The American modernist movement of the early- to mid-20th century was as complex as it was dynamic. In part a reaction to the European avant-garde, and in part an attempt to establish a uniquely American aesthetic, modernism in America encompassed a wide array of subjects, styles, and philosophies. In discussing American modernism, one is immediately confronted with the difficulty of defining it. American modernists shared with their European counterparts an interest in machines, urbanity, and an embrace of new technology (1). But American modernism, while undoubtedly influenced by the European avant-garde, simultaneously rejected their ideologies. American artists were committed to defining what they saw as a uniquely American form of modernism, separate from that of Europe. In fact, this search for artistic identity could be called “the primary cultural and critical issue of the Post-World War I era” (2).
Perhaps one of the best ways to understand American modernism is thorough some of the works of art that helped define the movement. Paul Strand’s 1923 “Akeley Motion Picture Camera,” Grant Wood’s 1930 “American Gothic,” Diego Rivera’s 1933 “Detroit Industry,” and the 1939 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows all embodied different facets of American modernism.
"Akeley Motion Picture Camera" by Paul Strand, 1923. Image source: Philadephia Museum of Art online.
Paul Strand, a former student of socially progressive photographer Lewis Hine, not only managed to bridge the gap between photography and abstract modern art, but indeed helped shape the modernist aesthetic for decades. Like that of many of his modernist contemporaries, Strand’s work exemplified the quest for an American aesthetic as he “fought to free his art from Europe, from its suaveness and corruption” (3). Strand believed that only through “purity of use,” or “straight photography,” could the full potential of the medium be realized (4). His 1923 photograph “Akeley Motion Picture Camera” (pictured right) embodies not only his personal philosophy of straight photography, but it also illustrates American modernists’ preoccupation with machinery, technology, clarity and balance. This image is concerned with the formal elements of the machine, and venerates what Strand referred to as the new “God the Machine” (4). This image and other similar images by Strand were, simply put, “pure prayers to machinery” (3). Perhaps more importantly, these photographs helped to establish photography as a medium exceptionally suited to address the forms and textures of the modern machine age, (5) and “would lay the groundwork for the mainline modernist aesthetic values of photographic practice for nearly six decades” (4). Continue reading »
A designer friend of mine recently wrote to ask me what process was responsible for creating a certain “look” of an image she found on Flickr. I recognized it as a combination of HDR (high dynamic range) photomerge, and some other Photoshop filters and tricks. While I personally think the HDR craze is a little overdone, I’ll address the technique here.
Traditionally, an HDR image is created by merging 3 or more photos together that were taken at different exposures. By doing this, you maximize the details in all elements of the photo; underexposure to grab sky/highlight detail, correct exposure for midtone detail, and overexposure for increased shadow detail. However, taking three identical shots is not always possible, especially when your subject is moving. With Photoshop Camera Raw and a few other tricks, it is possible to imitate the HDR effect with a single photograph. Continue reading »
Female climbers are awesome and inspiring.
Climbing is one of those sports which, in theory, is entirely egalitarian. Different body types lend themselves to different climbing styles, and women can just as easily send a 5.13 as men. Granted, perhaps the style of 5.13 may be different, but it is a fact that some of the best climbers in the world are women. Lynn Hill, Katie Brown, Steph Davis… just to name a few.
As a climbing photographer, and a female climber, it has been my personal mission as of late to take more photos of women climbing hard. Despite the 10:1 male to female ratio in the climbing community, I’ve been able to shoot some photos of some very inspiring ladies. Below are a few from my recent trip to Indian Creek, Utah. Continue reading »
