Photography and Time-Based Media
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Time-Based Media Photography Film and Video Performance Art Computer/Internet Art Illusion vs Truth Photography • Photography = “Writing with Light” • Photography = The artistic practice of taking and processing photographs. • Camera = A device for recording visual images in the form of photographs, film, or video. Paul McCartney selfie, 1963 Early Days of Photography Pinhole Camera Daguerreotype, Tintype Later Days of Photography Film Photography Color Photography Digital Photography Pinhole Camera = A box with a hole on one side, used to capture a photograph Daguerreotype = Photographic process that yields a positive image on a treated metal plate. – Invented in 1839 by Louis- Jacques-Mande Daguerre. – Democratized portraiture: whereas only the wealthy could aFFord a painted portrait, everyone – rich, middle class, and the poor – could aFFord a daguerreotype portrait. – DiFFicult to prepare the plate. – Could not be reproduced. Richard Beard, “Maria Edgeworth,” 1841 Early Roles of Photography • Captures the “soul” of the sitter • Photojournalism reveals the horrors of war • Can simplify reality • Aestheticize the mundane – Elements an principles, composition are still important when taking a photograph – Organize oBjects in the frame of the shot • These roles are still pertinent today • People had (and still have) very mixed feelings about the role of photography in the world of art – Competes with and sometimes replaces painting – Too easy – is it art? What makes it art? Portraiture captures the “soul” of the sitter Tintype, Blacksmith with Dog Tintype, Private George A. Stryker Photojournalism gives the public insight into the horrors of war: Crimean War, Civil War Simplify reality – replace 3- dimensional space with 2-dimensional representation. Abstraction: emphasize formal elements over realistic representation. Paul Strand, “Abstraction, Porch Shadows,” 1916 Aestheticize the mundane – reveal beauty in the everyday, capture a moment. Keliy Anderson-Staley http://www.andersonstaley.com/index.html Contemporary artist who uses old photography techniques) Film Photography • The technology for film cameras was first developed in 1885-9. • A film camera has a roll of film inserted in it; the roll advances manually or automatically with each photo • One-time-use (disposable) cameras today still use film. • Film can be expensive if you’re buying large quantities of good film • Film = A thin flexible strip of plastic coated with emulsion; used to produce photographs or motion pictures in a camera • Emulsion = Light sensitive chemical, coated on film • Film records a negative of the image – the positive image on paper is later developed in a Dark Room. • Dark Room = the room where rolls of film can be developed. Used by artists and professionals. Requires professional training. • Editing = the process of working in a darkroom to develop and process a roll of film. Color Photography • Artists could not control color until 1970 when Kodak designed reliable color film • Color had been associated with advertising. • We can use our visual vocabulary to talk about color in photography the same way we’ve used it to talk about paintings and drawings. • Digital photography is the overwhelming choice Digital today for photography. • Film and older processes Photography are not, however, totally obsolete – most photography programs still teach film photography and darkroom techniques. • Can shoot multiple scenes and combine images later in photo-editing software • More people have access to digital technology – cheaper. Affordability democratizes the medium and process. • Nickelback Instagram Spoof Early Cinema • The word “Film” also refers to early cinema! • Film (in Cinema) = A series of “stills” (frames, photographs), that make a sequence of events. • Sergei Eisenstein, The Battleship Potemkin: Odessa Steps Sequence • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v- kZzfec • First films = Studying movement in sequences of rapidly exposed photos – Eadweard Muybridge studies animal movement – Etienne-Jules Marey studied human movement – Public and artistic interest: Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Decending a Staircase • Editing = the process of assembling a film by collaging negatives together. Popular Cinema • Film transitions to cinema (as we know it today) after World War One: it’s all about Entertainment. Emergence of the culture and economy of Hollywood. • Silent Movies – The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/307945/Passion-Of- Joan-Of-Arc-The-Movie-Clip-State-Of-Grace.html • Sound introduced to film in 1926: “Talkies” – First film with sound was “The Jazz Singer” – Singing in the Rain (1952) – Spoof of the turmoil of 1920 Hollywood during transition from silent films to “Talkies” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTFCctdiS04 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3OkXi5osfU • Color introduced in 1939 – The Wizard of OZ was made using Technicolor (3-strip color, get the whole rainbow on the screen) – Prior to technicolor, there are a few examples of color films that were hand-colored • Video = A digital recording of an image, Video set of images, or of motion; for use in television and, more recently, the internet • First video camera marketed in 1965 – Much cheaper than film – Immediacy – Gives artists access to technology, means of production (similar to printmaking) – Contemporary Cinema Nam June Paik, “Video Flag,” 1985-96 Fast-paced world of technological advances make electronic equipment obsolete quickly Performance Art = Theatrical art that is time-based and often site-specific – Short lived – Temporal – Video and photography are often used to document performance art Trisha Brown, “Walking on the Wall,” 1971 • David Hammons, “Phat Free” 1995-99 • Kick the can = death • Musical rhythm that alludes to Jazz • Walks through neighborhoods to show the changes and lasting effects of gentrification • “Phat free” relates to removal of black culture Computer and Internet-Based Art Media • Digital Photography • Computer-Generated Media and Imagery • Animation • Video • Sound Art/Installation • Online/Web Based Art • Digital Installation • Eva Sutton, “Hybrids,” 2000 • Brenna Murphy, “Expanding Labyrinth” • http://www.bmruernpnhay.Com/key.html • Maurizio Bolognini, “Programmed MaChines,” 1992-1997 • Bill Viola, “The Reflecting Pool,” 1977-79 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHdX7sApIMc • Same way that digital imagery can be manipulated in photoshop (digital editing software) – he spliced together three different videos. • Or the way printmakers use registration to line up prints • Non-linear editing, was very new technology in the 70s. • CGI = Computer Generated Imaging Staging and the Illusion of Truth • Framing a photograph to have a particular impact or effect on a viewer. • Decision to include/exclude information. • Facts versus emotional truth. Timothy O’Sullivan, “A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863” Roger Fenton, “Valley of the Shadow of Death,”1854-56 http://sbp.so/fenton • Walker Evans • Farm Security Administration – document the Great Depression • Illustrate rural poverty • Staged to look like people were struggling more than they were William Wegman, “Rage and Depression,” 1972- 73 – Undermines authority, “truth,” and objectivity in visual experience– you cannot necessarily trust what you see. – We cannot trust the objectivity of photography, television – Addresses the same issues we have seen with Magritte and Juan Gris An My Le, “Small Wars (ambush 1), 1999-2002 • Abu Ghraib – detention center in Iraq • Human rights violations exposed in Fall 2003 • Sabrina Harman – implication in the photo is that she killed Manadel Al-Jamadi, a suspect in a recent bombing in Iraq. • Actual enjoyment versus a “social smile” • http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05 /19/the-most-curious- thing/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 • “Believing is Seeing” Errol Morris.