Visual Culture: 6: The Late Nineteenth Century: 1900-1920 Art Photography/Alfred Stieglitz (1900s-1920s)

1900s to 1920s in Photography/Art Photography

Timeline of Photography from 1900 to 1920
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_photography_technology

• 1900 – Kodak introduces their first Brownie, a very inexpensive user-reloadable point-and-shoot box camera.
• 1901 – Kodak introduces the 120 film format.
• 1902 – Arthur Korn devises practical telephotography technology (reduction of photographic images to signals that can be transmitted by wire to other locations); Wire-Photos in wide use in Europe by 1910, and transmitted intercontinentally by 1922.
• 1907 – The Autochrome plate is introduced and becomes the first commercially successful color photography product.
• 1908 – Kinemacolor, a two-color process that is the first commercial "natural color" system for movies, is introduced.
• 1909 – Kodak announces a 35 mm "safety" motion picture film on an acetate base as an alternative to the highly flammable nitrate base. The motion picture industry discontinues its use after 1911 due to technical imperfections.
• 1912 – Vest Pocket Kodak using 127 film.
• 1912 – Thomas Edison introduces a short-lived 22 mm home motion picture format using acetate "safety" film manufactured by Kodak.
• 1913 – Kodak makes 35 mm panchromatic motion picture film available on a bulk special order basis.
• 1914 – Kodak introduces the Autographic film system.
• 1914 – The World, the Flesh and the Devil, the first dramatic feature film in color (Kinemacolor), is released.

http://www.brownie-camera.com/ <- the Brownie Camera from Kodak

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/early-modern-photography.html

Before 1900 - Portraits of families and wealthy people

1900 - the same but with a quicker shutter speed

1914 - WW1 photography used for documentation of events rather than documentation of individuals

1859 when photography was displayed alongside art, but was not considered to be art because of it's mechanical process whereas art was considered to be made by the skill of the artist. Kodak's slogan at the time was ''you press the button, we do the rest'' which went along with the effortlessness of taking a photograph.

Artists such as Alfred Stieglitz formed groups and societies that went against this idea that photography was too mechanical to be art. He took photographs like any other photographer but his process relied heavily on experimentation. He ran tests with different papers with different surfaces and different coatings. 

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946), Equivalent, 1925, Gelatin silver print, 9.3 x 11.9 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1928

Alfred Stieglitz, Equivalent, 1925; printed 1927; gelatin silver print, 4 5/8 in. x 3 5/8 in. (11.75 cm x 9.21 cm); Collection SFMOMA, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Gift of Georgia O'Keeffe

Alfred Stieglitz (american, 1864-1946), Equivalent, 1926, Gelatin silver print, 12.065 x 9.525 cm, The Alfred Stieglitz collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1949