Turn of the Century Photography

During the turn of the century (1880-1920), things were changing in America in almost every genre imaginable. There were innovations in technology, cars, fashion, but one the thing that really caught my eye was art. Photography in particular. There were innovations in cameras, film, and there was also controversy over whether photography was an art. All of these help shape America in this rapidly changing time period.

Something that was innovative in this time period was the invention of the Kodak hand held camera, made by George Eastman. Eastman got started in photography at the age of 26. In a biography written about him, it says that he would hang around John H. Kent's studio, who was a portrait photographer. This is where Eastman gained his love for photography. As he got more involved with it, he had two mentors that helped him. Their names were George Monroe, and George B. Selden. Eastman learned the basics of photography from them, and decided he wanted to make a living off of it. Eastman formed a love for photography, and he expanded his range of techniques from wet-plate, to dry plate, and eventually colored photographs. Eastman saw photography as a leisure/past time, and thought that people actually making a living off of this are taken for granted. As Eastman got older he started to advance photography. He took the first pictures with a shutter camera in a garden. Eastman wanted to make everyone a photographer, but he thought only pros could understand the technique of wet-plate. Eastman started a company and called it Kodak where the first hand held camera was made. He charged $25 a camera. Although this was great for national and international enterprises because of the high demand for cameras, it lead to the decline of quality of professional work. Because of everyone having a camera photography started to be seen as a recording device. There was no artistic thought behind the average person snapping a picture of his/her family. Because there were thousands of photographers and there were millions of photographs, the quality of a professionals work declined. The invention of the everyday, amateur camera started the debate over whether photography was an art or simply a recording device.

This debate brought Alfred Stieglitz into the picture. He was an advocate for photography as an art form and led groups in this controversy, trying to get verification for photography. Stieglitz is credited with making photography viewed as art. He led the group Photo-Secession, which was a group of photographers which was used to enhance the movement. He used the a form of photography called pictorialism to enhance the artistic aspect of photography. He was against photography as a narrative and just composite printing. Stieglitz was backed by Peter Henry Emerson who wrote an article in Amateur Photographer in 1886 called "Photography a Pictorial Art". With the help from other photographers he got photography to be seen by all people as an art form. In the 1890s the Albright Gallery in Buffalo added 15 photos from Stieglitz 291 Gallery. This was the first time photography was seen as an art form worthy of being put in a Museum.

The use of pictorialism was a major tribute to photography being art. Pictorialism was Stieglitz obsession and profession. Although pictorialism does not have a straight definition, it is when the photographer manipulates the photo in ways to create a new image. It was used as a painterly facade to shows the mediums natural tonal variation and to ad abstraction. Pictorialists tried to use the camera as a painter would with a paint brush giving the image realistic representation.  Pictorialists were the leaders of the movement of photography being an art. Because of their views of photography they thought handheld cameras were an insult to the practice of photography. Most pictorialists ambitions were to make photography a fine art.

The movement of photography becoming art started when photographers were only seen as people that record a memory. Although the Kodak camera did help with was enterprises in America and internationally, it did promote the view of photography as a recording device. Pictorialism was started to emphasize the creativity and vision that goes behind a photo. The pictorialists, especially Stieglitz pushed for people to except photography as an art. With thanks to Stieglitz and others, photography is now viewed highly as a medium for critical art.



Online Book: Aspects of Photography in, or as Conceptual Art - This was a good scholarly site. It was long but it was helpful because of the advanced views of art.


Barbizon School: Movements in Late Nineteenth Century Art- I didn't find a lot of information from this site, but it did expand my knowledge on photography.


Harvard Gazette: When Photography became an Art -This was good because if came from a writer from Harvard.


The J. Paul Getty Museum: Photography Overview and Vocabulary- I looked at this site first and it gave me great background knowledge on photography.


George Eastman- A Biography- This was helpful because Eastman had such a huge role in the transformation of photography


The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Pictorialism in America - I found so much great information on pictorialism in this site.

Example of Pictorialism

First Kodak Camera Ad

George Eastman

Alfred Steiglitz



 

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie's vision was to educate individuals world wide. He believed that just giving money to people would not have been effective because they would not know what to do with it. Instead he started philanthropies all around the world that worked to educate kids in all areas of education. He had philanthropies for the arts and for sciences and in each he wanted them to focus on being individuals. He rewarded people for doing great deeds because it is important to look at the heroic acts of people and reward them and hopefully inspire others to do the same. He spread out his philanthropies all around the world to places like Africa all the way to America and Canada. He did not just trying to fix poverty in his own country because, he had the knowledge of knowing that countries thrive of each other. If one country is failing it can cause others to fail as well.  He knew that for the sake of the Global economy that all countries needed to be educated.

I personally think that this is a great way to try and fix poverty. He was thinking of the big picture and wasn't just trying to just give hand outs to people. The only problem with his approach it that it would take a long time for it to actually have an effect on the economy. For places in need of an immediate fix this was not the best solution. If I had the money to donate to possibly fix world hunger or stop poverty I am not sure which would be the best approach. I agree with Carnegie's theories of educating because it is important to be able to build off of what you are given and not let it waste away. I do however think there is a more efficient way to helping. I am not sure what I would do with all of that money but I know I want to help the world anyway I possibly can. If I had the money I would figure out a way to stop world hunger and lower poverty rates. I want to do something effective, and important.

Controversy in Fashion and Advertisement over Native American Representation

A current controversy in recent newspaper articles and news headlines is companies misrepresenting the Native American Culture. It is seen as being racist and it is a major issue that is being brought to people’s attention. Misrepresentation of Native American Culture in Fashion and in marketing ads is rude to their culture. There are symbols being used offensively, and marketing schemes that are pushing the limits of what the Native American community can stand. Now the Native American communities are finally starting to speak up and voice their problems with it. It is seen mostly in Fashion and in Ads for companies trying to get people’s attention and sell their products. They see this image of Native Americans as a way to boost the value of their items, and they don't the distastefulness of it.

Mostly seen in Fashion Native Americans are being offended by the misuse of symbols and patterns from their culture. Native American tribes such as the Navajo are very offended by recent fashion from Urban Outfitters and Victoria’s Secret. Urban Outfitters recently put out a flask with a Native American pattern on it and women’s underwear with patterns and symbols on it as well. Urban outfitters not only offended Native Americans with the scandalous apparel, but also Federal Trade Laws. Using the name Navajo implied that the company had a connection to the tribe, which is false. The misuse of the patterns and symbols of the Native Americans is very offensive. And in the last Victoria’s Secret Fashion show and model came out in Native American themed outfit with a big headdress to match. These companies were very publicly called out on the offensiveness of what they did, and they both apologized But what to take from this is people are not thinking about the sacredness of these symbols before they put them with something offensive to tribe such as a flask, or women’s underwear. It is safe to say that before they put any of their apparel out for the world to see they go through and make sure it is not offensive to any cultures, but somehow the Native American Culture is forgotten.

 The main problem is most people don’t see it as being racist. It’s not that they are trying to be racist, they just don’t know. With the advertisements the pictures aren’t doing anything for the Native Americans other than making this misrepresented image of them timeless. Native Americans are not just some objectified image that companies can use as a marketing scheme of the romanticized West, and that’s why they are staring to stand up for themselves. If you take a look at African American images in advertisement like the logo for Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, the woman in the picture has been modernized to suit a present day representation of the culture. African Americans have altered in Ads to be racially sensitive but Native Americans have not. Why should the Native American representation in marketing be any different? African American pictures compared to Native American pictures show how people view them differently. Native Americans have been objectified and it is going to take a lot to change this image of them in peoples minds.

 

Aunt Jemima Picutre changed over time

Daily Nebraska News
This Website was useful because it gave me a lot of information on the issues that were in the news.
Winnebagos, Cherokees, Apaches...
This website was good because it went into depth on the more scholarly side of the issue I was researching. When I originally searched I only found news articles and this website gave me the more important information I needed.
Under-representation of Native Americans in the Mainstream Media This website gave me a first look at the marketing and advertising side of my topic. It gave me a lot of background information to expand on, and gave me a different angle to look at rather than just fashion.















Urbanoutfitters Native American Flask
















Victorias secret native american headdress
Culture and the Ad This source was helpful because it gave me a lot of examples of the Advertisement side of the issue instead of the fashion side that I was trying to get away from.

Cowboys in U.S. History

In American history a cowboy is seen as a heroic figure. A man that seeks justice and is very courageous. He rides horses carries a gun everywhere he goes,  and fights of Indians. In many western movies they give prime examples of what a cowboys was romanticized as; usually very good looking, always go the girl, that sort of thing. But in reality the cowboy was a very low paid working class man that spent his days herding in fields. This character was derived from the Mexican vaqueros. His job was to protect his herd and not much more. Cowboys rarely saw opportunities for improvement in their work. They were pretty much sentenced to a lonely life with cows for friends.

The image of the romanticized cowboy was put into the world so when you think of the west you think of this magnificent character and everything was hunky-dory and the good always won.  The historical reality of the west was that it was very hard to find work for a while. There were a lot of immigrants taking jobs that a lot of Americans set out west to have. There was an over population of Chinese at first and they use this as a way to cover up the problems. The farmers had a hard time adjusting to land with the different landscape and at first the economy struggled. So people needed something to look up to, so the romanticized version of the cowboy was born.

What made the American cowboy idealized was the fact that people needed something to look up to, to have something to put faith in. With all the failing jobs and struggles people were going through. Once this image became known many books were published of this romanticized version of the cowboy. One of the first movies with sound came out about a cowboy and this image took of in the U.S. People seek to have someone to look up to and when the west was struggling, and this heroic image came about it gave the people something to take their minds of the bad things.

Chapter 15 Reflection

I did not know a lot about the Post-Civil war at all. I knew there was segregation after the civil war, that even though blacks were free, they were not equal.I didn't know how it became that way or why, but I was eager to learn. I didn't know anything on the Reconstruction of the South, and I didn't know the separate Amendments.  I have never really been into history so I never really cared that much about it. In our first section of study we have done a lot with comparing it to present day politics and events, so it has made learning it a lot more interesting. I think that's why it is important for people to learn about our nations history, because history repeats itself and if we don't know about the past there is no way we can learn from the mistakes that were made. In America people pride themselves on living in a place where everyone is free and I think it is beneficial to the people of America to know how that came to be and to be able to pride ourselves on being a strong country.

In this unit, a topic that really stood out to me was the Tim Crow Law's. I already knew the basics about segregation, for instance, where blacks could or could not sit, where they were allowed to be, and their rights. I didn't know a lot about the legal things about it and why it was excepted. Now I know how the "laws" came to be and how they enforced them. The literacy tests and Plessy verses F
Ferguson where how whites enforced the laws and how they were able to get around the 14th and 15th amendments. After learning about the Tim Crow Laws I understand the challenges had to face after slavery and the hard journey they have had to take to get to where they are now.

http://animoto.com/play/S95WuRIdMBxR1P67rS9xwg

This is my animoto of what I think of America as. I picked my pictures from what first comes to mind when I think of America and I first started thinking of things had the word 'america' in them and I thought of Miss America. Then I thought of cuisine, and 'american cuisine' is typically thought of as greasy hamburger and fries. Then I thought of all the sort of landmarks in America, for example the "hollywood" sign, time square, and the statue of liberty. After finding the picture of the statue of liberty I stared to think from more of a patriotic standpoint and thought, a time when I am really proud to be an American is when the Olympics are on and America is winning and we are making such a great reputation for ourselves in the world. Something else I think Americans really pride themselves on are our army, and our troops, and also what family is, so when I found a picture of a mother seeing her child after being gone so long in war, I really felt that this conveyed the morals of America and what is important in our hearts. And for the last picture I chose the American Flag, because what says America more?