The pictorialism movement in photography was a movement where photographers made their photos seem like pieces of art rather than a shot of reality. They did this by using special effects, altering the focus, and many other techniques to make their photos look like art pieces. On the other hand, straight photography is quite the opposite. Straight photography is when you are trying to capture a part of reality, making it seem as real as possible and being truly a photograph rather than a painting, like pictorialism is.

Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind were both very influential straight photographers, however in different ways. Edward Weston focused on taking highly detailed photos of the things that were, making sure to make it seem as real and focused as possible. He was known for incredibly sharp images of landscapes and natural forms. Aaron Siskind was similar yet different, he also focused on straight photography, but, he had a sense of abstraction to it. He would take photos that were as detailed as possible in a way that the thing he was photographing would seem like something different. Rather than the traditional literalness of straight photography.

Edward Weston example:                                            Aaron Siskind example:

Whilst Andreas Gursky and Uta Barth’s photographs may not seem particularly abstract, they are. Andreas Gursky is known for his grand-scale landscape photographs, however, they are also digitally altered. With him combining photos and changing certain elements of the composition to enhance the meaning and impact of his photos. To me, he is neither a true pictorialist nor a true straight photographer. Yet he is still an abstract one. As he seems to take literal photos, meaning he is not a pictorialist, yet he edits his photos, meaning he is not fully a straight photographer. However his photos do seem to lean towards straight photography, yet they are not the normal close up detailed photos that can be seen in photographers like Edward Weston and AaronSiskind’s work. Uta Barth is somewhat similar as well, as she also takes photos of landscapes and urban environments, as well as she also alters her photos. Changing the amount of blur and focus a photo has. Also making her art abstract, somewhat similar to Gursky. In my opinion she leans more towards pictorialism as her photos seem edited to look more like painting, used to convey meaning and enhance the message present. Whilst also incorporating elemts of straight photography with her taking photos of natural and urban forms. Capturing moments in time altered  to seem like half-paintings.

Andreas Gursky example:               Uta Barth example: