Photo-Secession facts for kids
The Photo-Secession was an art movement from the early 1900s. It was started by photographers who wanted photography to be seen as a serious art form, just like painting or sculpture. They especially focused on a style called pictorialism.
This group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day, believed that a photograph wasn't just about what the camera saw. Instead, they thought the artist (the photographer) should change the image to show their own feelings and ideas. This movement helped make people see photography as a true art. The Photo-Secession was similar to a British group called the Linked Ring, which also broke away from traditional photography rules.
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How the Photo-Secession Started
The Photo-Secession group began in 1902. Alfred Stieglitz was asked to organize an exhibition of the best American photography. While planning the show, Stieglitz disagreed with some people who had more old-fashioned ideas about which photographers to include.
To make his own ideas stronger, Stieglitz quickly formed a new group. He called it the Photo-Secession. This made it seem like many important photographers supported his views. Even though Stieglitz later said he "enlisted the aid" of this group, he actually created it just two weeks before the exhibition opened!
Stieglitz chose the name "Secession" because he was inspired by an art exhibition in Munich, Germany, called the "Munich Secession." In 1899, he wrote about how artists there were breaking away from old rules. He liked the idea of photographers defining their own art.
Stieglitz explained the name this way: "Photo-Secession actually means a seceding from the accepted idea of what constitutes a photograph." This meant they were breaking away from the old, strict ideas about what a photograph should be.
Historian Jay Bochner said that the Photo-Secession was not just about new art styles. It was also about breaking free from the control of old art organizations, galleries, and schools that made artists copy old styles.
What is Pictorialism?
The main idea behind the Photo-Secession was Pictorialism. Pictorialists believed that photography should be like painting and etching. Just as a painter changes their materials to create an effect, photographers should also change or manipulate their images.
They used many methods to do this:
- Soft focus: Making parts of the image look a little blurry or dreamy.
- Special filters and lens coatings: Using tools on the camera to change the light.
- Darkroom tricks: Changing the image in the darkroom. This included burning (making parts darker), dodging (making parts lighter), and cropping (cutting out parts of the image).
- Different printing processes: Using special chemicals or papers to get unique looks, like sepia toning (making photos look brown), platinum printing, or gum bichromate processing.
The pictures often looked like older art, especially Greek and Roman art. They often used dramatic lighting, interesting angles, and were usually in black and white with strong contrasts.
Stieglitz's Leadership
Stieglitz said he started the Photo-Secession as a "rebellion against the insincere attitude of the unbeliever." This meant he was fighting against people who didn't believe photography was art. But he also used the group to become more important in the art world himself.
Stieglitz had a lot of control over the Photo-Secession. He decided who was a member. For example, when photographer Gertrude Käsebier asked if she was a Photo-Secessionist, Stieglitz said, "Do you feel that you are? Well, that’s all there is to it." But when another photographer, Charles Berg, asked the same thing, Stieglitz simply told him he was not a member, even though Stieglitz had included Berg's photos in the exhibition.
The main members of the Photo-Secession were Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Clarence H. White, Gertrude Käsebier, Frank Eugene, and later Alvin Langdon Coburn.
In 1905, Stieglitz and Steichen opened a small but very important art gallery called the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession. Here, they showed works by the movement's famous members.
The group continued to show art under the Photo-Secession name until about 1910. By then, many photographers were tired of Stieglitz's strict control and left the group.
In 1916, Käsebier, White, Coburn, and others formed a new group called the Pictorial Photographers of America (PPA). They wanted to keep promoting the pictorial style. A year later, Stieglitz officially ended the Photo-Secession, though it had mostly stopped existing by then.
Who Were the Members?
The Photo-Secession had different types of members: Fellows, Associates, and Members. Stieglitz himself decided who belonged to each group.
Fellows (Founders and Council) were chosen for their excellent photographic work or for helping promote pictorial photography.
- John G. Bullock
- William B. Dyer
- Dallett Fuguet
- Gertrude Käsebier
- Joseph T. Keiley
- Robert S. Redfield
- Eva Watson-Schütze
- Edward J. Steichen
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Edmund Stirling
- John F. Strauss
- Clarence H. White
Other Fellows included:
- Alvin Langdon Coburn
- Mary Devens
- William B. Post
- S. L. Willard
Associates were people who were interested in and supported the goals of the Photo-Secession.
- Prescott Adamson
- Annie W. Brigman
- Norman W. Carkhuff
- J. Mitchell Elliot
- Dr. Milton Franklin
- George A. Heisey
- Sam S. Holzman
- Marshall P. Kernochan
- Sarah H. Ladd
- Chester Abbott Lawrence
- Fred K. Lawrence
- Oscar Maurer
- William J. Mullins
- Olive M. Potts
- Harry B. Reid
- Harry C. Rubincam
- T. O'Conor Sloane
- Walter P. Stokes
- Mrs. George A. Stanbery
- Katherine Stanbery
- George B. Vaux
- Mary Vaux
- Lily E. White
- Myra Wiggins
- Arthur W. Wilde
Many other photographers were later listed simply as Members of the Photo-Secession.
See also
In Spanish: Photo-Secession para niños
