Modernism

Modernism

Modernism was the start of the 20^th century.  An era called constructivism which was a new vision where propaganda was used. The Russian revolution in 1917 used propaganda to brain wash people with political messages

Gustav Klutsis (1895 - 1938) was a photographer known for his photomontage.  His propaganda imags show dynamic compositions, distortions of scale and space, angled viewpoints and colliding perspectives which make them perpetually modern.

Art deco emerged in the late 1920's and was a visual arts design style. It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials.  The Bauhaus school created objects that were both functional whilst using rich colours and bold shapes. 

The decisive moment is a moment in time that when you are taking a photo all the elements to make it good come together at the right moment. In Henri Bressons “Behind the Gare St Lazare” it shows the perfect timing of the person jumping over the water.

A consumer society started to take over where machines and mass production replaced the handmade. The machines were seen as being more efficient. Fritz Lang had an idea of dystopia (meaning everything bad) where we lived in a world dominated by machines and man might lose control. Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times' reflects this where he is used to test a machine and things don’t go they was as planned.
American society saw the camera as a tool for reform.