Clarke, The Photograph, Chapter 9: The Photograph as Fine Art, 1997

Having just finished Barrett’s chapter on Theory, I found much of this chapter repetitive.  Clarke takes a slightly narrower focus, largely ignoring postmodern ideas and arguments to present an overview of the Photograph as Art. He cites Stieglitz as the father of the movement to elevate the cultural value of the photograph, principally through his journals (291 and Camera Work) and his NYC gallery (located at 291 Fifth Avenue).  Clarke quotes Stieglitz’ description of the events surrounding one his better known images, The Steerage, to elaborate on how the photographer conceived his work.

Stieglitz speaks here as a formalist.  Indeed, the entire scene is described as a composition, “a picture of shapes” which bears no relationship to the scene itself.  The separate elements are reconstituted by the eye in terms of a planar geometry.  There is no interest in the particulars of the scene or the condition of the figures.  Rather, the whole is referred to an implied higher frame of reference which, ultimately, is centered in the photographer/artist;  what Stieglitz refers to as the “feeling” he “had about life.”  (p169)

What struck me on reading this is that the formalists were engaged in a process of refining a particular way of seeing that called for going beyond the particulars of the surface to observe life as the play of shape, form, and light.  This way of seeing was not the everyday way of seeing.  It required practice in order to be developed.  It became a kind of spiritual power, the ability to see the world in a new way, offering new insight into the human condition.  The images produced by its practitioners were regarded as totems, evidence of a human mind touching this mystical, higher reality, and were treated with great reverence.  Journals of images were holy books, museums churches.  Clarke notes Stieglitz’ “insistence on a seriousness which bordered on the puritanical,”  suggesting a mystic-like encounter with the Truth, which goes a long way toward explaining the elevation of Art for it’s own sake.

Art photography is carefully planned, variables controlled as much as possible.  For some this requires shooting in studios in order to isolate the features the photographer wishes to reveal.  For those working on landscapes, great patience is required while waiting for nature to provide just the right variables.  On the other hand, much of art photography is found in the most mundane objects, elevating the common to the mystical.  Again, it is not so much the subject itself that is inspirational, but the way of viewing the subject .

Much of the remainder of the chapter reviews a few contemporary Fine Art photographers, particularly those working in color, including Hass, Berman, Callahan, and Eggleston.  Clarke cites the last three as examples of postmodern artists “returning art photography to a popular forum,” without ever citing an example of popular fine art to which photography might return.

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