Sofie Vandermarliere
PHOTOGRAPHY AND NEW MEDIA
1. INTRODUCTION
Photography is much more than just an artistic medium! Scientific tool, a document, a
way to construct or understand reality, to remember things, but it is also a way to have
power
What does the invention of photography mean for the artistic development in the 19 th
century?
USES OF PHOTOGRAPHY
LEWIS HINE, EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, 1932
Picture of labourers on their lunch break in Manhattan at a great height without any
protection
Looking at the clothes and the colours of the picture, you could guess it was taken in the
early 20th century: the Great Depression (in the early thirties) on the Empire State
Building (Lewis Hine, 1932)
Lewis Hine probably wanted to picture this moment: creating progress in a spectacular
way
It looks like reality, but at the same time it is a construct to show that humans can
build impressive buildings
This is typical for the modern urge of people to build impressive architecture
MEN AT WORK
These pictures show an ideology about strong men working in dangerous places as if it is
nothing
Those pictures are also made by Lewis Hine in New York
DAVID WROBEL, FANGTOOTH FISH
This is an interesting creature because of its large teeth in comparison of its body size
The Fangtooth fish normally lives in a deep sea, this picture shows how creatures can
live in a deep sea with a high amount of pressure
It's photographed like in a portrait with a black background (like its completely dark
environment!); but the photographers don’t photograph at the level where the fish really
lives since that is still impossible
The fish are brought much higher to the surface, which is a drastic intervention in the
life of the fish
1
,Sofie Vandermarliere
In this case, photography expands our horizon about something we cannot see, BUT at
the same time, it is not always a true image of reality
When pictures are taken, something is often changed about the picture, which has a
drastic impact on how we think about the concept that is shown
SOLAR ECLIPSE FROM 1919, ARTHUR EDDINGTON
This is a very special solar eclipse. It is made from a specific spot in South America, so
that specific planets would be visible. This way, the general theory of relativity from
Albert Einstein was proven
→ Photography serves as scientific proof: a valuable tool of verifying a scientific
theory
SELFIE FROM A MACAQUE MONKEY, DAVID SLATER, INDONESIAN ISLAND
SULAWESI
This monkey took several pictures in which he tried different angles
OLIVIA MUUS, “THAT LAZY EYE IS ALWAYS SUCH A BOTHER”
This is from an artistic project by Olivia Muus where surroundings are cut off so that
there is an illusion created: it looks like someone who lived before photography, has a
phone and takes a selfie
Olivia Muus invited people to make their own ‘pseudo-selfies’
PHOTOGRAPHY VS. ART
We are confronted with many different uses of photography, and they are not
necessarily art. Yet a lot of these important images do eventually end up in museums
The whole work of Lewis Hine was reinterpreted and inscribed in the history of art =
history (construction of Empire State Building)
Biology: deep sea life (The Scientist, fictional narrative)
Exact sciences, astronomy, relativity theory
Zoology, National Geographic, selfie-mania, juridical controversy (picture of the
monkey)
Reproduction of an artwork, selfie
WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY?
Etymology is always interesting: what does the word tell us?
Photography = writing with light: phootos < phoos (light) + graphoo (writing)
2
,Sofie Vandermarliere
This word comes from the nineteenth century, yet they still used ancient Greek, so this
word was constructed to resemble something ancient
People wanted to give new inventions a sort of aura, the nineteenth century is an age of
inventions where words like this appear a lot
For photography, a surface that is sensitive to light is being used, and the image will
emerge when light arrives
THOMAS RUFF, NIGHT (1992)
This picture was taken during the night with ultra red light that makes things visible
that the human eye does not see at night
“WRITING WITH LIGHT”
The first definitions of photography are focused on how the image is made
There are many techniques for photography, so ‘writing with light’ is very niche and
ambiguous
Daguerre: Portrait of Johanna Elisabeth van Eijk-Bunk
Henry Fox Talbot: used paper instead of metal plates in 1853 (these two were competing
at the beginning)
Wendy McMurdo: early example of the 1990s: a girl encountering herself in an image
WALTER BENJAMIN: REPRODUCIBILITY
Walter Benjamin is a very important German author in the early 20 th century: “It’s not
so much how the image is made that defines photography, but the fact that you can
reproduce it as many times as needed”
→ Reproducibility: everyone can have a Mona Lisa at home, and this is new
→ Photography is a new, democratic medium: all pictures have a certain quality
→ Although there are some limitations, especially in the 19 th century since not all
photographs were reproduceable back then
→ Social impact: because of the invention of photography, you don’t have to be a
journalist to share something that is happening on the streets (Still from Return
to Homs, 2013)
A possible definition: “Photography is a camera image or lens-based media”
→ Encompasses still and moving images (in early times, a camera to film was very
different to a camera to take pictures but they have a shared history)
→ Exception: photogram: a photograph that is made without the camera
→ = you need a piece of paper that is sensitive to light and expose it to light: when
you do that for a while, you have the silhouette of an object on the paper
→ = nice for artists because it allows them to make abstractions
3
, Sofie Vandermarliere
A more recent, artistic perspective on photography: “Photography is a photographic
desire”
→ MOMA: inscribing photography within the art history
PETER GALASSI, BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHY
Peter Galassi, Before Photography: ‘A wall in Naples’ from Thomas Jones is not at
all a painting that is inspired by photography (it was made in 1782), yet Galassi makes
us think about a link between this painting and photography
→ Landscape painting evolving to the banality of everyday spaces: it's not a famous
place in Naples, it looks very ordinary
→ This painting is not attempting to give us a full and complete image of reality,
and according to Galassi, this is what really resembles a photograph: it is only a
small snapshot of reality!
→ John Constable, ‘Study of Tree Trunks’: only the bottom part of a tree and a
vague image of a person -> it could once again be a picture. For modern people,
this image really looks like a photograph
→ John Constable, ‘Study of clouds and trees’: looks to banal for a painting, but this
is the kind of nature that the artist wants to capture
“Photography was not a bastard left by science on the doorstep of art, but a legitimate
child of the Western pictorial tradition.” ~ Peter Galassi
PHOTOGRAPHY ACCORDING TO GALASSI
→ Photography belongs to the tradition of Western visual arts
→ It is a product of the history of art fascinated with ‘more reality’
→ Photography has overturned the criteria and canons of art: it intervenes in what
is happening in art
THE ART HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK: AUTHOR AND STYLE
= institutionalisation of photography within the artistic field: MOMA New York
→ Beaumont Newhall: modernism (introduced modern photography into the
museum)
→ Edward Steichen: photojournalism
→ John Szarkowski: a “boom” for photography (expanded the scope for photography
that was shown at that time)
→ Peter Galassi: Before photography
Yet we do have to remain critical: the role of the author from the image is important, but
the problem with photography is that a lot of knowledge about authorship and style
disappears... This is something we are used to in art history, but is it still relevant in
this context?
Photography historians realise that we must question this much more
4
PHOTOGRAPHY AND NEW MEDIA
1. INTRODUCTION
Photography is much more than just an artistic medium! Scientific tool, a document, a
way to construct or understand reality, to remember things, but it is also a way to have
power
What does the invention of photography mean for the artistic development in the 19 th
century?
USES OF PHOTOGRAPHY
LEWIS HINE, EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, 1932
Picture of labourers on their lunch break in Manhattan at a great height without any
protection
Looking at the clothes and the colours of the picture, you could guess it was taken in the
early 20th century: the Great Depression (in the early thirties) on the Empire State
Building (Lewis Hine, 1932)
Lewis Hine probably wanted to picture this moment: creating progress in a spectacular
way
It looks like reality, but at the same time it is a construct to show that humans can
build impressive buildings
This is typical for the modern urge of people to build impressive architecture
MEN AT WORK
These pictures show an ideology about strong men working in dangerous places as if it is
nothing
Those pictures are also made by Lewis Hine in New York
DAVID WROBEL, FANGTOOTH FISH
This is an interesting creature because of its large teeth in comparison of its body size
The Fangtooth fish normally lives in a deep sea, this picture shows how creatures can
live in a deep sea with a high amount of pressure
It's photographed like in a portrait with a black background (like its completely dark
environment!); but the photographers don’t photograph at the level where the fish really
lives since that is still impossible
The fish are brought much higher to the surface, which is a drastic intervention in the
life of the fish
1
,Sofie Vandermarliere
In this case, photography expands our horizon about something we cannot see, BUT at
the same time, it is not always a true image of reality
When pictures are taken, something is often changed about the picture, which has a
drastic impact on how we think about the concept that is shown
SOLAR ECLIPSE FROM 1919, ARTHUR EDDINGTON
This is a very special solar eclipse. It is made from a specific spot in South America, so
that specific planets would be visible. This way, the general theory of relativity from
Albert Einstein was proven
→ Photography serves as scientific proof: a valuable tool of verifying a scientific
theory
SELFIE FROM A MACAQUE MONKEY, DAVID SLATER, INDONESIAN ISLAND
SULAWESI
This monkey took several pictures in which he tried different angles
OLIVIA MUUS, “THAT LAZY EYE IS ALWAYS SUCH A BOTHER”
This is from an artistic project by Olivia Muus where surroundings are cut off so that
there is an illusion created: it looks like someone who lived before photography, has a
phone and takes a selfie
Olivia Muus invited people to make their own ‘pseudo-selfies’
PHOTOGRAPHY VS. ART
We are confronted with many different uses of photography, and they are not
necessarily art. Yet a lot of these important images do eventually end up in museums
The whole work of Lewis Hine was reinterpreted and inscribed in the history of art =
history (construction of Empire State Building)
Biology: deep sea life (The Scientist, fictional narrative)
Exact sciences, astronomy, relativity theory
Zoology, National Geographic, selfie-mania, juridical controversy (picture of the
monkey)
Reproduction of an artwork, selfie
WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY?
Etymology is always interesting: what does the word tell us?
Photography = writing with light: phootos < phoos (light) + graphoo (writing)
2
,Sofie Vandermarliere
This word comes from the nineteenth century, yet they still used ancient Greek, so this
word was constructed to resemble something ancient
People wanted to give new inventions a sort of aura, the nineteenth century is an age of
inventions where words like this appear a lot
For photography, a surface that is sensitive to light is being used, and the image will
emerge when light arrives
THOMAS RUFF, NIGHT (1992)
This picture was taken during the night with ultra red light that makes things visible
that the human eye does not see at night
“WRITING WITH LIGHT”
The first definitions of photography are focused on how the image is made
There are many techniques for photography, so ‘writing with light’ is very niche and
ambiguous
Daguerre: Portrait of Johanna Elisabeth van Eijk-Bunk
Henry Fox Talbot: used paper instead of metal plates in 1853 (these two were competing
at the beginning)
Wendy McMurdo: early example of the 1990s: a girl encountering herself in an image
WALTER BENJAMIN: REPRODUCIBILITY
Walter Benjamin is a very important German author in the early 20 th century: “It’s not
so much how the image is made that defines photography, but the fact that you can
reproduce it as many times as needed”
→ Reproducibility: everyone can have a Mona Lisa at home, and this is new
→ Photography is a new, democratic medium: all pictures have a certain quality
→ Although there are some limitations, especially in the 19 th century since not all
photographs were reproduceable back then
→ Social impact: because of the invention of photography, you don’t have to be a
journalist to share something that is happening on the streets (Still from Return
to Homs, 2013)
A possible definition: “Photography is a camera image or lens-based media”
→ Encompasses still and moving images (in early times, a camera to film was very
different to a camera to take pictures but they have a shared history)
→ Exception: photogram: a photograph that is made without the camera
→ = you need a piece of paper that is sensitive to light and expose it to light: when
you do that for a while, you have the silhouette of an object on the paper
→ = nice for artists because it allows them to make abstractions
3
, Sofie Vandermarliere
A more recent, artistic perspective on photography: “Photography is a photographic
desire”
→ MOMA: inscribing photography within the art history
PETER GALASSI, BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHY
Peter Galassi, Before Photography: ‘A wall in Naples’ from Thomas Jones is not at
all a painting that is inspired by photography (it was made in 1782), yet Galassi makes
us think about a link between this painting and photography
→ Landscape painting evolving to the banality of everyday spaces: it's not a famous
place in Naples, it looks very ordinary
→ This painting is not attempting to give us a full and complete image of reality,
and according to Galassi, this is what really resembles a photograph: it is only a
small snapshot of reality!
→ John Constable, ‘Study of Tree Trunks’: only the bottom part of a tree and a
vague image of a person -> it could once again be a picture. For modern people,
this image really looks like a photograph
→ John Constable, ‘Study of clouds and trees’: looks to banal for a painting, but this
is the kind of nature that the artist wants to capture
“Photography was not a bastard left by science on the doorstep of art, but a legitimate
child of the Western pictorial tradition.” ~ Peter Galassi
PHOTOGRAPHY ACCORDING TO GALASSI
→ Photography belongs to the tradition of Western visual arts
→ It is a product of the history of art fascinated with ‘more reality’
→ Photography has overturned the criteria and canons of art: it intervenes in what
is happening in art
THE ART HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK: AUTHOR AND STYLE
= institutionalisation of photography within the artistic field: MOMA New York
→ Beaumont Newhall: modernism (introduced modern photography into the
museum)
→ Edward Steichen: photojournalism
→ John Szarkowski: a “boom” for photography (expanded the scope for photography
that was shown at that time)
→ Peter Galassi: Before photography
Yet we do have to remain critical: the role of the author from the image is important, but
the problem with photography is that a lot of knowledge about authorship and style
disappears... This is something we are used to in art history, but is it still relevant in
this context?
Photography historians realise that we must question this much more
4
