INTRO
Fine art is important because it allows for people to give their own
take on what they think art is and therefore allows for individual taste to be
considered. Fine art photography creates an understanding of the way in which
the world is modified – allowing for creation of a hyper-reality. It is
important within the photography industry because it allows for the audience to
challenge their own perceptions and views on the subject that they see with
their naked eye. It allows for different interpretations and creates healthy
discussions between individuals as to what the photograph is about. Fine art
takes the real world and creates this theory of ‘prettification’. This theory
sugarcoats the harsh realities of society and the world and turns it into something
beautiful. This therefore changes people’s perspectives of the world they live
in.
Fine art is also important to individuals because it gives them the
chance to be able to express their feelings and emotions. This therefore allows
for self-expression and it creates meaning to be creative. Giving an individual
the opportunity to be able to express themselves can boost their confidence and
self-esteem. In the long run, this is an important factor as it makes people
feel happier and therefore improves behavior and attitude.
Fine art in general covers a wide section of art. It can include
drawings, paintings, sculptures, printmaking and photography – including many
other types of art forms. Fine art in terms of photography is constantly being
expanded and extended to fit the needs and wants of individuals and artists.
When fine art became an art form, there were little materials that were
available. As the art form became more and more recognisable and popular, it
was accepted as a style. Nowadays, there are more materials that can be used to
create fine art photography. This is ever changing and continues to grow as an
art form.
HISTORY
The history of photography is also important when discussing photography
as an art form. French inventor ‘Joseph Nicephore Niepce’ took the first
photographic image in 1826. He used a camera obscura to capture the
countryside by his estate. Although the use of the black and white exposure
takes up to eight hours to dry and potentially fades, an image can still be seen
on the chemical-coated plate today. While trying to find a successful way to
create permanent photographs, he formed a partnership with ‘Louis Daguerre’. Unfortunately,
‘Niepce’ passed away in 1833 and therefore could not continue their
partnership. Daguerre continued with the photographic experiments and spent
years trying and eventually created the ‘Daguerreotype Process’. This consisted
of a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver with the use of a
negative. This created a highly detailed image which did not fade. The exposure
time for this process ranges from three to fifteen minutes.
Eventually, the first permanent photographic image of a person came thirteen
years later when ‘Louis Daguerre photographed a street scene from his window.
In order to capture this photographic image, he had to use a camera obscura and
his newly invented daguerreotype process. This became public in 1839.
Having a permanent photographic image resulted in more individuals
trying to create the first coloured permanent photographic image. A Baptist
minister named ‘Levi L. Hill’ claimed that he had created a colour process in
which he called ‘Hillotype’. This process allowed him to produce permanent
coloured images. He did not allow for
the process to be spoken off as he kept it a secret. Eventually he claimed that
creating this process happened by accident and tried to recreate this accident
but no success. But in 1861, the first
coloured photographic image was produced. The genius behind this discovery was
Scottish physicist ‘James Maxwell’. He produced this photograph by
superimposing three black-and white images on a single screen. They passed
through three filters which were different primary colours of the spectrum –
red, green and blue. When passed through the three primary colours, white light
was produced. Passing this white light through a primary-coloured filter (RGB)
transmitted particular colours . He produced a multi-coloured ribbon using this
‘Additive Theory’.
It wasn’t until 1850s that the first photographic images of war were
captured by ‘Roger Fenton’. The images
were from the Crimean War in his attempt to benefit and inform the public. The
photographs produced by ‘Roger’ were converted into woodblocks before being
published in the Illustrated London News. Due to the long exposure times of his
material, he was only able to capture and produce stationary objects and people
posed. He ensured that his images were not of the dead, injured or of any
soldiers that were in a nasty state. He did not just focus on portraits – his
work also contained landscape shots of buildings and ruins.
Unfortunately, in 1855 ‘Fenton’ left the Crimea war and was later
replaced by a partnership of ‘James Robertson’ and ‘Felice Beato’. Their
photographic images contradicted with the workings of ‘Fenton’ due to the fact
that they captured the devastation and destruction of the result of war. In
1857, the partners decided to document the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion.
This time they decided to capture the remains of victims who had fought in the
war. These shots were thought to be the first photographic images of corpses.
By the 20th century, photographers were covering all of the major
and important conflicts in which masses of people were killed. An important
photographer during this time was a man named ‘Robert Capa’ who decided to
capture the Spanish Civil War, D-Day landings and the Fall of Paris – plus
conflicts which occurred during the 1950s.
Another important part of the development of photography occurred during
the 1850s. This development allowed for fine art photography to be challenged
as an art form. In countries like France, England and Germany, publications
were found which discussed fine art as a legitimate art form. The publications
also promoted spaces which would exhibit that type of photography. By the late
1850s, exhibitions and galleries included the photographic images that were
classed as ‘fine art’ and eventually the art form was successful and become
rather popular thanks to people like ‘Louis Figuier’.
In 1892, ‘Thomas Edison’ and ‘William Dickson’ introduced the 35mm film.
This was stocked by the Kodak Company – which still exists today. Specifically
by a man named George Eastman. It became important for commercial uses and
still photography in 1913. This film size has been one of the most popular of
its kind and has been used since the 1800s. Leitz were all about researching
and developing. The man in charge known as ‘Oskar Barnack’ was experimenting
with the 35mm film created by ‘Edison’ and ‘Dickson’ in an attempt at making a
camera which was compact with the film.
In 1913-1914 he created a prototype camera which was named ‘Ur-Leica’.
It was eventually released into the market in 19-23/24. It was renamed ‘Leica
I’ and was successful in the market. This resulted in competition creating 35mm
cameras.
Digital photography was also a huge factor in the development of the art
form. It wasn’t until the 1960s that it became a part of history. NASA used
digital photography in order to convert signals from analogue to digital. The
signals were therefore converted to images. When other government sectors saw
the advantages, they too began to use this type of digital photography. Kodak
were responsible for the solid state image sensors which converted the light
into digital images. It wasn’t until 1896 that Kodak developed a mega pixel
sensing unit. This unit allowed for a capture of 1.4 million pixels which led
to a 5x7-inch digital high quality print. This was decided that it would be available
for consumers. This is when digital photography really took off. It was enabled
that you could connect to a computer and download. It also allowed for software
to be introduced that could allow for individuals to edit the photographs as
well as connecting them to a printer to print them.
TWO CURRENT PRACTITIONERS
Matt Stuart discovered his love of photography when he was 22. Once introduced to the art form it became his passion
and took over his life. His photography work targets the busy streets of
London, capturing and freezing a scene. He stays in a certain place for a
period of time until he observes what he wants to capture and then shoots it.
This photograph contains a shot of a man who is sitting down on a bench.
He is seen to be placing his head near his nears. Above him is a red
heart-shaped balloon, which is attached to the back of the bench. In the
background we can see members of the public who are looking towards the
subject. The composition of the man and the balloon is slightly off-centred to
the left. We know this because of the space from the man to each end of the
photograph. The colours of the subject allow for them to stand out against the
rest of the photograph. The man is seen to be wearing all black and the balloon
is a bright red colour. This allows for the attention of the audience to be put
onto the subject. In the background we can see regular members of the public as
they walk past the subject. I think that this works well because it indicates
that it is something different to what you would normally see and therefore
captures the attention of people passing by. This photograph shows the contrast between everyday life and out of the ordinary. This therefore allows for questioning on behalf of the viewer as to why there is something out of the ordinary in the street.
Mark Jenkins is a street photographer
and is known purely for his artistic creations which are found within the
streets of different countries. He creates sculptures and ideas in which he
places them in random places – recording and capturing the reactions of members
of the public as they pass by through videos and still images. His photography
work relates to my chosen topic because he creates his own artistic view and
places it in public and photographs it to allow for people to interrupt what they
see. This demonstrates that he creates fine art because it is his own
interruption of what photographic art is.
This photograph captures the reaction of
a passerby as they look directly at the sculpture. The shot has been taken by the corner of a
building. The sculpture has been placed in the side of the building to make it
look like his head is inside the building itself. This shot uses depth of field
to indicate that the passerby is closer to the lens than the sculpture. We know
this because of the size difference between the two. This shot uses slightly
light colours and dark colours to contrast against one another. The dark
clothing of the passerby and sculpture allows for them to both stand out
against the background easier. The composition of the passerby is in the right
third of the shot. This has been done to allow for the audience to see his face
looking at the sculpture in front of him. By having the sculpture’s composition
further to the left it allows for the reaction to be caught. The attention of
the audience is also put on the passerby due to the fact that he is carrying a
random lamp in his right hand. This photograph shows the audience that the
sculpture extra-ordinary and informs them that it results in people being
inquisitive. 
Within this photograph we can see a shot
of a sellotape sculpture that is seen to be sitting on the side of a curb. The
shot indicates that the sculpture is holding what appears to be a sphere shaped
object. The sellotape sculpture is seen to be sitting on the curb. It has been
created and specifically designed to be positioned on a curb so it makes it
look like it’s sitting down and that it has put itself there. The composition of
the sculpture is centred in order to make the audience looking directly at it –
because it is the main focus within the photograph. In the background we can
see a car tyre which indicates that the photograph was taken in a public area
where there is a road nearby. The colours used within this shot are both dark
and light - the lightest part of the shot being the sculpture. This is due to
the fact that the colour of sellotape is white because of the amount of layers.
The darker colours can be seen on the pavement and the surroundings. This
photograph can be classed as fine art because the photographer has put his own
twist on a sculpture. He has created what he thinks is artistic and it allows
for the viewers to interrupt what they see.
MY WORK
I took this photograph during an onesie
shoot in London. I decided to take this shot because I saw the opportunity when
the man was walking past my model. The photograph captures the reaction of the
man as he stares directly at the sheep while he passes by. This was
part of a shoot that I decided to take and based it on interactions and
reactions with members of the public. The photograph was originally taken in
colour but I decided to edit it on Photoshop to make it stand out more. I
decided to use the technique ‘selective colour’ because I thought it would make
the model and passerby more defined than the rest of the photograph - the fact
that the man had bright colours on helped in terms of making himself stand out
against the black and white background. By taking the photograph like this, it
implies that my model is acting like a sheep would – on all fours and therefore
is making the man question what is going on. I took this photograph to also
make the audience feel like the old man – confused and questioning as to why
there is someone dressed as a sheep on the floor.
I took this photograph on the college
grounds. I decided to hide behind a brick wall and place two different pairs of
shoes in the pathway of members of the public. I decided to hide behind a brick
wall because I thought it would be better to get a reaction from a passerby if
they could not see me. It also meant that they couldn’t see me and therefore
wouldn’t look directly at the camera. I used a pair of black heels and black
and white high tops. This shot consisted of an older woman as she walked past
the shoes. I captured her reaction to the subjects – through facial expression
- her face indicated that she was confused. I used maximum depth of field
because there were plants that were in front of me – in this case the brown
branches to the right of the shot. I wanted the shoes and woman to stand out
and therefore using this technique helped me really well. In terms of editing, I
decided to just adjust the curves and levels for this shot to make her appear
more defined. I think that this shot was interesting purely because of her
reaction – which was something I intended to get from members of the public.
My work is relatable to fine art because
it is street photography that is different. My work is something that is
extremely different to most street photography and is therefore classed as fine
art because it has come directly from my perspective. The project and these
photographs are fine art in my opinion because as an artist I have given my
take on what street photography should be and therefore have interpreted it
myself as a photographer.
Future
In terms of the future, fine art will continue
to grow within the photography industry. This is due to the fact that more
people are beginning to express themselves through photographs and more people
are being able to interpret the photographs. I think that street photography
will help influence fine art as a major part of photography because more
photographers are expanding their work and starting to create work that
challenges people’s perspective on the idea of what the world is – in terms of
making it appear different yet beautiful. Fine art is continuing to expand and
therefore I think that the future of fine art as photography will have a
positive effect on the development of photography. In today’s society, people
are encouraged to be different and express their emotions and ideas and I think
that fine art is the perfect way to do so and therefore feel that in the
future, fine art will be an important factor for development of an individual
as they identify with who they are. The ever expanding photography industry
will enable fine art photography to grow because more technologies are being
able to be used when creating and editing a photograph.
Conclusion
Overall, fine art photography is
important within the photograph industry as it allows for individuals to
prettify the existing world and make it look more beautiful. The development of
photography has helped fine art to be existent – invention of colour and new
cameras. There are also a lot more photographers who are using fine art
photography including Matt Stuart and Mark Jenkins. This ever expanding number
of photographers will encourage development of fine art. 
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