Pictorialism

What is Pictorialism, what does it mean.

At times it’s difficult to define or classify art, what makes something art? this is a question I can not answer. however as someone who’s been identified as an artist, and has had some education surrounding art, I can help explain some of the foreign terms such as pictorialism.

The word pictorialism, is a name that was given to an aesthetic movement that dominated photography in the late 19th century to the early 20th. The basic premise is that its photograph that’s been created, rather than a captured instance in time. Often times the photo’s a manipulation of several aspects to create an interpretation that evokes and captures the viewer.

For me each photo I work on is often spawned from a simple idea, thought or feeling or even look of an individual, that I want to capture something in them that I’ve seen, which I want to share. These images are first mentally created, and I will often spend days, months or even years composing the picture, then, I start looking at tools and props, poses to start taking photo’s, I often will take several pictures with different manipulations to capture the thought.  I’ve already identified a a few people I want to work with, and those people know who they are.

this is a small sample, of a test photo for an idea, that I have 3 different variations of – the final photo will likely be donated – however as there is cost involved I’ll be looking for different avenues to generate capital to pursue each idea.

 

Ghost #2.jpg
Civil War ghost visiting a grave. This was a created photo using victorian style trick photography 

 

 

 

website varnish
Varnish, this more of a still life, created to represent the ingredients and process to make varnish. the concept is to make a series of photo’s depicting the different tools and ingredients used in the chemicals for collodion photography 

 

 

 

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