 M.Socrative.com – Room #38178  Question: 1. Who was one of the most original American artists of the time? 2. What did Harlem Renaissance artists do?

 After World War I, significant aesthetic changes occurred in photography  Photography was still fairly new The first camera was invented in 1820 Several days of exposure was required (8 hours at minimum in direct sunlight) at first. By 1900 it’s down to minutes

 All photography was originally monochrome (or black and white)  Color film comes in the early 20 th century, but a lot of photographers stuck with black and white due to its much lower cost

 19 th Century Studio Camera (portraits)

 Box Camera – first mass- produced pocket camera using film.  1900

 Compact Kodak folding camera  1922

 Leica-II  1932

 Early explorations of photography as an art form tended to employ darkroom techniques, tricks, and manipulation that created works appearing staged and imitative of paintings Photographs were not getting created from a compositional standpoint, but from an effect viewpoint  People believed that photography must look like “art” (painting) to be art. You’d see blurred images, extreme contrast, etc. This movement was NOT popular and did NOT stand the test of time

 During the early years of the 20 th century, however, a new generation of photographers arose who determined to take photography towards a more direct and sharply focused approach  Called “straight” photography It expressed what was photography’s unique vision – recording a moment in time precisely, no tricks!

 The principal American force behind the recognition of photography as a fine art was Alfred Stieglitz ( )  His own work gained recognition for his clarity of image and reality shots Especially of clouds and New York City architecture

Old & New New York, 1910 Dirigible, 1910

 In 1902, Stieglitz formed the Photo-Secessionist group and opened a gallery referred to as 291 It was at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York City  In addition to showcasing photography, Stieglitz’s efforts promoted many visual artists, including Georgia O’Keefe (who he would eventually marry)

 Portrait of Georgia O’Keefe

 Stieglitz also promoted photography as a fine art in the pages of his illustrated quarterly magazine, Camera Work

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NO. 9NO. 49

 One of the most famous “straight” photographers was Ansel Adams ( )  He was a leader of modern photography through his sharp, poetic landscape photographs of the American West

 His work did much to elevate photography to the level of art  It emphasized sharp focus and subtle variety in light and texture, with rich detail and brilliant tonal differences  In 1941, he began making photomurals for the United States Department of the Interior Forced him to master the techniques for photographing the light and space of immense landscapes

 Project-Opens-at-Interior-Department.cfm Project-Opens-at-Interior-Department.cfm

 There were photographers who choose to document social problems  During the Great Depression, a large-scale program in documentary photography began in the US  Dorothea Lange ( ) was in the program

 Her photographs graphically detailed the erosion of the land and the people of rural America during the Great Depression  Her “Migrant Mother”   (possibly the most famous photograph of all time!)

 Florence Thompson, a 32 year-old widow with 10 children, looks past the viewer with a preoccupied, worried expression  With her furrowed brow and prematurely aged face, she captures the fears of an entire population of people

 Two of her children lean on her for support, their faces buried in their mother’s shoulders  Lange consciously avoided including all of the children – she didn’t want to contribute to the widespread resentment of wealthier people in America about overpopulation

 She was distressed by the Depression and began photographing the poor and unemployed, bringing their plight to national attention  She took pictures of California’s migrant workers, captioned with their own words They were so effective that the state established migrant worker camps to alleviate the suffering

EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD MOTHER FROM OKLAHOMA, NOW A CALIFORNIA MIGRANT. MIGRATORY WORKERS FROM OKLAHOMA WASHING IN A HOT SPRING IN THE DESERT.

 Frank Lloyd Wright ( ) was one of the most influential and innovative architects of the 20 th century  He wished to initiate new traditions

 Prairie style was developed around 1900  Wright drew on the flat landscape of the Midwest as well as the simple horizontal and vertical accents of the Japanese style  Wright followed Louis Sullivan in his pursuit of form that expressed function  He took painstaking care to devise practical arrangements for his interiors and to make the exteriors of his building reflect the interior

 The Dana-Thomas House –Prairie Style

 Wright also designed some of the furniture for his houses  In doing so, comfort, function, and integration with the total design were his chief criteria  Textures and colors in the environment were duplicated in the materials, including large expanses of wood, both in the house and for its furniture

 He made a point of giving furniture several functions  Tables, for example, might also serve as cabinets  All spaces and objects were precisely designed to present a complete environment

 Wright was convinced that houses profoundly influence the people who live in them, and saw the architect as a “molder of humanity”  Wright’s works range from the simple to the complex and from the serene to the dramatic  He was always experimental

 The Serene side of Frank Lloyd Wright

 The dramatic side of Frank Lloyd Wright

 Also known as “falling water”  Wright’s buildings seem to grow out of, and never violate, their environment  This is one of his most inventive designs

 In Bear Run, Pennsylvania  It seems to erupt out of its natural rock site  Its beige concrete terraces blend harmoniously with the colors of the surrounding stone

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 He was concerned with integrating structure and function and was especially interested in poured concrete  He demonstrated his belief that a house was “a machine to be lived in” in several residences of that period  By “machine” he meant that a house should be efficiently constructed from standard, mass produced parts, and logically designed for use

 He used a series of slabs supported on slender columns  The resulting building was boxlike, with a flat roof, which could be used as a terrace

 The supporting structures freed the interior from the necessity of weight- supporting walls  The design is crisp and functioning

 A Tour A Tour