Seminar 3 - Romantics, Pictorialists and the Photo Secession

There was a gothic revival from the 50’s to the 90’s. The Pre Raphalites emerged and there became a hark to medieval times. This group was a huge influence on this period.  Often images would be focused on Greek mythologies. This all stemmed from the Pre Raphalite movement.

Julia Margaret Cameron – The Mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty 1866
This image is very innocent and it links in with mythology.

Many photographs had become based on stories such as Shakespeare’s ‘Ophelia’ which was portrayed in an image by Sir John Everett Millais.

There was a return back to nature in this period. People in this period felt the need for escape and to looks back at nature in the sublime. Also, in Russia, Tchaikovsky was creating romantic pieces of music such as Swan Lake and Nutcracker Sweet. People were beginning to recognise the beauty and spiritualness of nature.

Alexander Keighley. “Nature is all there is and all basic truths are of nature”

The dry plate had been invented; this was portable and open to more people. It was cheaper and had a greater influence on art. Photography had become able to capture a fleeting moment in time.

This period was moving away from paintings, people had become far more interested in photography as it can capture a moment whereas paintings can’t.

George Eastman created Kodak in February 1890. The Kodak brownie was introduced in 1900.
Edward Steichen invented the flatiron in 1905 and there was an emergence of artificial light. At this point the invention of the electric lightbulb and electricity was coming to New York.

Richard Mansfield created an anonymous studio portrait in 1895 based on Dr Jackyll and Mr Hyde. This was a metaphor for the Victorian era. The split personality shows the split between the old darker times and the new times.