How painting has influenced photography “From the moment photography was invented, photographers strove to be recognised as artists.” “The camera was the new way of making pictures, but photographers were extremely conscious of its being only ‘a mechanical recording medium’. Naturally they wanted to be considered as good as accepted artists.” The aim of Pictorialism was to elevate the medium of photography to become art

Based on Victorian morals and values inspired by Classicism. Early Victorian ‘Art’ photographers copied or imitated the conventions of classical artists. The Victorians believed that pictures have a higher purpose... Their aim is not merely to amuse, but to: INSTRUCT PURIFY ENNOBLE Theories of art, beauty and perfection was the ideal...to be cultivated you must study the classics, discover the art of the great masters

In order for photographers to feel accepted as artists they followed the content and style of paintings of the time. Photographers were greatly influenced by the‘Pre-Raphaelites’ style of painting which dominated The Royal Academy during the 1850s.

Romantic Approach Expressing the Emotional and Dramatic Subject themes from History and Literature Lofty, Poetic and Religious Themes Painted in great Detail, Accuracy Subject treated Sentimentally Narrated Stories and Pointed Morals ‘Christ in the House of His Parents’ John Everett Millais

Victorian theories of art, beauty and truth were centred on: SUBLIME (High Culture) Vs VULGAR (Low Culture) SUBLIME: great, beautiful, awesome, lofty, elevated, grand, highly cultured, noble VULGAR: awful, ugly, offending against good tastes, common, peasants, lacking refinement ‘Two ways of life’ 1857, Oscar Rejlander

A father leads two sons into the wide world. ‘bad’ influences Idleness, drink, sex and gambling. ‘worthy’ things of life Knowledge, industry, married life and religion. The image consists of 30 separate negatives which were printed on a single sheet of photographic paper. (A Combination Print) When the picture was exhibited in Scotland it was considered so controversial the left hand side of the picture was concealed.

Fading Away is a composition of five negatives. The picture depicts a girl dying of tuberculosis, with her family. The subject matter of death was very controversial and was regarded as an unsuitable subject for photography.

His images were: preconceived, planned, staged, elements are then photographed, pieced together through post production. “Photographers do not copy nature any more, they interpret it” “we are to avoid the mean (petty, trivial), the unpleasant, the base ( lowest form of life) and ugly and aim to elevate the subject, to avoid awkward forms, and to correct the un-picturesque”

At the beginning of her career the inspiration is Old Master painting - Renaissance Masters Member of Pre-Raphaelites Believed art of Mannerists, like poses and composition corrupted academic teaching of art

Her work characterised by emphasis on the imaginations and emotions - tales of romance referring to short stories or novels of a fantasy nature

Broke the rules of academic painting Took the act of painting out of the studio and into the world – using elaborate brush strokes to capture light Derived from Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise 1872 Visible brushstrokes, open composition, emphasis on light in it changing qualities, ordinary subject matter and unusual visual angles

“A work of art must be a transcript, not a copy of nature. Slavish copying of nature, whether by brush, pen or camera can never be called art.” Focus to destroy the ‘photographic’ appearance To make photographs take on the qualities of painting: study the Gum Bichromate process. Images were toned to resemble drawings in coloured chalk or crayon. Each print is unique: the mechanical process of photography is taken over by personal interaction of the artist.

He photographs the people and places of his local community in Hackney. He draws his inspiration and composition from tradition paintings. His photographs are re-constructions of headlines he finds in his local paper ‘The Hackney Gazette.’ The Way Home borrows The composition from the painting Ophelia. Woman Reading Possession Order, is part of a series of work he made of a group of squatters living in Hackney. In this photo, Hunter borrows his composition and colours from Vermeer’s A Girl Reading At An Open Window.

Canadian artist is widely recognised for his large dynamic transparencies mounted on light boxes. The sense of scale comes from Wall’s fascination with tradition painting and cinematography. A number of the pictures are photomontages, combinations of different negatives digitally interwoven to create engaging and intriguing narratives. Picture for Women was inspired by Edouard Manet's masterpiece A Bar at the Folies-Bergères. In Manet's painting, a barmaid gazes out of frame, observed by a shadowy male figure. Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993

He uses a large film set to meticulously plan his lighting and construct his narrative photographs. He turns the ordinary into something unnerving, unsettling, magical and otherworldly. An American photographer who is best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighbourhoods. Gregory Crewdson borrows the composition from the painting Ophelia.

Raft of Medusa, Theodore Gericault,1819 Goto produced a series of photo-digital collages, with reference classical paintings, to illustrate the concerns of the future and the role governments play.

Early Victorian photographers believed pictures should INSTRUCT, PURIFY & ENNOBLE ‘High Art’ Pictorialists focused on manipulation pre and post production to communicate their moral theme Art was for the educated, affluent and elite Gaining inspiration from paintings, poetry and other element of the arts to establish photography as a valid art form ‘High Art’ Pictorialists looked towards the past for inspiration Next: Pictorialists that rejected manipulation