Episode 42: Photography's Struggle to become Art

Since its birth in 1839, photography has gone through some ups and downs within the realm of the arts. There are some great photographers who made it their goal to help this cause.

This cartoon shows that Nadar was one of the most respected photographers in Paris
during his time. He was also a respected art critic, which probably helped

 Julia Margaret Cameron's work in pictorialism is beautiful and feminine. While her portraits were the more respected body of her work until more recently, she did show how photographs could mimic painting and bring an other worldly quality to them.

Oscar Gustave Rejlander

Oscar Gustave Rejlander was a painter first, and pulls his sense of painting right into his photographs.

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen arguably did the most for photography during this early period, having a hand in gallery work, magazine production, and producing beautiful imagery as well. He also worked for the MoMA, which gave him the perfect opportunity to spread his thoughts about photography and its beauty into the art world more than it already had been.

Ansel Adams

Edward Weston

Edward Weston

Edward Weston and Ansel Adams are two of the best examples of Modern photographers. They wanted their images to be sharply in focus, and look to shape and form to make interesting compositions.

William Eggleston

Even when black and white photography were grudgingly accepted as art, color photography still had to push its way into recognition. William Eggleston had the first all color photography show at the MoMA thanks to John Szarkowski, who was not only a curator determined to help photography, but also a prolific writer for art theory regarding the camera.