Contextual Research
What is Fine art Photography?
Fine art is known as “photographic art” or in other terms “artistic photography”, this means that that fine art photography is not depended on one universal term. Rather, it refers to an vague category of photographs, which is created side by side with the creative vision of the cameraman/woman. This genre implies that instead of capturing a realistic performance of the subject, it is aimed to produce a persona, evocative and atmospheric impression. Overall, “fine art photography describes any image taken by a camerawher the intention is aesthetic (that it, a photo whose value lies primarily in its beauty)” (Visual Arts, 2019).
Who were the notable pioneers of fine art photography and what did they do?
There are many notable pioneers what it comes to fine art photography and its history, but there are two main pioneers-Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) and Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) that really had a big impact on fine art as and genre it's as well photography.
He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, 1864, and done his engineering studies in Germany. He then returned to New York in 1890 to show that his photography was based on artistic expression as painting or sculpture. He was an editor of Camera Notes also. When the rank-and-file membership of the Camera Club began to be upset against his restrictive editorial policies. He and other photographers broke away from the group in 1902 to form the Photo-Secession, which supported an emphasis on the craftsmanship involved in photography. Stieglitz wanted a different approach to his work, rather than his members ideas on labor-intensive techniques which undermined the role of the photographers hand work. He had the purpose of taking good care of his work by ensuring he makes them platinum prints, these prints mean that it was based on a subtle, varied tone scale, by doing so, he made sure he achieved this affiliation by painting compositional choices and the use of ‘nature’ such as weathers, like snow, rain and steam to combine the components of a scene into a pictorial whole thats pleasing to the eye.
Stieglitz edited the publication called “Camera Work” from the years of 1903 to 1919. He organises exhibitions with the help of Steichen- whom was a guy that gave his studio space to him, which essentially became the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in 1905. This was formerly renowned as the “291” because of its address on Fifth Avenue.
Post 1917, Stieglitz ideas on photography changed. Photography in those times was a means to provide a photo that appeared as those that look like prints, or watercolour, this was wrong headed by the end of the first World War. Transparency derived from the meaning of the ephemera of contemporary life. Photography was naturally suited to represent “fast-paced cacophony” that presented and defined modern life. Stieglitz’s support for the photography of Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler make the new approach to the medium even more clear and changed his own photographs too.
Steiglitz celebrated his infamous portrait of ‘Georgia O’Keeffe’ in 1917-25, during this time he made hundreds of photographs of the painter (who later on became his wife in 1924).
He had a vision for his painting with her and therefore, he refused to condense her personality into one image, this was consistent with many modernist idea. This being, the notion of the sense of a fragmented state of being, which is brought to attention because of the rapid pace of modern life. Another being, the idea that a personality is constantly changing and could be interrupted but not stopped by the use of a camera in place. To conclude, the realisation that the truth in the contemporary modern world is comparative and therefore photographs are shown to be an expression of the feelings of the photographers for the sole purpose of the subject and this is because they are the reflection of the portrayed subject.
This is a series of photographs of clouds that he called “Equivalents” which were made in a idea of spirits, this embodies the last idea perfectly.
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) was an important figure in art in America. She remained the most independent shift in trends in art and stayed true to her own vision, which is based on abstract forms in nature. Observation used as a keen power and also with great paintbrush handwork, she set down subtle nuances of shape, colour, and light that enhanced her paintings and attracted a wide audience. She mainly used subjects such as flowers, bones which were primarily landscapes, that was explored in series over decades. These images were drawn from the experiences she accoutered in life and related to specifically or generally to the places she was staying at.
New York, 1918, is when she started her career as an artist. She became a new member of Stieglitz artist circle and was associated by some of Americas early modernists - such as John Marin, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley and Arthur Dove and also Paul Strand and Edward Steichen and many more influential critics and writers. It was during this that discussions about fine art and examples of many and their own works, validated and influenced the artworks of O’Keeffe.
William Morris - Redesigning the world - John Burdick Todtri Books 1997
(p4 - 7)
William Morris was an artist, poet, political writer, activist and public figure. He was born in Walthamstow, March 20th 1834 at Elm House which is now the William Morris Gallery.
The influences that William Morris had that came across in his work was the British countryside - flowers, meadows, birds to contrast with what was going on in this period which was poverty, pollution and urban squalor. His work expressed tension and a tenuous balance between dream and reality, the aesthetic and the functional, visions of the past as a perfect world and an idealistic future.
He influenced architecture although he wasn’t an architect himself, interested in preserving old buildings, He also collaborated with the pre- Raphaelite artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti. His work was highly influenced stained glass windows and tapestries and although he wasn’t a religious person he used region as part of his work and brought it back into fashion. He created a firm called Morris and Co which helped to change interior design and started the Arts and Crafts movement.
He said ‘something is amiss in society if the fruits of culture namely the creation and appreciation of fine art are not within the grasp of all citizens which in his era they certainly were not.
William Morris’s designs are mainly English but also the art and architecture of medieval Europe
First immigrants in Waltham Forest
According to the 2011 Census, 37 per cent of Waltham Forest residents were born abroad. The largest migrant groups came from Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Jamaica and India.
Although immigration was substantially lower a century earlier, there were still a number of residents born abroad. Both Walthamstow and Leyton feature in the 1911 Census’ top 50 counties and large towns with the highest proportions of foreigners.
At this time migrants came primarily from Europe and Russia. Few foreign-born residents were from Africa, Asia or Latin America. However, several interviews recall Asian doctors practising in Walthamstow.
What was the 1st example of magazine and why was it interesting?
In 1731 Edward Cave launched the first ever magazine called ‘The Gentleman Magazine’ in England. This magazine was only published monthly, it was different to his rivals which were ‘periodicals’ which were much thinner and came out more frequently. Whereas Edward Cave’s Gentleman magazine was much thicker and covered a wide range of issues. He was the first to use the word ‘magazine’ to describe a publication. The word ‘magazine’ appealed to men because it had more of a military connection. A magazine is a place where things are stored and this new publication is where new writing would be stored.
When the magazine came out Edward Cave mostly borrowed the content and reworked it and this led to a lot of controversy. Therefore he hired writers like Johnson to work for his magazine. Because people liked Edward Cave’s magazine, people started their own magazine - an example is ‘London Magazine’ brought out in 1732.
The gentleman magazine was a success and the reason behind that was that it covered a wide range of subjects such as poetry, Science and - even though they weren’t allowed, they still published political reports disguised as sketches. Cave also encouraged the readers to contribute their own work and whoever won the competition would get their article or extract to be published.
The magazine continued to get published long after Johnson and Cave’s death until 1922.
What was the 1st example of a Fine Art magazine and why was it interesting?
‘The Studio’ was the first ever fine art and decorative art magazine published in London from 1893 until 1964. Charles Holme was the founder of The Studio magazine and also the editor. The magazine was a big influence on the development Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movements which William Morris was a part of and also encouraged in his work.
The first edition was published in April 1893, with Joseph Gleeson White as editor. In 1895, Holme took over as editor himself.
Holme introduced, through the magazine, a lot of new artists, designers and architects - such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Charles Voysey to a wide audience. The audience was not just read in England it was international in its scope and a particularly influential in Europe.
From 1906 onwards, The Studio started to be published a yearly book which dealt with architecture, interior design, light, glassware . These annuals promoted Modernism and later the Good Design movement.
The last edition was published in May 1964, after the magazine became a part of Studio International.
how contextual reasearch has helped me with delvopment of my project
This research has helped me with the development of my idea in terms of knowing or finding out information that I would incorporate in my images and text. It has also given me some ideas for the quotes that I might use and it’s also starting the idea process.
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