Romantics

Pre-Rafallights

                                Charles Dodgson took photos in 1870 of Alice Liddell (Alice in wonderland) on her 18^th birthday; these were the last photographs of her and the letters sent between them both were destroyed. At this time Photographers copied painter as they were interested in the medieval notions and gothic revival for example Manchester Town hall was built in pre-industrial times, because the industry was still building artists documented this through paintings and photographs, the group of painters that used this style of buildings as inspiration for their art were called ‘pre Rafallights’; this was also the influence for writers. Julia Margret Cameron took photographs of her family and servants from her estate in medieval costumes; for example “The mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty” in 1866 portrayed innocence, nature, mythology, narratives and the Greek morals from their myths and stories. Julia wasn’t part of the ‘pre Rafallights’ but was very much influenced by them and also Shakespeare’s theatre so she would stage different stories and take the photographs.

Paintings

                Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted “La Ghirlandata” in 1873 of his wife in a sexual, provocative and romantic way. By using nature as a theme with flowers and greenery and the notion of Mother Nature as beautiful and pure shows how he sees his wife. Sir John Everett Millais used Shakespeare’s story and medieval mythology to create his piece called “Ophelia” in 1851- 1852. Alfred Horsley Hinton used Platinum print to produce “Sunshine and rain” and so began the ‘Pictorialists’. At this time music changed too, for example, Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod” in 1898 was powerful, emotional and romantic; he went on to create “Swan Lake and was famous throughout Russia and Europe. This was new as emotions were being shown through different arts; in photography it became diverse and romantic with emphasis on nature as a reaction to industrialisation. The arts became a way to express yourself emotionally and became acceptable to create pieces reflecting and looking back and being unsure about where we are heading with industrialisation; Alexander Keighley’s piece named “The Dayspring from on high” showed this well. Fredrick Henry Evans in 1896 wanted to bring back the focus on manmade objects and the ‘Arts and crafts Movement’ began; this took people back in time to make things rather than get machines in factories to do the work (handmade not mass production) made the consumer goods feel more intimate to the buyers and more attached to them as it was noticeable and respected how much effort had gone into the making of the object. 

                Dr Peter Henry Emerson took photographs like “Gathering Waterlillies” in 1896 He posed workers collecting lilies even though there was no reason for this but to convey romance between work and leisure and the beauty of working with nature; because it’s inaccurate it creates a myth. “Poling the Marsh Hay” in 1886 was a Marxist notion of work and labour and so made in to shows in galleries on platinum print. Claude Monet’s picture of “Girl with Umbrella” also in 1886 began the ‘Impressionists’ which was a movement of paintings and became a style; they captured a fleeting moment in time and was influenced by photography as it could achieve this well by using ‘dry plates’ as they were more portable and cheaper so was easier to capture this split-second moment in time.

‘Secessionism’

                This began in 1897; Gustav Klimt was the leader for a movement that is now known as the ‘Art Nouveau’ which translates as ‘New Art’ which started a new way of making art and new artists. These new vibrant 20^th century artists still used nature and organics in the heart of their work and kept them very much as a focus of their pieces. Antoni Gaudi is an architect who created “Casta Mila” and the “Casta Batllo”, these were unique buildings in Barcelona inspired by the gothic style and took many years to build and are now famous and a travellers destination to visit them. Fredrick Evans took a photograph of “Westminster Abbey” in 1912 to capture the romantic and gothic view of the building that was also very spiritual with the “Sea of Steps” portraying light and the heavens. Pierre- Auguste Renoir painted “Luncheon of the Boating Party” in 1880-1881 which captured people at leisure which was a new concept for art; the composition of the piece draws your attention to the bottom right of the frame as this is where most of the activity is being played out, with the amount of empty space on the other side where there are no people suggests movement around the subject that was difficult to draw as they’d be travelling but this was becoming easier.  Edgar Degas’s “Place de la Concorde” in 1875 was paintings made from photos to capture the moment in time.

America

                Alfred Stieglitz took the famous photograph “The Steerage” in 1907 which showed the migration from Western Europe to America. This photographed documented the arriving of the people and the turning point in their lives, it also showed how the poorer classes were at the bottom of the ship and the middle upper classes were placed on top deck as they had more money, it is obvious how the class division created poverty and the emotions on the migrants faces show hope of a better life in America. George Eastman was onboard the S.S. Gallia in February 1888 and was the founder of Kodak and made the Kodak Brownie; this company worked by people taking their photographs then sending them back to Kodak where they would then develop them and send the prints back to the owners (which were circular photographs) and the camera with a new film in it, because this process was cheaper and efficient the masses and ordinary people could use them and photograph themselves and their lives with ease.

                Edward Steichen took “The Flatiron” in 1905 in New York City; he was German and went to America to take photographs of the uprising buildings. The emergence of artificial lights that were on 24/7 and bought electricity and light bulbs to larger cities like New York made the photos magical and interested Steichen. “Midnight Kodin’s Balzac” 1908 proved that photographs can be taken at night showing the light and equality of the light, relationships and people towards it which was mirroring Western Europe with the notions of reflection, nature and women with nature. Alvin Langdon Cobum took photographs to show the city being lit up by the streetlights and showed how the city came alive and was magical and seen as a safer place.

Artists began to use photography as an easy way to express themselves, and easy to process and get prints. The 20^th century Robert Demachy showed the ‘Machine age’ in 1904 with “Speed” to show how fast civilisation is moving forward. Richard Mansfield was looking forward to the Edwardian period and was released from the Victorian values; “Dr Jackal and Mr Hyde” style photo in 1895 showed both the freer element and the darker side emergence of the new by showing their split personality by using double exposures.