Mike Connealy , Apr 07, 2004; 10:56 a.m.
I know: HCB, Frank, blah, blah, blah. No, I'm thinking about ideas
from the other Arts that may have only seeped in around the edges,
but which have never-the-less had a formative influence on the street
photography esthetic.
The things that got me
thinking about this were, first, Andrew Somerset's project on documenting the business traveler's
lonely life. And, secondly, a single marvelous street shot by Ed
Leveckis that seemed clearly to me to owe a great debt to the realist
painter, Edward Hopper (Nighthawks, etc. ). Hopper's focus on lonliness,
alienation and anonymity in the urban environment along with with
night-time settings lit by contrasty, harsh lights seems to me to be
central to what a lot of street photographers are after.
Who are the other major painters whose work informs the art of
street photography? And, what about the other Arts - literature,
music,...? I'm not much of a musician, but I recall Jeff alluding to
improvisational jazz -- any specifics there? How about noir
films and pop detective authors from the '40s and '50s like Mickey
Spillane? Then, there's the book cover illustrations and the posters
that go along with all of that.
Seems to me that
all of this would make a great premise for a gallery or museum
exhibit with a focus around street photography. Has it been done
before? Any curators listening out there?
John Smith , Apr 07, 2004; 11:10 a.m.
Matt Alofs , Apr 07, 2004; 11:42 a.m.
The Bystander book referenced above is an interesting one, but it doesn't talk much about non-photographic roots. It's been a while since I read it, but I recall that it talked alot about the roll of various govt agencies during the depression.
It seems like a likely root influence would be paintings of the burgeoning middleclass at their leisure around the turn of the century. Hmm maybe an art historian out there could flesh this line of thought out with some examples. In my mind I have vague images of some impressionist paintings of folks on picnics etc. I know that one of the points of impressionist technique was that the speed of it allowed a painter to catch "candid" moments.
Bill Mitchell , Apr 07, 2004; 11:43 a.m.
I can't give any particular reference here, but I think that it's generally recognized that the old Dutch Masters were the first to make fine art paintings (read: salable) of ordinary people doing ordinary things. Of course, Leonardo's sketchbooks are full of his observations of street people. Photographically, it wasn't until the last decades of the 19th century that film became sensitive enough that "snapshots" were possible. While there had been others working in the same genre, I think that Paul Strand's New York City photographs of c.1916 were the seminal influence for modern "street" photography.
Andrew Somerset , Apr 07, 2004; 01:16 p.m.
Great question, Mike. Thought provoking.
If I read you right, rather than looking for the non-photographic "roots" of street photography, as the subject line suggests, you're really after the non-photographic influences that have shaped it over the years.
Re Jeff's jazz allusion, John Brownlow (pinkheadedbug.com) has called street photography "visual jazz."
The kind of gritty, harsh light stuff you mention doesn't appear until after the war, I think. Lots of influences could be connected with that -- film noir, existentialism ... I wouldn't want to try to connect the dots.
Tracing the influences would be very tough. We each have our own influences, which probably reflect in our photography, but a lot of what we do follows other photographers rather than the music, literature, art etc. we admire.
Christopher Chen , Apr 07, 2004; 01:31 p.m.
I agree w/Bill Mitchell's reference to the Dutch Masters. I would also throw in other artists like Breughel, Hogarth, & Murillo (http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pimage?1188+0+0).
Christopher Chen , Apr 07, 2004; 01:44 p.m.
As to modern street photography, since Mike mentions film noir, etc., I would be greatly surprised if there wasn't some degree of artistic cross-pollination between photography & cinematography starting in the 1920s (there certainly were tech connections, witness the origin of 35mm still photography, per Leica, in movie film).
Mike Connealy , Apr 07, 2004; 02:44 p.m.
Thanks for the link to the Bystander review. Doesn't address the question I asked, but obviously a must-have. I ordered it from Amazon at $24.
Mike Connealy , Apr 07, 2004; 02:50 p.m.
Thanks also for the thoughtful comments on the influence of painters from the past. I'm going to have to look at each of them again to see what I think. I thought Hopper was particularly relevant because of both his subjects and his style. I also agree with the cross-pollination comment. There are simultaneous currents in art and popular culture that feed off one another at times. Given the amount of time that photography has been around now, I'm sure it and street shooters have influenced painters as well.
Bill Mitchell , Apr 07, 2004; 03:08 p.m.
Walker Evans often acknowledged being influenced by Gustav Flaubert's writings. (I have often wondered if that wasn't really a bit of snobbery on his part, however.)
