Questions

Question 1

Peter Henry Emerson’s “Theory of Focusing”

Answer 1

Believed photography should mimic the workings of the eye with nature

• Area of sharp focus
• peripheral with more fuzziness
• shapes blending into one another

Question 2

Goal of Pictorial Photographers

Answer 2

To emulate other art forms using soft focus and other manipulations, giving photography a more artistic expression.

• i.e. painting, etching

Question 3

Straight Photography

Answer 3

• Pure photography
• Using composition, lighting, and personal judgement to make a photo that doesnt interfere with the natural photographic technique.
• use of basic methods
• minimal manipulations

Question 4

Alfred Stieglitz said that Paul Strand’s work was “brutally direct, pure and devoid of trickery.”

What did he mean?

Answer 4

Strand’s work was an obvious return to straight photography ideal that the camera had its own aesthetic.

• form & design emphasized
• highly detailed

Question 5

What were Alfred Stieglitz’s “equivalents?”

Answer 5

photographs of clouds that linked to music

Question 6

What was Group f64?

Name two charter members.

Answer 6

1. A group of straight photographers that used this aperture to secure maximum image sharpness
2. Ansel Adams, Edward Weston

Question 7

Who invented the Zone System?

What was its purpose?

Answer 7

1. Ansel Adams
2. to give the photographer precise control over his materials in terms of exposure and development.

Question 8

Who fought against “bellybutton shots”?

why?

Answer 8

1. Alxander Rodchenko
2. He thought it was a primitive form of perspective.

Question 9

What are the advantages of the 35mm film camera?

Answer 9

• smaller
• enabled 36 negatives to be taken in rapid succession on single load of cheap film.

Question 10

August Sander’s “Man in the Twentieth Century”

Answer 10

• photographic collection of German people
• represented various professions, trades, businesses, members from different political/social groups.

Question 11

What effect did Weegee’s flash have on his photographs?

Answer 11

• Harsh light flattened faces, casted unpleasant shadows, ande fell off abruptly causing a black background.
• Made features look grotesque

Question 12

How does Newhall define documentary photography?

Answer 12

A photograph with an authentic quality containing useful info about a specific subject, observable as evidence or proof.

Question 13

What subjects were photographed by Lewis Hine?

Answer 13

Immigrants arriving in NY

Question 14

What were the photographers of the Resettlement Administration (later called Farm Security Administration), asked to do?

Answer 14

To document the agency’s activities and American rural life in order to bring attention to those suffering from the “dust bowl” and the competition of new machinery.

Question 15

Picture Post, Life, Vu, and Look were _______.

Answer 15

Picture Magazines

Question 16

Before color photography was invented, how did photographers create color photographs?

Answer 16

Dusting the surface with dry powdered pigments

Question 17

How many negatives did James Maxwell use to make one color photograph?

Answer 17

3

Question 18

What was the criticism of Frank’s book The Americans?

Answer 18

That he had only chosen the neglected and hopeless people to represent the American population

Question 19

What does Winogrand mean when he says, “I photograph to see what the photograph will look like?

Answer 19

He did not believe nor trust in previsualization. He wishes to capture many unperfected images, much like the naked eye does.