The Art of photography

blindly

intotheunknown.Themapcanindicate

ausefulwaytoadestination,

eventhoughitcannot

set

an

exactcourse.

Thehistoryofphotography

isfullofattemptstospecifymorepreciselythe

bestcoursefor

makingpictures.Twoofthemostprominent

schoolsofthought

have

beentheso-calledpictorialistandpuristapproaches.

Thepictorialists,

whoexertedagooddealofinfluenceduring

the19thCentury,heldfixedopin-

ionsaboutwhataphotograph

shouldshowandhowitshouldbeshown.They

sharedtheartistic

conceptsofpaintersoftheirtime,andtheycouldbedown-

right

vehementininsistingontheirtenets;forexample,in 1 859,FrancisFrith,a

leadingEnglishlandscapephotographer,advised

abeginnerthat

"if

hebe

possessedofagrainofsenseorperception,[he]will

neverrestuntilhehas

acquaintedhimselfwith

therulesthatareappliedtoart...andhewillmakeit

hisconstant

andmostanxiousstudyhowhecanapplytheserulestohisown

pursuit."Thepictorialistsbelievedphotographsshouldhaveadramaticcenter

of interestandshouldbeastastefulaspaintingsandprints ofthe

time,

leading

theviewer'seyethroughtheimagein

a

livelymanner,

butallthesamegivinga

comfortablefeelingofstability.

Theyalsohadstrongopinionsabouttheideas

tobeconveyed,preferringmythologicalthemes,sentimentalvisionsoffamily

life,idylliclandscapesandothersubjectmatterfarremovedfromeveryday

reality.Andtheirtechnicalprocedures—employingsoft-focus lenses,hand-

manipulatedprintsandmanyothertechniques—

made

their

imagesunlike

thoseofnormal

visionbutmuchlikethoseinpaintings.

Thepurists,reactingtotheexcessesofthepictorialists,adoptedacom-

pletelydifferentsetofcanons.Theyinsistedthataphotographshowwhat

humanvisionwouldseeundertechnicallyidealconditions:everythingperfect-

lysharpandclearlypositionedin

space

(humans

donot

normally

seethatway.

ofcourse,anymore

thanthey

normally

seethe

fuzzy,

sweetvisionsofthe

pictorialists).Techniquesthatbroughtsuchresultsinfluencedcontentandin-

terpretations;thepurists'portfoliosarefullofsweepinglandscapesthatdelin-

eateeverytextureandtone,andcalmportraitsthatrevealeachporeinthe

subjects'faces.

Boththepictorialistand

puristapproachesyieldedgreatpictures.Their

sys-

temsofphotographyworked,becausegiftedcreatorswereabletomeldvisual

ingredients,meaninganddesignintointelligible,concertedwholes—regard-

lessofwhichsetofrulesthephotographerchosetoworkwith.Theportfolioof

picturesonthefollowingpagespresentsanarrayofrouteschartedacrossthe

mapofoptions.

Hereistheartofphotography,aspracticedinthe20thCen-

tury,workingitsspellofcommunicationinavarietyofways.Perhapsthecre-

ativethrustbehindeachpicturecanonlybedescribedbythemysteriousterm

genius

—

butthefundamentalprinciplesexhibitedbythepicturesarebothex-

plainableanduniversallyavailable.