Pictorialism was the movement in photography that emphasized the beauty of the photograph, and wanted to compare to the other arts, such as painting and drawing. They wanted to show the real art in photography, and have it recognized as another branch of art. They intervened in the photographic process by smearing Vaseline on their lenses, and smashing their camera lenses. The aim was to make photography an art process, just like other forms of art.

Straight photography was the idea that photography should use its unique qualities as a form of art, such as the sharp detail. The term straight refers to the untouched beauty of photography. It embraced modern ideas, such as contrast, and sharp detail.

Aaron Siskind and Edward Weston’s photographs both have very high amounts of detail, and they also have lots of contrast, having dark areas right next to bright areas.

Andreas Gursky and Uta Barth’s photographs do not have a real clear meaning, and they are not trying to exactly capture the detail of the picture, instead trying for there to be beautiful colors, or flowy patterns, that may appeal to the viewer’s eye. These pictures are also not taken with the standard, traditional methods, such as being out of focus.