Photo-Secession
Encyclopedia
Pictorialism
Pictorialism is the name given to a photographic movement in vogue from around 1885 following the widespread introduction of the dry-plate process. It reached its height in the early years of the 20th century, and declined rapidly after 1914 after the widespread emergence of Modernism...
in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
and F. Holland Day
F. Holland Day
Fred Holland Day was an American photographer and publisher. He was the first in the U.S.A. to advocate that photography should be considered a fine art.-Life:...
in the early 1900s, held the then controversial viewpoint that what was significant about a photograph was not what was in front of the camera but the manipulation of the image by the artist/photographer to achieve his or her subjective vision. The movement helped to raise standards and awareness of art photography. The group is the American counter part to the Linked Ring, an invitation only British group which seceded from the Royal Photographic Society
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
.
Context and history
The group was formed in 1902 after Stieglitz was asked by the National Arts ClubNational Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
to put together an exhibition of the best in contemporary American photography. While organizing the show, Stieglitz had a disagreement with some of the more conservative members of the Club about which photographers should be included. To strengthen his position, Stieglitz rapidly formed an invitation-only group, which he called the Photo-Secession, to give the impression that his views were backed by many other prominent photographers. Although he later claimed that he had “enlisted the aid of the then newly organized and limited ‘Photo-Secession’," in fact there was no such group until he formed it on February 17, 1902, just two weeks before the show at the National Arts Club was scheduled to open.
In naming the group, Stieglitz is thought to have been influenced by the 1898 Munich Secession Exhibition (Verglag des Vereines Bildender Kunstler Muchnes "Sezession"). Stieglitz corresponded frequently with Fritz Matthies-Masuren, who wrote an essay in the catalog for the Munich exhibition, and he was captivated by the thought of photographers defining their own art form. In 1899 he wrote:
- In Munich, the art-centre of Germany, the 'Secessionists', a body of artists comprising the most advanced and gifted men of their times, who (as the name indicates have broken away from the narrow rules of custom and tradition) have admitted the claims of the pictorial photograph to be judged on its merits as a work of art independently, and without considering the fact that it has been produced through the medium of the camera.
Later in his life, Stieglitz gave this account about the origins of the Photo-Secession:
- National Arts Club Director Charles DeKayCharles DeKayCharles Augustus DeKay was a linguist, poet, critic and a fencer. He was a son of George Coleman De Kay, a naval officer. He was best known for founding the National Arts Club and the Fencers Club. He was inducted into the United States Fencing Hall of Fame in 2008...
: "What shall we call this [exhibition]?" - Stieglitz: "Call it An Exhibition of American Photography arranged by the Photo-Secession".
- DeKay: "What's that? Who is it?"
- Stieglitz: "Yours truly, for the present, and there'll be others when the show opens. The idea of Secession is hateful to Americans - they'll be thinking of the Civil War. I'm not. Photo-Secession actually means a seceding from the accepted idea of what constitutes a photograph."
Cultural historian Jay Bochner points out that it is important to look at the Photo-Secession for more than visual aesthetics:
- What, then, was this secession from? It was not only from artwork that had gone stale through the copying of Victorian, conventional styles, but more importantly from the dictatorship of the entrenched institutions, galleries, art schools and professional art organizations that enforced or at very least sanctioned copying or imitation.
Proponents of Pictorialism
Pictorialism
Pictorialism is the name given to a photographic movement in vogue from around 1885 following the widespread introduction of the dry-plate process. It reached its height in the early years of the 20th century, and declined rapidly after 1914 after the widespread emergence of Modernism...
, which was the underlying value of the Photo-Secession, argued that photography needed to emulate the painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
of the time. Pictorialists believed that, just as a painting is distinctive because of the artist’s manipulation of the materials to achieve an effect, so too should the photographer alter or manipulate the photographic image. Among the methods used were soft focus
Soft focus
In photography, soft focus is a lens flaw, in which the lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. A soft focus lens deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as an...
; special filters and lens coatings; burning, dodging
Dodging
Dodging and burning are terms used in photography for a technique used during the printing process to manipulate the exposure of a selected area on a photographic print, deviating from the rest of the image's exposure...
and/or cropping in the darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
to edit the content of the image; and alternative printing processes such as sepia toning, carbon print
Carbon print
A carbon print is a photographic print with an image consisting of pigmented gelatin, rather than of silver or other metallic particles suspended in a uniform layer of gelatin, as in typical black-and-white prints, or of chromogenic dyes, as in typical photographic color prints.In the original...
ing, platinum printing
Platinotype
Platinum prints, also called platinotypes, are photographic prints made by a monochrome printing process that provides the greatest tonal range of any printing method using chemical development....
or gum bichromate
Gum bichromate
Gum bichromate is a 19th century photographic printing process based on the light sensitivity of dichromates. It is capable of rendering painterly images from photographic negatives. Gum printing is traditionally a multi-layered printing process, but satisfactory results may be obtained from a...
processing.
Content of the images often referred to previous work done by other artists, especially Greek and Roman art. Images often contained stylistic consistency such as dramatic lighting, perspective, geometry, use of monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
/black and white, and high contrast
High Contrast
Lincoln Barrett, better known by the stage name High Contrast , is a Welsh drum and bass DJ and producer.-History:...
.
In founding the Photo-Secession, Stieglitz asserted that it was a “rebellion against the insincere attitude of the unbeliever, of the Philistine, and largely exhibition authorities.” While this was in part true, his actions demonstrated that the creation of the Photo-Secession was also about advancing his own position in the world of photography and art.
Stieglitz’s sole role in forming and tightly controlling the Photo-Secession was made clear by two exchanges that took place at the opening of the National Arts Club show. In the first, Stieglitz implied that membership in the group was relatively open:
- Gertrude KäsebierGertrude KäsebierGertrude Käsebier was one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century. She was known for her evocative images of motherhood, her powerful portraits of Native Americans and her promotion of photography as a career for women.-Early life :Käsebier was born Gertrude...
: “What’s this Photo-Secession? Am I a photo-secessionist?” - Stieglitz: “Do you feel that you are?”
- Käsebier: “I do.”
- Stieglitz: “Well, that’s all there is to it.”
However, when Charles Berg asked Stieglitz if he, too, was a Photo-Secessionist, Stieglitz brusquely informed him that he was not. Stieglitz gave this response even though he was the one responsible for including three of Berg’s photos in the show.
The “membership” of the Photo-Secession varied according to Stieglitz’s interests and temperament but was centered around the core group of Stieglitz, Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
, Clarence H. White
Clarence Hudson White
Clarence Hudson White was an American photographer, teacher and a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement. He grew up in small towns in Ohio, where his primary influences were his family and the social life of rural America. After visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in...
, Käsebier, Frank Eugene
Frank Eugene
Frank Eugene was an American-born photographer who was a founding member of the Photo-Secession and one of the first university-level professors of photography in the world.-Life:...
, F. Holland Day
F. Holland Day
Fred Holland Day was an American photographer and publisher. He was the first in the U.S.A. to advocate that photography should be considered a fine art.-Life:...
, and later Alvin Langdon Coburn
Alvin Langdon Coburn
Alvin Langdon Coburn was an early 20th century photographer who became a key figure in the development of American pictorialism...
.
The photographers included in the first exhibition were C. Yarnell Abbott, Prescott Adamson, Arthur E. Becher, Charles I. Berg, Alice Boughton
Alice Boughton
Alice Boughton was an early 20th century American photographer known for her photographs of many literary and theatrical figures of her time...
, John G. Bullock, Rose Clark and Elizabeth Flint Wade, F. Colburn Clarke, F. Holland Day, Mary M. Devens
Mary Devens
Mary Devens was an American photographer who was considered one of the ten most prominent pictorial photographers of the early 20th century...
, William B. Dyer, Thomas M. Edmiston, Frank Eugene, Dallett Fuguet, Tom Harris, Gertrude Käsebier
Gertrude Käsebier
Gertrude Käsebier was one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century. She was known for her evocative images of motherhood, her powerful portraits of Native Americans and her promotion of photography as a career for women.-Early life :Käsebier was born Gertrude...
, Joseph T. Keily, Mary Morgan Keipp, Oscar Maurer, William B. Post, Robert S. Redfield, W. W. Renwick, Eva Watson-Schütze
Eva Watson-Schütze
Eva Watson-Schütze was an American photographer and painter who was one of the founding members of the Photo-Secession.-Life:...
, T. O’Conor Sloane, Jr., Ema Spencer, Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
, Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
, Edmund Stirling, Henry Troth, Mathilde Weil and Clarence H. White
Clarence Hudson White
Clarence Hudson White was an American photographer, teacher and a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement. He grew up in small towns in Ohio, where his primary influences were his family and the social life of rural America. After visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in...
.
In 1905 Stieglitz established with Steichen the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, a small but highly influential gallery where he continued to exhibit some of the more well-known members of the movement. The group continued to exhibit under the Photo-Secession name until about 1910, when several photographers finally grew tired of Stieglitz’s autocratic ways and left the group.
In 1916 Käsebier, White, Coburn and others formed an organization called the Pictorial Photographers of America(PPA) to continue promotion of the pictorial style. A year later Stieglitz formally dissolved the Photo-Secession, although by that time it existed in name only.
Stieglitz's statement
The following notice appeared in Camera WorkCamera Work
Camera Work was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It is known for its many high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world and its editorial purpose to establish photography as a fine art...
, no. 3, Supplement, July 1903
The Photo-Secession
- "So many are the enquiries as to the nature and aims of the Photo- Secession and requirements of eligibility to membership therein, that we deem it expedient to give a brief résumé of the character of this body of photographers.
- The object of the Photo-Secession is: to advance photography as applied to pictorial expression; to draw together those Americans practicing or otherwise interested in the art, and to hold from time to time, at varying places, exhibitions not necessarily limited to the productions of the Photo-Secession or to American work.
- It consists of a Council (all of whom are Fellows); Fellows chosen by the Council for meritorious photographic work or labors in behalf of pictorial photography, and Associates eligible by reason of interest in, and sympathy with, the aims of the Secession.
- In order to give Fellowship the value of an honor, the photographic work of a possible candidate must be individual and distinctive, and it goes without saying that the applicant must be in thorough sympathy with our aims and principles.
- To Associateship are attached no requirements except sincere sympathy with the aims and motives of the Secession. Yet, it must not be supposed that these qualifications will be assumed as a matter of course, as it has been found necessary to deny the application of many whose lukewarm interest in the cause with which we are so thoroughly identified gave no promise of aiding the Secession. It may be of general interest to know that quite a few, perhaps entitled by their photographic work to Fellowship, have applied in vain. Their rejection being based solely upon their avowed or notoriously active opposition or equally harmful apathy. Many whose sincerity could not be questioned were refused Fellowship because the work submitted was not equal to the required standard. Those desiring further information must address the Director of the Photo-Secession, Mr. Alfred Stieglitz, 1111 Madison Avenue, New York."
List of members
List of Members of the Photo-Secession, found in Camera WorkCamera Work
Camera Work was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It is known for its many high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world and its editorial purpose to establish photography as a fine art...
, no. 3, Supplement, July 1903
Fellows (Founders and Council)
- John G. Bullock - Philadelphia
- William. B Dyer. - Chicago
- Dallett Fuguet - New York
- Gertrude KäsebierGertrude KäsebierGertrude Käsebier was one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century. She was known for her evocative images of motherhood, her powerful portraits of Native Americans and her promotion of photography as a career for women.-Early life :Käsebier was born Gertrude...
- New York - Joseph T. KeileyJoseph KeileyJoseph Turner Keiley was an early 20th century photographer, writer and art critic. He was a close associate of photographer Alfred Stieglitz and was one of the founding members of the Photo-Secession...
- New York - Robert S. Redfield - Philadelphia
- Eva Watson-SchützeEva Watson-SchützeEva Watson-Schütze was an American photographer and painter who was one of the founding members of the Photo-Secession.-Life:...
- Chicago - Eduard J. SteichenEdward SteichenEdward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
- New York - Alfred StieglitzAlfred StieglitzAlfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
- New York - Edmund Stirling - Philadelphia
- John F. Strauss - New York
- Clarence H. WhiteClarence Hudson WhiteClarence Hudson White was an American photographer, teacher and a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement. He grew up in small towns in Ohio, where his primary influences were his family and the social life of rural America. After visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in...
- Newark, Ohio
The following were also listed Fellows, but not members of the Council
- Alvin Langdon CoburnAlvin Langdon CoburnAlvin Langdon Coburn was an early 20th century photographer who became a key figure in the development of American pictorialism...
- Boston - Mary DevensMary DevensMary Devens was an American photographer who was considered one of the ten most prominent pictorial photographers of the early 20th century...
- Boston - William B. Post - Fryeburg, Me.
- S. L. Willard - Chicago
Associates
- Prescott Adamson - Philadelphia
- W. P. Agnew - New York
- A. C. Bates - Cleveland, Ohio
- Edward LaVelle Bourke - Chicago
- Annie W. BrigmanAnne BrigmanAnne Wardrope Brigman was an American photographer and one of the original members of the Photo-Secession movement in America. Her most famous images were taken between 1900 and 1920, and depict nude women in primordial, naturalistic contexts.-Life:Brigman was born in the Nuuanu Valley above...
- Oakland, Cal. - Norman W. Carkhuff - Washington
- W. E. Carlin - New York
- J. Mitchell Elliot - Philadelphia
- Dr. Milton Franklin - New York
- George A. Heisey – Newark, Oh.
- Sam S. Holzman - New York
- Marshall P. Kernochan - New York
- Sarah H. LaddSarah LaddSarah Hall Ladd was an early 20th century American pictorial and landscape photographer.Ladd was born Sarah L. Hall in Somerville, Massachusetts, the daughter of John Gill Hall and Sarah Cushing. Little is known about her childhood.On 7 September 1881 she married Charles E...
- Portland, Ore. - Chester Abbott Lawrence - New York
- Fred K. Lawrence - Chicago
- Oscar Maurer - San Francisco
- William J. Mullins - Franklin, Pa.
- Olive M. Potts - Philadelphia
- Harry B. Reid - New York
- Harry C. Rubincam - Denver
- T. O’Conor Sloane - Orange, N. J.
- Walter P. Stokes - Philadelphia
- Mrs. George A. Stanbery - Zanesville, Ohio
- Katherine Stanbery - Zanesville, Ohio
- George B. Vaux - Philadelphia
- Mary Vaux - Philadelphia
- Lily E. White - Portland, Ore.
- Myra Wiggins - Salem, Ore.Myra Albert WigginsMyra Albert Wiggins was an American painter and pictorial photographer who became a member of the important early 20th century Photo-Secession movement.-Early years :...
- Arthur W. Wilde - Philadelphia
Later the following photographers were listed as Members of the Photo-Secession. Unlike Fellows and Associates, no definition was given of what constituted a member. All categories and assignments of membership were made by Stieglitz himself.
- Charlotte C. Albright - Buffalo, N. Y.
- J. W. Alexander - New York
- John Aspinwall - Newburgh, N.Y.
- Alice BoughtonAlice BoughtonAlice Boughton was an early 20th century American photographer known for her photographs of many literary and theatrical figures of her time...
- New York - A. K. Boursault - New York
- John M. Bowles - New York
- F. E. Brown - Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Francis BruguièreFrancis BruguièreFrancis Joseph Bruguière was an American-born photographer. Friends with Alfred Stieglitz, Bruguière worked in San Francisco , New York, and London....
- San Francisco - Elizabeth BuehrmannElizabeth BuehrmannElizabeth "Bessie" Buehrmann was an American photographer and artist who was one of the pioneers of taking formal portraits of people in their own homes rather than in a studio....
- Chicago - Charles H. Caffin - New York
- S. R. Carter -Toronto, Canada
- Mrs. F. F. Coburn - New York
- C. C. Crowther - Kobe, Japan
- S. D. Dixon - New York
- J. M. Drivet - New York
- Charles B. Duryea - New York
- Hiram Duryea - New York
- W. G. Eckstein - New York
- Frank EugeneFrank EugeneFrank Eugene was an American-born photographer who was a founding member of the Photo-Secession and one of the first university-level professors of photography in the world.-Life:...
- New York - Herbert G. French - Cincinnati
- George Haviland - New York
- Paul HavilandPaul HavilandPaul Burty Haviland was an early French-American 20th century photographer, writer and arts critic who was closely associated with Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession.-Life:...
- New York - L. A. Heinsheimer - New York
- H. A. Hess - Springfield, Ill.
- J. P. Hodgins - Toronto, Canada
- L. J. R. Holst - New York
- S. S. Hornor - Concordville, Pa.
- F. W. Hunter - New York
- W. F. James - Chicago
- Frances B. JohnstonFrances Benjamin JohnstonFrances "Fannie" Benjamin Johnston was one of the earliest American female photographers and photojournalists.- Life :...
- Washington
- Walter G. Jones - New York
- Edward W. Keck - Rochester, N. Y.
- Spencer, Jr. Kellogg - Buffalo, N. Y.
- J. B. Kerfoot - New York
- R. Kimbell - New York
- Louis A. Lamb - Chicago
- H. W. Lance - New York
- J. N. Laurvik - New York
- S. Brainerd Lawrence - New York
- Adelaide C.[sic] Leeson - Douglas, Alaska
- A. A. Lewis - New York
- Helen. Lohman - New York
- C. H. Macdowell - Chicago
- F. F. Marks - Camden, N. J.
- L. M. McCormick - Asheville, N. C.
- Arthur. Mooney - New York
- Charles Peabody - Cambridge, Mass.
- Jeanette B. Peabody - Cambridge, Mass.
- F. H. Pratt - Worcester, Mass.
- Landon Rives - Cobham, Va.
- C. W. Roepper - Philadelphia
- L. B. Schram - New York
- Sarah C. SearsSarah Choate SearsSarah Choate Sears was an American art collector, art patron, cultural entrepreneur, artist and photographer.-Early life:Sears, née Sarah Carlisle Choate, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 5 May 1858, the daughter of Charles Francis and Elizabeth Carlisle Choate...
-Boston - George Seeley - Stockbridge, Mass.
- H. S. Smith - Boston
- L. F. Stephany - Pittsburgh
- Albert E. Sterner - New York
- Karl Strauss - New York
- Elizabeth R. Tyson - Boston
- S. S. Webber - Trenton, N. J.
- W. E. Wilmerding - New York