

Dada: nonsensical combination of text (including the work’s title) and images reflects the chaos of life at that time

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Comprises pictures of political figures and modern technology from mass-media publications

German artist Hannah Höch (1889–1978) also expresses her concern about women’s issues in post-war Germany, highlighting their traditional tool of the kitchen knife and also including, in the lower right corner, a map showing where women had obtained the right to vote

Postmodern Return to Historic Processes

Postmodernism playfully adopts features of earlier styles and critically focuses on content

In photography there was a revival of and interest in vintage processes

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The immediacy of the medium still causes some people to have trouble considering photography as “art”.

Artwork: Roger Fenton, Valley of the Shadow of Death

2.8.21 Roger Fenton, Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1855. Salted paper print from a paper negative.

Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Roger Fenton, Valley of the Shadow of Death

Fenton was hired to photograph the Crimean War (1853–56)

Example of the effect created by 19th-century photographs

Made salted paper prints from paper negative

Empty, desolate, poetic landscape

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We can see in the work of British artist Roger Fenton (1819–1869) some of the haunting effects achieved by early practitioners of photography

The title seems to derive from a passage from Psalm 23 in the Bible, referring to the comfort God offers for life’s suffering, but in fact Fenton chose it some time after he had taken the photograph, as a result of the popularity of a now-famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson which refers to “the Valley of Death”

Artwork: Sally Mann, Untitled #7

2.8.22 Sally Mann, Untitled #7, Fredericksburg, 2000. Silver gelatin print, 38 × 48"

Sally Mann, Untitled #7

Series Battlefield captures present day views of Civil War battlefields

Used vintage process: glass plate negative with gelatin silver print

Transforms ordinary moments into nostalgic and provocative statements

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American photographer Sally Mann (b. 1951).

Comparison: Weems, From the series: Kitchen Table and Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried

2.8.23 Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Makeup),” 1990, from Kitchen Table series, 1989–90. Inkjet print,

41¼ × 41¼ × 2¼"(framed)

2.8.24 Carrie Mae Weems, “You Became a Scientific Profile,” from the series From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried, 1995. Chromogenic color prints with sand-blasted text on glass, 25⅝ × 22¾". MoMA, New York

Story Telling and Sto-re-telling

Kitchen Table series:

Glossy gelatin silver print

Black and white

Clear focus

Calls attention to the subject rather than the technique or appearance of photograph itself

Gateway to Art:

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Story Telling and Sto-re-telling (contd.)

You Became a Scientific Profile series:

Also black and white and clear focus

Re-photographed a 19th-century daguerreotype

Restores dignity and promotes respect

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The Art of Photography

Labor-intensive methods, similar to those used by traditional artists

Manual and digital technology to assemble elements in the composition

Scenes are created that did not exist before the artist made them

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Recording Detail and Stopping Time

Strengths of photography (according to Alfred Stieglitz) are its clarity and realism

Photography also has the ability to capture a fleeting moment in time honestly

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Artwork: Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage

2.8.25 Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907. Photogravure, 13¼ × 10⅜".

J. Paul Getty Museum,

Los Angeles, California

Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage

Stieglitz actively promoted photography as a fine art medium

Shows the decks of a passenger ship; a composition of shapes and rhythms

Reminiscent of abstract paintings of that era

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At a time when other photographers were trying to imitate traditional painting, the American Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) was among the first to emphasize what he considered to be the particular strengths of the photographic medium: its clarity and realism.

Artwork: Garry Winogrand, Central Park Zoo […]

2.8.26 Garry Winogrand, Central Park Zoo, New York City, 1967. Gelatin silver print, 11 × 14"

Garry Winogrand, Central Park Zoo

Winograd used a small hand-held camera

Snapshot aesthetic

Spontaneous

Looks casual, but intended his photographs to be serious and artistic

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American Garry Winogrand (1928–1984) walked the city’s streets and captured what he found there.

Portal Artwork: Nikki S. Lee, Hip Hop Project (25)

4.10.16 Nikki S. Lee, Hip Hop Project (25), 2001. Fujiflex print

Nikki S. Lee’s photographs confront ideas of fact and fiction as the artist takes on different identities.

Reality and Artifice in the Anthropocene

The era we live in is called the Anthropocene

Human impact on natural conditions, systems, and processes has become so far-reaching that many scientists consider it geologically significant.

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Today, so many of the images we see are in color that black-and-white photographs sometimes give the impression of being old-fashioned.

Artwork: Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing, #17 […]

2.8.27 Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing, #17: Deda Chicken Processing Plant, Dehui City, Jilin Province, China, 2005

Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing #17 […]

Large photographs (3 × 4 ft.) create an impression of the vast scale of urban landscapes

Shows a vista of workers in a chicken-processing plant

Encourages viewers to contemplate civilization’s impact on the planet

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Without passing judgment, Canadian Edward Burtynsky’s (b. 1955) arresting images call attention to things not usually in our consciousness

The vivid pinks of the uniforms, the white pants and boots, and the bright-blue aprons punctuate the industrial grimness of the warehouse

Artwork: Daniela Edberg, “Death By Cotton Candy”

2.8.28 Daniela Edburg, “Death by Cotton Candy” from the series Drop Dead Gorgeous, 2006. Archival Ink Print

Daniela Edburg, “Death by Cotton Candy”

Exaggerated fictional scenes with dark, humorous quality

At the same time it s a commentary on past-war photography

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Comparison: “Death by Cotton Candy” and Vietnamese Girl [...]

2.8.28 Daniela Edburg, “Death by Cotton Candy” from the series Drop Dead Gorgeous, 2006. Archival Ink Print

4.7.2 Nick Ut, Vietnamese Girl Kim Phuc Running after Napalm Attack, 1972, p. 639

“Death by Cotton Candy,” and Vietnamese Girl [...]

Reference to Nick Ut’s famous photograph from the Vietnam war

The look of a documentary photograph with addition of exaggerated color

Calls attention to the fabricated nature of the photograph

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Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

Without passing judgment, Canadian Edward Burtynsky’s (b. 1955) arresting images call attention to things not usually in our consciousness

The vivid pinks of the uniforms, the white pants and boots, and the bright-blue aprons punctuate the industrial grimness of the warehouse

Photography

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PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.8 Photography

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

Chapter 2.8 Copyright Information

This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 2.8

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts

Third Edition

By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.8 Photography

Picture Credits for Chapter 2.8

2.8.1 Wellcome Library, London

2.8.2 Image appears courtesy Abelardo Morell

2.8.3 Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas at Austin

2.8.5 British Library, London

2.8.7 Ralph Larmann

2.8.9 Bibliothèque nationale, Paris

2.8.10 J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (84.XM.443.3). Digital image courtesy the Getty’s Open Content Program

2.8.13 Photo Collection F. Van Hoof-Williame

2.8.15 Copyright Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos

2.8.16 Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-nclc-01555

2.8.18 Royal Photographic Society, Bath

2.8.21 Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas at Austin

2.8.24 Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift on behalf of The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art, 70.1997.2. Photo 2012, Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.8 Photography

Picture Credits for Chapter 2.8 (contd.)

2.8.25 J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (84.XM.695.19). Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program

PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.8 Photography