Response to Week 4 Discussion Board

A. Sieglitz

Sieglitz goal was to make photography a form of art. Photographers used this style of photography to shape the picture to create a sense of mood and atmosphere. Low tones, soft lighting are greatly emphasized. Great attention is paid to these elements; often characterized and compared to a painters brush strokes.  Simplicity and serenity are the main focus of theses grounded everyday shots.  Sieglitz did not stay true to his movement. At one point in his career he steered clear from his pictorial approach and Stieglitz turned to emphasizing on modern art and photographs that looked like the work of a camera rather than a paintbrush.

The style of naturalism photography is classified as modern art would include subjects mainly of nature and/or people. The photos are taken are that of an average every day scene, but  the time required to capture a photo needs a lot less patience and paintbrush style is eliminated.

Whites’ impact on photography is that he was extremely gifted at evoking emotion from his pictures. He had the perfect balance of structure, quality and emotion from a photo. His spirituality and passion for creation led to find life and light in the things we dismiss daily. 

Man Rays’ photos are very sharp and focused. He used women as his main focus. Often at times, he would create a sensual or erotic tone to the photo by centering the shot closely on delicate parts of the female anatomy. The photographs were beautifully manufactured and showed great creativity.  His photographs are different from Sieglitz as they do not share the same characteristics. Stieglitz’s’ subjects are undefined and are usually of everyday scenery, where the elements can add to the photo being taken.  Whereas, Rays’ subjects are always seen, defined and usually indoors with no natural external elements to add to the shot. 

M.Ray

Moholy-Nagy photographs are composed with light and movement. However abstract they are, they move they eye in a structured way so they don’t get lost in the picture. This industrial feel and technological approach to photography is present in most of his shots. 

All photographers are artists. To strip the title “artist” from a photographer would be shameful.  We have seen here that a simple photo can be manipulated, as emotionally moving and as avant-garde as the next art movement.