ART HISTORY 403: The History of Photography in Europe and America

Professor: Tim Hiles

Meeting: 11:15-12:05 MWF, 113 Arts and Architecture Bldg.

Office: 250 Arts and Architecture Bldg.

Office Hours: 1:00-2:00 MW or by appointment

Telephone: 974-2725 (please leave a message)

Email: thiles@utk.edu

Course Description and Objective

As we explore the history of photography in Europe and America, we will discuss the aesthetic development of the photograph from the origins of the fixed image to the most recent innovations. The objective is to familiarize you with photography as a scientific and social phenomenon while emphasizing the aesthetic history of the medium. The progression of the history of photography will be approached through analysis of the work of individual photographers. Class lectures, discussions, readings and films will allow us to pursue an understanding of this complex medium.

Website

http://web.utk.edu/~twh/photo

Text

Hirsch, Robert.  Seizing the Light: A History of Photography.  New York: McGraw-Hill,  2000.

Primary Source Readings

Newton, Sir William J. "Upon Photography in an Artistic View, and its Relation to the Arts." Journal of the Photographic Society. Vol. 1 (1853), pp. 6-7.

Robinson, Henry Peach. "Paradoxes of Art, Science, and Photography." Wilson's Photographic Magazine. Vol. 29 (1892), pp. 242-45.

Emerson, Peter Henry. "Photography, A Pictorial Art." The Amateur Photographer. Vol. 3 (March 19, 1886), pp. 138-139.

Stieglitz, Alfred. "Pictorial Photography." Scribner's Magazine. Vol. 26 (November 1899), pp. 528-37.

Strand, Paul. "Photography." Seven Arts. Vol. 2 (August 1917), pp. 524-25.

Weston, Edward. "Photography Not Pictorial." Camera Craft. Vol. 37, no. 7 (1930), pp. 313-20.

Adams, Ansel. "What Good is Photography?" Camera Craft. Vol. 47 (1940), pp. 43-44.

Adams, Ansel. "A Personal Credo." American Annual of Photography. Vol. 58 (1944), pp. 7-16.

White, Minor. "The Camera Mind and Eye." Magazine of Art. Vol. 45, no. 1 (1952), pp. 16-19.

Coburn, Alvin Langdon. "The Future of Pictorial Photography." Photograms of the Year 1916, 1916, pp.23-24.

Ray, Man. "The Age of Light." Preface to Man Ray Photographs, 1920-34. Paris. Ed. by James Thrall Soby. Hartford, 1934.

Moholy-Nagy, "Light -- A Medium of Plastic Expression." Broom. Vol. 4 (1953), pp. 283-84.

Lange, Dorothea. "Documentary Photography." from A Pageant of Photography. San Francisco, 1940, p. 28.

Lange, Dorothea with Daniel Dixon. "Photographing the Familiar." Aperture. Vol. 1, No. 2 (1952), pp. 4-15.

Abbott, Berenice. "It Has to Walk Alone." Infinity. Vol. 7, No. 11 (1951), pp. 6-7 and 14.

Abbott, Berenice. "Photography at the Crossroads." Universal Photo Almanac, 1951, pp. 42-47.

Smith, W. Eugene. "Photographic Journalism." Photo Notes. (June, 1948), pp. 4-5.

Cartier-Bresson, Henri. The Decisive Moment. Introduction. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1952.

Frank, Robert. "Guggenheim Fellowship Application Form." October, 1954.

Frank, Robert. "A Statement." U.S. Camera Annual, 1958, p. 115.

Siskind, Aaron. "The Drama of Objects." Minicam Photography. Vol. 8, no. 9 (1945), pp. 20-23, 93-94.

Siskind, Aaron. "Credo." Spectrum. Vol. 6, No. 2 (1956), pp. 27-28.

Callahan, Harry. "An Adventure in Photography." Minicam Photography. Vol. 9, No. 6 (1946), pp. 28-29.

“Talking with Carrie Mae Weems” (interview by Bell Hooks) from Art on My Mind, 1995.

Outline of Topics

The Quest for the Illusive Image

The camera obscura and early attempts to capture the image

Invention of Photography

Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Louis Daguerre
early use and spread of the daguerreotype
portraiture
Baron J.B.L. Gros, A.J.F. Claudet, A.S. Southworth and J.J. Hawes

Fox Talbot and the Calotype

use and development of the Calotype
Maxime DuCamp, Henri Le Secq, D.O. Hill and Robert Adamson

Other Techniques and Processes

Hippolyte Bayard's process, albumen process, collodion, ambrotype, tintype, enlargements, carte de-visite and cabinet card, stereoscope
A.A.E. Disderi, Napoleon Sarony- Aesthetic Considerations- photography as art
Nadar, J.M. Cameron, H.P. Robinson, O.G. Rejlander

Early Uses of Photography by other Artists

Photography and Communication

travel and landscape
social documentation
imagery of W.H. Jackson, John Thomson
war photography: Roger Fenton, Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O'Sullivan

Action Photography

improvement of process
Eadweard Muybridge, Thomas Eakins, E.J. Marey

Photography, a Pictorial Art

P.H. Emerson, Heinrich K Kuhn, F.H. Evans

American Pictorial Photography

Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day-
the founding of the Photo-Secession

The Photo-Secessionists

C.H. White, E. Steichen, Gertrude Kaesebier
A.L. Coburn

The Secession Dissolves

later Alfred Stieglitz
a new objectivity and Paul Strand

Photographing of Everyday Life

J.-E.-A. Atget, Paul Martin, J.-H. Lartigue, James Van DerZee
the Kodak camera and the explosion of amateur photography

f/64 group and a New Vision

Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White

Dada, Surrealism and other Distortions

A.L. Coburn, Man Ray, Alexander Rodchenko, Moholy-Nagy

Documentary Photography

August Sander, J.A. Riis, Lewis Hine
F.S.A., Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans,
Margaret Bourke-White, Berenice Abbott
"Family of Man" exhibition

Color Photography

origins and some early practitioners

Photojournalism

general history
Eugene Smith, Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstaedt

Photography and Print Media

Life magazine
The Professional photographer, Andreas Feininger

Fashion and Hollywood Image-Makers

Vogue and Harper's Bazaar
Alexey Brodovitch, Alexander Bassano, Baron Adolf de Meyer,

Edward Steichen, Irving Penn, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Richard Avedon, Hiro, Cecil Beaton

The "Decisive Moment" and the Social Landscape

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt, Helen Levitt, Roy DeCarava

The Camera as Observer

Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander

Every Aspect of Life

Lisette Model, Diane Arbus, Elliott Erwitt

A Unique Vision

Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Frederick Sommer

Explorations in Portraiture

Yousuf Karsh, Philippe Halsman, Arnold Newman, Richard Avedon, Judy Dater

Inner World

Jerry Uelsmann, Duane Michaels, Cindy Sherman, Carrie Mae Weems

Photographic Reality: Controversy

Robert Mapplethorpe, Andres Serrano, Sally Mann

The New Landscape

William Eggleston, Joel Meyerowitz

Digital Imaging

Recent Trends

Exams

You are required to take two essay exams. These exams will test your knowledge of aesthetics, the historical and social context of specific photographs, and your ability to analyze essays and philosophical writings by photographers. You will be given a study guide approximately two weeks before each exam. The format will be as follows:

Part I will include identification of works of art and an explanation of the rationale behind the creation of the work. You will have five minutes in which to write each explanation and will be shown four slides.

In Part II you will be asked to answer general questions concerning the readings while referring to specific works of art shown on the slide screen. There will be two questions and you will have eight minutes for each question.

Part III will consist of a compare and contrast. You will be asked to identify and then explain the similarities and differences between two works of art shown on the slide screen. You will have eight minutes.

Midterm Exam: Wednesday, October 15 (in class)

Final Exam: Wednesday, December 8, 10:15 am-12:15 pm

Papers

You are required to write three position papers (3-4 pages). These papers will be assigned approximately every four weeks.

Grades

Grades will be calculated as follows:

First exam: 1/3
Second exam: 1/3
Position papers: 1/3

Attendance

You should attend every class. The exams will rely heavily on class lectures and discussions. Lack of attendance may affect your final grade.

Disability Services

Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Disability Services at 2227 Dunford Hall (865-974-6087). Students should also contact me as soon as possible to discuss your specific needs.