Photography as an Art Form

• The public was reluctant to label

photography as an art form and to this
day, many people have doubt as to
whether it is an art form
• Photography, contrary to some
opinions, can be extremely expressive
and creative Margaret Bourke-White. Louisville Flood
Victims. 1938.
Henri Cartier Bresson
• Invented the idea of “the decisive
moment”
– Decisive moment: that one moment
when you are looking through your
viewfinder and all the elements come
together to create the perfect
photography
Ansel Adams. Clearing Winter Storm,
Yosemite National Park, California.
1944.

Potraits and Photography

• Before photography, painting was the
only way to have a portrait made
– Only the very rich could afford this
• With the invention of photography,
many people could now afford portraits
Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia Jackson.
March 1886. 13-1/4″ × 11″.
Henri Cartier-Bresson. Place de l'Europe
Behind the Gare St. Lazare,
Paris. 1932.
Photography and Social Change
• Photography is uniquely suited to
documentary work
• From the very beginning photographers
used the medium to show others what
they could not see for themselves
• These photographers find it very
important to spread awareness and
affect change
Gary Braasch. Polar Bear Outside Barrow,
Alaska. 2008.
Color Photography
• Color photography was looked down
upon by art photographers for many
years
• In 1976, William Eggleston exhibited his
color photographs of everyday objects
– He got horrible reviews
– He is now considered a pioneer in color
photography as art

William Eggleston. Untitled (Nehi Bottle

on Car Hood). From Los Alamos
Portfolio. 1965–1974.

Jacob Riis. Five Cents a Spot.

Unauthorized lodging in Bayard Street
Tenement. c. 1890. Binh Danh. Iridescence of Life #7. 2008.
6-3/16″ × 4-3/4″. 14″ × 11″ × 2″.
Moving Images
Chapter 8
The First Moving Image
• Leland Stanford made a bet that all
4 of a horse’s hooves come off the
ground as it runs
• Muybridge set up a line of cameras
on a horse track
• Each camera was triggered by a
string as the horse ran by
• Muybridge later found a way to
quickly project the images to create a
movie
• There are also experiments by
Edison in moving images
Eadweard Muybridge. The Horse in
Motion. 1878.
Film and Visual Expression
All films create 3 types of motion
– Movement of the objects in the shot
– Movement of the camera
– Movement created by the sequence of
shots
 Time and sequence are important parts
of filmmaking
Creating a New Language of
Vision
 Film began as though they were
theatrical performances
– Sound was not added until 30 years
after film began to be made
 D.W. Griffith started to move the
camera and edit the film
– Griffith created the phenomena of
parallel editing-showing what’s
happening in two places at one time.
– Griffith’s camera operator
accidentally closed the shutter too
slow once, creating the fade to
black
– Griffith was also the first to
include both close up and long
shots
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
selected frame 3. 1925
D. W. Griffith. Intolerance (The Modern
Story). 1916
Creating a New Language of Vision
• Eisenstecein
– The first to produce epic films of Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
high quality
selected frame 4. 1925.
– Created the use of montage-
stitching together many short brief
shots to create new relationships,
build emotion, and show passage of
time
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
selected frame 5. 1925.
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
selected frame 1. 1925
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
selected frame 6. 1925
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
selected frame 2. 1925
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship • The motion picture production code – Marcello is the protagonist and he
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence, censored the content of films explores the lifestyles of the rich and
selected frame 7. 1925. – It remained in effect until 1968 famous
• A secondary character is a
photographer nicknamed Paparazzo
after the pop of the camera flash
– The word paparazzi stems from
Citizen Kane this

• Considered by many as the best

movie ever made
• Used a wide array of cinematic
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship devices:
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence, – Dramatic lighting
selected frame 8. 1925 – Distorted lenses
– Dialog that extends past a scene
Federico Fellini. La Dolce Vita. 1961
– Innovative camera angles
– Clever editing
Scorpio Rising

 By: Kenneth Anger

 A documentary about a Brooklyn
motorcycle gang
 He was one of the first to use a
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship soundtrack of modern pop music
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence,
selected frame 9. 1925
Orson Welles. Citizen Kane. 1941.

Fantasia

• A feature length animation

accompanied by classical music Kenneth Anger. Scorpio Rising. 1964
• Each frame was painted
individually Avatar
 Special effects are becoming very
– There are 24 frames per second
Sergei Eisenstein. The Battleship important in movie making and have
– It’s a 2 hour film
Potemkin. From Odessa Steps sequence, proven to be lucrative to the movie
• The paintings are then studios
selected frame 10. 1925
photographed to create the movie  Avatar uses the recent
developments in motion capture
where an actor’s movements are
scanned and digitized and then can
be used in animation

Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel. An Walt Disney. Fantasia. 1940

Andalusian Dog. 1929
La Dolce Vita
Creating a New Language in Vision
• By the 1930’s, Hollywood was the • By Federico Fellini James Cameron. Avatar. Film still. 2009
Mecca for film • The Protagonist is the main character
Television
  Literally means vision from afar James Modarelli, Logo designer.
 Television is the transmission of still NASA Letterhead. 1992
Graphic Design
or moving images with sound via a
cable or wireless broadcast  Graphic design refers to the process
of working with words and pictures to
enhance visual communication
– Includes: books, magazines,
brochures, packages, posters, etc.
Video Art Michael Bierut. Saks Fifth Avenue
• Graphic Design uses a symbols,
Logo. 2007
 Video made the process of colors, type, and illustrations to
filmmaking extremely portable and communicate ideas
accessible

Digital Art Forms

 Computers are the new up and

coming art medium
 Art made with computers ranges
from film, video, finished artworks, Cassandre (Adolpe Jean-Marie Noreau)
brainstorming, storyboarding… l'Atlantique. 1932 .
 Camilla Benolirao took a fashion
photo and slowly manipulated it until Corporate Logos
it finished with a image of destruction
 Logo -identifying mark, or trademark,
based on letter forms and pictorial
elements
 Logos often change over time to keep
up with culture

39-1/2" × 24-1/2".
Camilla Benolirao Griggers. Alienations of
the Mother Tongue. 1996 . James Modarelli, Logo designer. NASA
Letterhead. 1959

5 minutes.
Designers Danne & Blackburn, New
York. NASA Letterhead. 1974

Natalie Bookchin. Still from Location

Secured. 2007. 12 minutes.Cao Fei.
RMB City. 2007–2009.

Typography
Chapter 9
Graphic Design
 Typography- the art and technique
of composing printed material from
letterforms
 Typeface=font
 Typeface used to be determined by
the typewriter or had to be hand
drawn. These days, anyone with a
computer can use many different
typefaces