38. Photographic Art Movements 2: Straight Photography (1920-the present)

September 03, 2023

38. Photographic Art Movements 2: Straight Photography (1920-the present)

Notes for this lesson come from The Art Story.org, Eve Schille & Beth Harris from Smart History, and Photography: The Definitive Visual History, by Tom Ang.

What was it about? What were the goals?

Monolith, Face of the Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, CA, by Ansel Adams, 1927

Also called Pure photography and the West Coast Photography Movement, this was a reaction against Pictorialism. Instead of intentionally blurring photos, these photographers tried to focus as clearly as possible, filling their works with sharp detail. They didn't want their works to look like drawings or paintings. They were photographers and proud of it. Their subjects were more rural than that of the East Coast. They focused on natural landscapes, agriculture, farms and barns, and the people who worked on them. The three most famous ‘Straight’ photographers were Ansel Adams, Alfred Steiglitz, and Edward Weston. While widely considered an American art movement, there were, of course, proponents around the world.

A Bit of Historical Context

The principle founders of this movement were Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Willard Van Dyke, who all worked together in California, although it's worth mentioning Paul Strand who advocated pure photography in New York, independently in the early 1900's. In the 1920's, Willard Van Dyke created a photography gallery and club in his own home, on 683 Brockhurst St, in Oakland, CA (in the San Francisco Bay Area). By 1932 this Club f/64 convinced the de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco to host the first exhibit of their work. They chose the name of their club based on wanting a very large f-stop, to get the entire image - foreground and background - in focus. They also wrote a manifesto for the show, which was quite popular, and traveled throughout the West Coast.

The club formally dissolved in 1935, due in part to hardships of the Great Depression. Willard van Dyke moved to NYC where he took up filmmaking and teaching. Edward Weston moved to Santa Barbara to be with his son. In 1937 Ansel Adams moved to Yosemite National Park. Nevertheless, these photographers remained close friends, and became some of the most influential artists in the US. Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham taught together for many years at the California School of Fine Arts.

The Group f/64 Manifesto

"The name of this Group is derived from a diaphragm number of the photographic lens. It signifies to a large extent the qualities of clearness and definition of the photographic image which is an important element in the work of members of this Group.

"The chief object of the Group is to present in frequent shows what it considers the best contemporary photography of the West; in addition to the showing of the work of its members, it will include prints from other photographers who evidence tendencies in their work similar to that of the Group.

"Group f/64 is not pretending to cover the entire spectrum of photography or to indicate through its selection of members any deprecating opinion of the photographers who are not included in its shows. There are great number of serious workers in photography whose style and technique does not relate to the metier of the Group.

"Group f/64 limits its members and invitational names to those workers who are striving to define photography as an art form by simple and direct presentation through purely photographic methods. The Group will show no work at any time that does not conform to its standards of pure photography. Pure photography is defined as possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form. The production of the "Pictorialist," on the other hand, indicates a devotion to principles of art which are directly related to painting and the graphic arts.

"The members of Group f/64 believe that photography, as an art form, must develop along lines defined by the actualities and limitations of the photographic medium, and must always remain independent of ideological conventions of art and aesthetics that are reminiscent of a period and culture antedating the growth of the medium itself.

"The Group will appreciate information regarding any serious work in photography that has escaped its attention, and is favorable towards establishing itself as a Forum of Modern Photography."

The Underlying Philosophy of the Movement

The aim of this movement was to legitimize "pure" photography as an artform, in opposition to the Pictorialists. Straight photography had its own unique aesthetic which included:

1. Black and white images, with a wide range in values from white to black. These artists rarely if ever shot in color.

2. sharp, crisp detail everywhere in the image. These artists preferred using large-format cameras with large f-stops to maximize detail.

3. because of their high f numbers, they often needed longer shutter speeds, so they often needed to photograph subjects that were still. As a result, many of their works have a very still, peaceful, and timeless quality.

4. These artists prized themselves on excellent composition, based on balance and geometry.

Straight photographers did not wish to imply they were greater than the Pictorialists, or any other art form, merely that their work was good enough to stand on its own. Ansel Adams said,

"My conception of Group f/64 is this: it is an organization of serious photographers without formal ritual of procedure, incorporation, or any of the restrictions of artistic secret societies, Salons, clubs or cliques…The Group was formed as an expression of our desire to define the trend of photography as we conceive it…Our motive is not to impose a school with rigid limitations, or to present our work with belligerent scorn of other view-points, but to indicate what we consider to be reasonable statements of straight photography. Our individual tendencies are encouraged; the Group Exhibits suggest distinctive individual view-points, technical and emotional, achieved without departure from the simplest aspects of straight photographic procedure."

Ansel Adams was also a firm conservationist, giving his work freely to the Sierra Club to help save the environment. Adams said, "It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment."

Innovative Techniques

The greatest of the "straight photographers" did not simply make pretty pictures. They experimented with their work, playing with light and shadow, and using all kinds of techniques in the darkrooms - with double or multiple exposures in a print, playing with negative images, sandwiching negatives, and so on. See the images below for examples.

Ansel Adams also developed a "Zone System" for working in a dark room. His system showed how to get the right values (broken up into zones) for the desired subjects, and is widely used in photography today. From Wikipedia:

How was it represented in other arts? Music? Literature? Architecture?

It wasn't, although one could see some connection to modern realist painters like Andrew Wyeth, who also loved to paint in intricate detail. These artists worked at the same time, and might have admired one another, but no one puts them in the same art movement.

Was it Great?

Absolutely. These photographers were masters of composition and light, and their work is breath taking - at least the best examples of their work. Their art is memorable, distinctive, gorgeous, and leaves a lasting impression. I have heard people deride them, due to the level of imitators who create works of comparable, or even greater beauty. Someone once said, "If I put an Ansel Adams next to three other pictures, could you even tell me which one was by Adams?"

To that, I give two responses. First, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It confirms their greatness, in that people want to mimic them. And second, just because lots of people learn and perform the same magic trick, credit always goes to the one who invented it. It is the creation of the trick, or in this case style, that is most impressive.

Some Leading Figures:

Frederick Henry Evans (English, 1853-1943)I

Alfred Stieglitz (German-American, 1864-1946)

Fred Robert Archer (American, 1889-1963)

Paul Strand (American, 1890-1976)

Consuelo Kanaga (American, 1894-1978)

László Moholy-Nagy (Hungarian-American, 1895-1946)

Tina Modotti (Italian-American, 1896-1942)

Alma Lavenson (American, 1897-1989)

Eliot Porter (American, 1901-1990) - Shot in color

Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902-2002)

Preston Holder (American, 1907-1980)