The art of photography, from its first steps, received many influences from the field of painting. Countless movements in this field pushed photography to its adoption and further evolution. More or less, we could say that photography follows painting and is completely affected by its evolution. Today we will explore all the beautiful aspects that affected photography and their influence today.
- Humanism
One would say that any work by a photographer depicting an individual and their abilities should be called “humanistic.” The fundamental element of humanism is people, whose every decision transforms the universal essence of the world. It is a movement of ideas and liberal philosophical views oriented to human beings’ unique abilities and potential use.
It grew significantly in the 1930s, during the great economic crisis, and played the role of witness to the crimes of World War II. The pictures of the time include poor people living on the street, underpaid workers, and the unemployed part of the population. The idea is to focus on the cruelty in an attempt to bring to the surface their miserable living conditions. Towards the end, the movement acquired a more optimistic character. - Constructivism
Beginning in Russia, the Constructivist movement in photography rejected the personal way of photographing, individualism, and peculiar expression, that is, the elements that make up bourgeois art.
Adapted to the requirements of the new Soviet reality, it made photography suitable for the visual propaganda of posters and illustrations in magazines and books. A new era had begun, and photography incorporated photomontage into its technique. - Impressionism
A characteristic of Impressionism in photography is the rendering of color as a particular impression of the lighting at a given time. The development of instant photography at the time was crucial. It allowed photographers to explore the beauty that comes from spontaneous pictures.
Many Impressionist painters are amateurs in the field of photography. The Impressionist movement also influences photographers in the search for artistic identity in their works. - Surrealism
After World War II came to an end, two great movements emerged, and they were destined to change the way people perceived art. These movements were Dadaism (entry of war into art and morality) and Surrealism, inspired by Andre Breton.
Surrealism, visibly influenced by Freud, aimed to free forces from the unconscious part of the human soul, disrupting the traditional conceptions of the time. Photography was a central point of both movements and especially in Surrealism. - The Bauhaus
The Bauhaus was, in fact, an art school. It was founded by the architect Walter Gropius. The main idea of the Bauhaus was to harmonize artistic traditions with the industrial society, which at that time was considered to be highly opposed. The Bauhaus school boasted a great group of European teachers. Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy were the most famous and associated with avant-garde circles.
The Bauhaus developed an extremely interesting curriculum and a unique style that influenced the entire West. Photography originally played a relatively minor role in the Bauhaus. This changed in 1923 with Moholy-Nagy. He published an illustrated book with photographs taken by him and his wife, Lucia Moholy, which summed up the breadth and range of possibilities offered by the Bauhaus.The art of photography, especially during the twentieth century, flourished and laid the foundation for its later development into one of the most exciting sources of artistic creation. Every photographer is an artist. Artists can capture feelings, concerns, experiences, and thoughts through their special way of photographing. They are inspired by everyday life, routine, and people, and they can create art. Photography is clearly an art, and as it happens with every kind of art, time defines its value.
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