Photography Essay, Research Paper

Capturing images on film has fascinated the human spirit for centuries?

In the 16th century artists and scientists used light passing through a small

hole in a dark room to project inverted images on the opposite wall. Later the

hole was replaced with a lens and by the 18th century a portable box had

replaced the room. In 1727, it was discovered that certain chemicals turned dark

when exposed to light. The first attempt to use these chemicals to record the

image of a camera was made by Thomas Wedgwood in about 1800. This first attempt

was unsuccessful. In 1839, a Frenchmen named Louis Daguerre produced a metal

picture called the Daguerreotype. (?Photography, History and Art of ? 379)

Artistic Photographic images first began appearing in 1889, by Peter Emerson.

He came up with the first idea that there should be 2 types of photography,

artistic and practical. Emerson inspired a new group of photographers with

exciting new ideas and plans. (?Photography, History and Art of ? 380) By

the early 20th century, a network of artistic photographers existed; including

the Linked Ring of Brotherhood in London (founded in 1892) and the Photo

Secession in New York (founded in 1902). This new movement produced many

exceptional photographers one of them being, Alfred Stieglitz. (?Photography,

History and Art of ? 381)

A person who has played a major role in the development of photography as an

art form is Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz was born in 1864 to wealthy Jewish

parents. He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was educated in photography in

Berlin, Germany. His works spanned 2 centuries, the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries. Photography was his passion and his

search for honesty was his obsession. He tried to illustrate his passion and

obsession in his work. His photography was the medium though which he expressed

himself (Lowe 39). His background and family life was influenced by an emphasis

on education. His family emigrated from Europe to the United States. There is

not much information about Stieglitz?s family life between their return to

Europe in 1866 and their move in 1871 to New York. At school in Hoboken, Alfred

became actively interested in baseball. This love of the game of baseball would

continue throughout his life. Alfred?s detailed descriptions of the thrills of

sandlot baseball took on some of the color of reporting that kept him glued to

the radio during the World Series (Lowe 39). The feats he described at age seven

were extraordinary. At this young age the intensity of his efforts to excel and

the dependence that led him to be inventive about the rules of the game of life.

At age 8, Alfred moved from Hoboken ? across the Hudson to Manhattan. That

year Stieglitz and his twin siblings started classes at the Charlier Institute

? a prestigious private school for boys. Family members described Stieglitz

when he was a child as delicate, poetic, and moody (Lowe 45). In June of 1879,

Alfred graduated from Townsend Harris High School. Thus, at the age of 15, he

was enrolled as a freshman at the College of the City of New York. Later he

returned to Germany to study photochemistry. After ten years in Europe, He

returned to New York City and people there had already knew of his works. He

became a partner in the Photochrome Engraving Co. He became interested in

promoting photography as a whole and artistic expression. He worked as Editor of

the American Amateur Photographer. He shed and edited his own magazine Camera

Work, from 1903 to 1917. His periodical changed photography for the world. He

also set up and judged national exhibits of Pictorialist photography. He looked

over the 291 Photo-Secession Gallery, where he and others tried to awake the

American public to modern European movements in visual arts (Lowe 47).

As a photographer himself, he became to feel for the New York life and take

pictures of it. His work was considered inappropriate for artistic treatment in

photography. His personal style evolved the influence of German painting and

Japanese woodblock and two images embody the reality of time. After the closing

of the 291 and his magazine, Camera Work. He went back to his own work. (Lowe

48) He took pictures, which would try and convey an emotional and psychological

meaning. Alfred couldn?t handle life without a gallery. Between the years of

1917 and 1925 he used rooms at the Anderson Galleries, to promote work of a

group of American modernists in both painting and photography. He also opened

two other galleries after that. He died at the age of 82 in 1946 (Lowe 50).

Stieglitz captured images in time, which is one of the greatest marvels to

modern society. His pictures tell a great story. The story can be ill fated or

can be delightful. All stories have to be told and that?s what I would like to

do through the lens of a camera.

was the medium though which he expressed himself. His background and family

life was influenced by an emphasis on education. His family emigrated from

Europe to the United States. There is not much information about Stieglitz?s

family life between their return to Europe in 1866 and their move in 1871 to New

York. At school in Hoboken, Alfred became actively interested in baseball. This

love of the game of baseball would continue throughout his life. Alfred?s

detailed descriptions of the thrills of sandlot baseball took on some of the

color of reporting that kept him glued to the radio during the World Series

(Lowe 39). The feats he described at age seven were extraordinary. At this young

age the intensity of his efforts to excel and the dependence that led him to be

inventive about the rules of the game of life. At age 8, Alfred moved from

Hoboken ? across the Hudson to Manhattan. That year Stieglitz and his twin

siblings started classes at the Charlier Institute ? a prestigious private

school for boys. Family members described Stieglitz when he was a child as

delicate, poetic, and moody (Lowe 45). In June of 1879, Alfred graduated from

Townsend Harris High School. Thus, at the age of 15, he was enrolled as a

freshman at the College of the City of New York. Later he returned to Germany to

study photochemistry. After ten years in Europe, He returned to New York City

and people there had already knew of his works. He became a partner in the

Photochrome Engraving Co. He became interested in promoting photography as a

whole and artistic expression. He worked as Editor of the American Amateur

Photographer. He shed and edited his own magazine Camera Work, from 1903 to

1917. His periodical changed photography for the world. He also set up and

judged national exhibits of Pictorialist photography. He looked over the 291

Photo-Secession Gallery, where he and others tried to awake the American public

to modern European movements in visual arts.

As a photographer himself, he became to feel for the New York life and take

pictures of it. His work was considered inappropriate for artistic treatment in

photography. His personal style evolved the influence of German painting and

Japanese woodblock and two images embody the reality of time. After the closing

of the 291 and his magazine, Camera Work. He went back to his own work. He took

pictures, which would try and convey an emotional and psychological meaning.

Alfred couldn?t handle life without a gallery. Between the years of 1917 and

1925 he used rooms at the Anderson Galleries, to promote work of a group of

American modernists in both painting and photography. He also opened two other

galleries after that. He died at the age of 82 in 1946.

Stieglitz captured images in time, which is one of the greatest marvels to

modern society. His pictures tell a great story. The story can be ill fated or

can be delightful. All stories have to be told and that?s what I would like to

do through the lens of a camera.

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