The Art of photography

Challenging

theTraditions

TheInnovators

Innovationistherejuvenatorofart.Withoutasteadyflowofnewmethodsand

freshideas,anyfield,whetheritbephotographyorthewritingofmoviescripts,

beginstogostale.Agoodinnovator,ofcourse,shouldbethoroughlyversedin

thefundamentalsofhiscraft.Butinchallenging

oldstandardsandexploring

newapproaches,hemayhelp

theartretainitsvitality.Thishasbeentruein

photographyfrom

the

first

anditisstilltruetoday,asresourcefulandimagina-

tivephotographerscontinuetoexperimentwithnewwaystoexpressthem-

selvesinpictures.

Manyphotographicinnovationsseembaffling

atfirstbecausethey takepeo-

plebysurprise.Inbreakingfree

ofconventionalmolds,theyignoreourpre-

conceptions,andconfoundoursenseofwhattoexpect.Inlookingatmost

photographs,mostpeopleshareasetofbasicexperiencesandideas

about

photographythatenablesthemtorecognizewhat

theysee.Theneedforthis

sharedunderstandingisillustrated

byanthropologists'experiencewithpeople

whohavehadlittle

ornocontactwithmoderntechnology.Whenscientistsvisit

aremote

area,theysometimestrytobefriendtheirhosts

by

takingtheir

pic-

tureswithinstant-developingfilm,andofferingthemthe

finishedprint.Butif

theyhaveneverseenphotographs

before,theyarelikelytohandbackthe

printwithblank,uncomprehending

looks.Nothingintheirexperiencehasgiv-

enthemtheability

tointerprettonesorcolorsonapieceofpaper

—aphoto-

graph

—andrecognizeinittheirownlikenesses.Inthesame

way,thoughona

much

moresophisticatedlevel,someof

today'sphotographicinnovationsgo

sofarbeyondourexperienceof

whataphotographisaboutthatwesimply

do

notknow,atfirst,how

toreacttothem.

Thepicturesin

thischapteraretheworkofinnovatorsandmany

ofthem,on

short

acquaintanceat least,arebaffling.Their

creatorshaveusedthemateri-

alsofphotography—buthaveutilized

theminavarietyofpuzzling,unconven-

tionalwaystoexpresstheir

ownspecialvisions.

Forexample,thestriking

abstractdesignonthepreceding

pagestartedwith

anordinarypicture

postcard—aphotographof

seashells.Thephotographer

bought

200 copiesofthecard,andtapedthem

togetherinaswirlingpattern.

The
circulardesignandthelines
risingtoonesidesuggesttherollingofwaves

ontheseashore.

Thecreationof

suchexperimentsisarecurring"new

wave"intheartof

photography.

Everydecadeorso,photographers

suchasMoholy-Nagyand

ManRay

turnupwithabstractwork

thatchallengestheconventionsallover

again.Thelatestsuchchallenge
tothetraditionalphotograph
beganinthe

early

1940s,atthesame

timesomepainterswerebeginning

toexploreab-

stractexpressionism,

astylethatalsomaintainedthat

artcouldbeexpressive

withoutbeing

representational.Thephotographer

whoopenedthewaywas

AaronSiskind,
aclosefriendofabstract
expressionistsWillemdeKooningand

AARONSISKIND:RomeHieroglyph8, 1963

FadinggraffitileftonanexteriorwallInRome

—undecipherable,undatedmarkings

by

anonymousmen

—

providethesourcesforshapes

andtexturesthatmakeupthispicture.But

therealsubjectisthewayinwhichthemarkings

revealthe

photographer'sownfeelingsand

reactions."Asthelanguage.. .ofphotography

hasbeenextended."AaronSiskindwrote,

"the

emphasisofmeaninghasshifted

—

from

whattheworldlooksliketowhatwefeelabout

theworldandwhatwewanttheworldtomean.

"