978-0205677207 Chapter 12

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Chapter Twelve: Photography and Time-Based Media

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

• Early History

• Form and Content

• The Photographic Print and Its Manipulation

• Color Photography

• New Technologies: Digital Photography

• Film

• Popular Cinema

• Video

• Computer and Internet-Based Art Media

Works in Progress

Jerry Uelsmann’s Untitled

Bill Viola’s Greeting

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

This Chapter Will:

• outline the history of photography and photographic processes

• discuss the characteristics and purposes of photography

• identify and illustrate the contribution of color to photography

KEY TERMS

camera camera obscura long shot close-up

photogenic drawing calotype traveling shot iris shot

daguerreotype animation flashback full shot

video art film genres cross-cutting pan

MyArtsLab RESOURCES

Closer Look: Eadweard Muybridge, Annie G. Cantering, Saddled

Closer Look: Sergei Eisenstein, The Battleship Potemkin

LECTURE AND DISCUSSION TOPICS

1. The Fourth Dimension

Review the characteristics of two-dimensional and three-dimensional media in the

previous chapters. Introduce the Photography and Time-Based Media chapter as one that

describes a medium that explores the fourth dimension—time. Point out that there is a lot

of debate about what exactly the fourth dimension is. The most logical and most

2. Early Photographic History

Remind students that photography is a relatively new medium. It was not until the 19th

century that the necessary chemistry made it possible to retain an image on a light-

sensitive surface. Explain the different types of supports, such as glass and metal, and the

tedious (and time-consuming) chemical processes used for creating early photographs in

the 19th century. Many early inventors were able to capture an image temporarily, but it

early photographers and their photographic processes using Daguerre’s Le Boulevard du

Temple (fig. 320), Richard Beard’s Maria Edgeworth (fig. 321), and Talbot’s

Mimosoidea Suchas, Acacia (fig. 319).

Discuss how the invention of photography was not well received by painters. Many

portrait and landscape artists felt their careers were doomed, because of photography’s

ability to represent the world. Ironically, photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron

3. Truths and Photography

Of all the arts, none seem to have more elements of realism and objectivity than film,

video, and photography. And, because photography can make an objective record of the

world, it has many uses besides art. In fact, photography has been put to more uses than

any other fine art medium. Have students discuss their experience with cameras and

photography. How many of them own cameras? What kinds? Have they ever purchased

emphasize formal elements over documentary concerns. Ask students to explain the

differences among the aims of Sheeler and Stieglitz, and Sebastiao Salgado’s Four

Figures in the Desert (fig. 327) or Ron Haeberle, Peter Brandt, and An–my Le’s Small

Wars (fig. 328). Can an “art” photograph be journalistic or function as an historical

document? Discuss the social role of photography and journalism using these works and

the work of Walker Evans (Roadside Store (fi. 317). Ask students to find recent

4.The Photographic Print and Its Manipulation

“honest” technique, considering that we are prone to “believe” photographs? Do these

techniques add to the “artistic” quality of the images? Are these questions even relevant

today, considering easy access to software that allows users to endlessly and effortlessly

manipulate digital images?

5. Color Photography

Discuss color photography using the photographs of Joel Meyerowitz (figs. 336) and

Annie Leibovitz (fig. 337) As an early advocate of color photography, Meyerowitz was

instrumental in changing the attitude toward the use of color from one of resistance to

revelation. Refer to Meyerowitz’s interest in color photography. Also, discuss the

formal qualities and historical tradition of Leibovitz’s photograph, and how the content of

6. Film

Describe how moving pictures and experiments in stop-action photography contributed to

the development of film. Show clips from Surrealist artist Fernand Léger’s Ballet

Mécanique (fig. 340) to illustrate how artists were attracted to moving pictures. Cinema

brought a new level of psychological narrative into photography, with editors playing an

important artistic role. In cinema, the editor plays a vital part, interpreting the director’s

7. Popular Cinema

Editors have the ability to represent different kinds of time within film. Flashbacks and

crosscutting, for example, may be utilized to enhance the plot of the film. Ask students

to recall the last film they viewed and how time was represented. The average actual

time it takes to watch a movie is two to three hours, yet the time represented within the

7. Video

Most students are familiar with commercial television, but not many are familiar with the

works of video artists. Ask students to name a video artist and you are likely to hear

names associated with music videos. Inform students that the standard visual techniques

used in music videos have their genesis with the Korean-born artist Nam June Paik. Paik

CRITICAL THINKING: More Opportunities to Think about Art

1. Works in progress: Bill Viola’s The Greeting

Bill Viola’s video, The Greeting (fig. 356), was inspired by a 16th-century painting by

Pontormo, The Visitation (fig. 355). Viola’s goal was to create a video work based on a

painting. The Greeting expresses the passage of time employing the fundamental

2. Thinking about Jeff Wall’s A Sudden Gust of Wind

Many contemporary artists receive inspiration for their work from previous artists. Jeff

Wall relies on 19th–century Japanese master printmaker Sakino Hokusai’s Shunshuu Ejiri

from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (fig.360) for his A Sudden Gust of Wind

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

1. Newspaper Editorial

Students can define and defend a position on a controversial issue in the format of an

editorial. Assign any Andy Warhol film for students to watch and have them write an

editorial to The New York Times in defense of the film.

2. Film Historian

Assign an essay to students that surveys early history of film to include all the major

players and techniques invented.

3. Art Critic

HANDS-ON PROJECTS

1. To Tell the Truth

2. A Day in the Life

Have students create a video presentation about the life of a photographer or filmmaker.

4. Documentary Film

Instruct students to use a video camera to document an event on campus. Let each person

Other Suggested Websites:

A History of Photography contains an extensive history, from earliest times to the

1920s. Includes information on all significant photographers.

Masterworks from the History of Photography is an exhibit from The American

Museum of Photography and includes critical ideas such as what makes a photographic

Masters of Photography: Alfred Stieglitz at Masters of Photography includes photos,

Joel Meyerowitz Photography is a site that includes interviews and the artist’s most

recent series of photographs titled, After September 11: Images from Ground Zero.

The Andy Warhol Homepage contains a complete Andy Warhol filmography as well as

Nam June Paik on the Internet features the artwork of Nam June Paik.

The Bill Viola website includes extensive video works, interviews, and bibliography.