Pictoralism Assignment: by Caroline Green

            Pictoralism is, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.”  It originated in the second half of the 19^th century from the photographers’ desire to move away from the hard science and realism of early photography.  They wanted photography to be seen as its own art form and the photographer as a craftsman and artist (Hostetler, 2004).  Pictoralism emulates painting in that it focuses not on the reality of the subject, but the emotion behind it.

            There are many great pictoralist photographers, two of which are Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882 – 1966) and Josef Sudek (1896 – 1976).  Coburn makes use of soft focus and interesting shadows and reflections in his photographs in order to portray a certain tone or emotion.  Much of Sudek’s work uses light, and shows sunbeams, which is the inspiration for several of my photographs, as you will see below.  Both of these artists did not merely photograph the world around them, but captured the story and emotion behind everyday situations.  This is what distances pictoralism from snapshot photography.  It makes the viewer feel something when looking at the photograph and imagine the story behind it.

            My photographs are similar to pictoralist photographers in that they focus more on the light and tone of the picture rather than the reality of the subject.  My subject was the Old Logie Kirk in Stirling and the pathway just north of the university that leads up to the kirk.  These are historical sites and have a timeless quality about them that is similar to what pictoralist photographers often portrayed in their work. 

             As you can see in the first half of my photographs (Fig. 1-5), I make use of light and sunbeams, which is the main focus of the pictures.  The effect seen in Fig. 1,2,4,5 was achieved by covering the lens with a mesh fabric, which caught the light as it was coming into the lens.  These “light lines” lead up to and frame the main structures of the photo.  In my third picture (Fig. 3), it looks as though light is coming over the wall and through fog.  In reality, there was no fog.  This was achieved with a fold of the mesh fabric in the filter.  These are all similar to Sudek’s photographs (Fig. 6-8), in that the main focus of the picture is the light.  One big difference between my pictures and Sudek’s work is that mine are less realistic and have a softer focus.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

          

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

  My sixth picture (Fig. 9) is similar in many ways to Coburn’s House on the Hill (Fig. 10).  It has a similar subject, composition, and light.  The main similarity is that the house is silhouetted and there is an interesting texture to the bottom of the photograph.  Although Coburn’s photograph is much better than mine, it evokes a comparable tone and feeling as my picture.

Figure 9

Figure 10

            In the next photograph (Fig. 11), there are also similarities to some of Coburn’s work.  The main focus of this picture is the skyline and the clouds behind it.  This is the same as Coburn’s photograph of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Waterloo Bridge (Fig. 12).  In my photograph, however, the structure (Old Logie Kirk) is more silhouetted and has a softer focus.  A lot of Coburn’s work was focused on clouds and included smoke and fog.  This was a subject that photographers before the pictoralist era were not able to capture because the technology of the camera was not advanced enough.  With the advancement of the camera, however, photographers were able to capture clouds, smoke, fog, and reflections, which enhance the moodiness of the photographs.

Figure 11

Figure 12

            The effect in my last two pictures (Fig. 13, 14) was achieved by using shampoo as a filter.  This created a soft focus and distortion that makes for an interesting tone and quality. 

Figure 13

Figure 14

            The pictoralism movement sought to bring photography forward and use it to make an artistic statement, which would make it a legitimate art form (Encyclopedia Britannica).  All of my photographs represent pictoralist ideas in that they are not hyper-realistic, and they use light and shadow in a way that creates more of an emotional tone than a snapshot would.  I used light and sunbeams in a similar way to Sudek, and clouds and silhouetting in a similar way to Coburn.  Although they are not professional photographs, my pictures represent and portray my feelings as I was taking them.  They are more expressive than a snapshot would be.  That is what pictoralism is. 

Pictoralism. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Pictorialism

Hostetler, Lisa. "Pictorialism in America". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pict/hd_pict.htm (October 2004)

My pictoralist filter set was made from several materials including mesh fabric, shampoo, and colored plastic.