Clarence H. White | Morning | 1905

With the rise of photography in the 1800s, the Pictorialism Movement arose as a result of claims that defined photography as “nothing more than a simple record of reality”, without any real artistic value or aesthetics. The movement emerged to assert photography as an art form just like painting, rejecting commercial photographers and amateurs with their Kodak snap shooters. Artists of the Pictorialism Movement would spend hours in the darkroom, using complex printing processes and enriching substances to create photographs that resembled a painter’s brush. 

Edward Weston| Cabbage Leaf | 1931

In comparison, the Straight Photography movement sought to embrace the ability of the camera as it was, without manipulation in the darkroom or processes of any kind to change the picture. There was a key emphasis on depicting the scene or subject as the camera saw it, with sharp focus and rich detail. While the Pictorialism movement wanted to make fine art with photography, trying to hide the camera’s involvement in the process of making the photo, straight photography was without manipulation and focused on composition and natural lighting instead. It became popular for its celebration of everyday life and ordinary style.  

Uta Barth | Field #20 | 1997

Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind were influenced by the Straight Photography Movement with its focus on composition and sharp contrast, which can be evident in their photographs depicting shapes of subjects and their contrast with the background. They also photographed ordinary subjects rather than just landscapes or portraits and used shadows and lights to highlight aspects of their pictures.  

Andreas Gursky | May Day V | 2006

Furthermore, the works of photographers Andreas Gursky and Uta Barth can be considered abstract. They both focus on shapes and colors instead of a specific subject. In many of Uta Barth’s photographs, there is a focus on light and the shapes that it makes, sometimes even blurring the image to draw attention to the distinct lines. Likewise, Andreas Gursky focused on repetition in his photographs that puts emphasis on the different colors and patterns of each shape rather than a singular focus. 

Uta Barth | Peripheral Vision | 2000

I think Uta Barth and Andreas Gursky can be considered to have incorporated components from both the Straight Photography and Pictorialism Movement. Like straight photography, their photos do not undergo major manipulation techniques, but they also take inspiration from the pictorialism movement for several techniques such as Uta Barth’s out-of-focus photographs. 

Works Cited