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Can Photography be regarded as a valid Artform?
This entire article is © James
Wakefield 2002.
Reproduction Prohibited. All Rights Reserved.
Section Four: Is it Art?
I have explored photography’s role since it’s
introduction and the way it has changed the art world, but the
underlying question remains- Can it be regarded as an art form?
Originally, photographs were not intended as ‘Art’,
they were documents, records, momentos, press images, family
pictures etc. Still today, a large number of photographs are
used for these purposes, but an image that invokes emotion the
same way that an artwork does can surely be regarded as art.
Writer, Peter Marshall, sums up this concept very well:
“Photography is not art any more than oil paint is art.
Some photographers used it to create art.”
This shows that a photograph can be interpreted as art when
the photographer intended for it to be so, but still raises
the issue of whether a photograph can be regarded as art when
the photographer did not intend for it to be regarded as such,
or the issue did not even come up in the photographer’s
mind.
Firstly, I will deal with photographers who intended for their
work to be interpreted as art. The best person to start with
is Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946), the man who fought for
most of his life for photography to be accepted by the masses
as a valid art form.
Stieglitz can be regarded as one of the most influential American
photographers in the early 20th Century. In 1923, he was asked
if he would give the Museum of Fine Arts some of his photographs.
This was significant because it was the first time that a major
American Art Museum included photographs or even considered
them for display. This could be regarded as the biggest turning
point since the introduction of photography in terms of photography
being regarded as art.
Stieglitz pushed the limits of photography. When he first started,
he was told that photographs could only be taken in daylight.
He challenged this by making the first 24 hour indoor exposure,
which resulted in a perfect negative. He made the first rainy
day, snowstorm and night photographs.
In Stieglitz’ day, photography was regarded as a ‘scientific
curiosity’ and nothing else. Stieglitz made it his job
to ensure that photography became widely regarded as an art
form. This battle lasted his whole life.
Stieglitz believed the best way to get his message across was
to use his talent. He tried to win as many exhibitions as possible,
and by the time he died had won over 150 awards from all over
the world for photography only.
Stieglitz went to Germany in 1881, and he found that Europeans
respected photography as an art form much more readily than
the Americans. Upon returning to America he found that many
regarded the craze simply as a 'fad' or hobby, with no real
status in the art world.
Stieglitz was so determined that photography be regarded as
an art form, that he founded his own society in 1905 with that
purpose. The 'Photo-Secession Movement' (better known
as '291') fought to have photography recognised in the
art world.
The Photo-Secessionist were a group of photographers headed
by Stieglitz who believed that it was necessary to differentiate
between the photograph as visual reporting and the photograph
as visual expression.
Here is a list of their 'objectives', as described in a leaflet
in 1902:
- To advance photography as applied to pictorial expression
- To draw together those Americans practicing or otherwise
interested in the art
- To hold from time to time, at varying places, exhibitions
not necessarily limited to the productions of the Photo-Secessionists
or to American work.
This Movement not only helped photography to be interpreted
better by the masses, but the techniques that developed as a
result of photographers 'looking' for a good picture changed
the way that many people viewed life as a whole. This extended
to Literature, where writers found themselves exploring everyday
situations and objects in much more detail, thanks to photography.
Two such writers who admitted to photography influencing their
work included Gertrude Stein and William Carlos Williams.
Through photography these writers became aware of the enormous
possibilities that the objective world offered for verbal expression.
The very presence of the 'trivial' detail found in photography
forced these writers into symbolic rather than narrative presentations.
They forced the reader to look at trivial details which he had
never before seen, whereupon the 'insignificant' and 'inconsequential'
became significant.
This raises the question of whether or not literature can be
regarded as an art form (but I'll save that for another dissertation!).
This proves that photography was not just a revolution in it's
own right, but it also revolutionised the art world, literary
world and the way that people viewed themselves and their surroundings.
Before his death, Stieglitz said:
"My whole life, has been really dedicated to the fight for
all those in whatever field, who insist on doing their work
supremely well, and on giving those who are ready to give all
of themselves to whatever they may wish to do, a full chance
to do whatever they may be fitted to do, and to let them live."
Thanks to Stieglitz, the impression that the general public
had of Photography in America was changed - it was now widely
accepted as a valid art form, however the views of many stubborn
artists remained unchanged - they simply refused to accept that
this medium could be called ‘art’; many still do.
Continue to Section Five
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