Chronophotography
“Similar to what we know today as ‘time-lapse’ photography, the Chronophotography technique is where a sequence of still images are captured over a pre-determined period, then arranged into a single photograph for analysis. A precursor to cinematography, chronophotography was used to study changes in movement” (Corbett 2008).
Étienne-Jules Marey, Walking Man, chronograph, 1884
Keywords
Marey, Chronography
Bibliography
Corbett, J. Martin. 2008. "Towards Neuroscientific Management? Geometric Chronophotography And The Thin-Slicing Of The Labouring Body". Management & Organizational History 3 (2): 107-125. doi:10.1177/1744935908092134.
Marey, Étienne-Jules. 1884. Walking Man. Image. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Etienne-Jules-Marey-Walking-Man-chronophotography-1884-This-was-based-on-adding_fig2_252066643.Marey, Étienne-Jules, and Jackie McAllister. 1997. "Chronophotographs". Grand Street, no. 59: 174. doi:10.2307/25008135.
Marey, Étienne-Jules. 1902. The history of chronophotography. Smithsonian Institute Annual Report 1901. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institute Publications.
Scharf, Aaron. 1976. "Marey And Chronophotography". Artforum.Com. https://www.artforum.com/print/197607/marey-and-chronophotography-37960.
Sipe, Daniel. 2020. "Aesthetics And The Methods Of Visual Enquiry In The Photography Of Étienne-Jules Marey". French Studies 74 (4): 554-571. doi:10.1093/fs/knaa170.
Modernism
The Modernist period is considered to be the most influential and important art movement since the Renaissance. Simply put, I love Modernism, many of the Modernist art movements have, and continue to influence and inform my practice.
Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Abstract and the Avant Guard.
I would like to research the ongoing impact and influence of the Modernist period on contemporary art. There are numerous theoretical definitions of contemporary art. I lean toward the definition of contemporary art being of a period in time, of the now, with no specific relationship to tech-driven methods of creating.
Relevance to practice
My practice is in film photography (35mm and 4x5 large format) which extends to alternative printing, including photogravure and printmaking. In recent months I have begun to explore cameraless photography experimenting with photograms. Artist from the Modernist period, and Contemporary artist influence by styles and movements of the period form my community of practice. These include Man Ray, Minor White, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, Eileen Quinlan, Floris Neusüss, Sigmar Polke, Adam Fuss and Uta Barth, all of which are listed on the Artists & Styles page on this site.
Keywords
Modernism, Cameraless photography, Contemporary, Alternative printing, Photogravure, Printmaking, Community of practice
Bauhaus
The Bauhaus (The Staatliches Bauhaus) was a German art school (1919–1933) that became famous for its approach to design, which strove to combine beauty with function and attempted to unify the principles of mass production with individual artistic vision.
The Bauhaus movement had a profound influence on subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design and typography.
Although the school was closed by its own leadership under pressure from the Nazi regime who believed the Bauhaus was a centre of communist intellectualism, the staff continued to spread its idealistic precepts as they fled Germany and emigrated all over the world.
Russian painter, printmaker and graphic artist, Wassily Kandinsky was a teacher at The Bauhaus. Kandinsky is credited for creating the first purely abstract works, and as a pioneer of Abstract which I question in my journal entry Futurism (Gay 2020). Kandinsky is considered to be one of the great Modernists. No arguments from me on that point, in fact I would go so far as to say that Kandinsky is an undisputed great of the Modernist period.
Composition 7, Wassily Kandinsky 1913
László Moholy-Nagy, a teacher of the Bauhaus, is my favourite artist. Of all the creatives I have researched and discovered throughout the year, Moholy-Nagy has had the most powerful and profound impact on me and my practice.
Moholy-Nagy authored Bauhausbücher 8: Painting Photography Film (1925). As represented by the title, the first half of the book finds Moholy-Nagy discussing various styles of art with a focus on painting, photography and film and theory. Curated by Moholy-Nagy, the second half of Bauhausbücher 8: Painting Photography Film presents a collection of works – ranging from sheet music to photograms – by artists of the Bauhaus.
In the introduction to Bauhausbücher 8: Painting Photography Film, Moholy-Nagy states that “This book is in defence of photography, which many people still think of as an inferior mechanical operation of recording.”
One hundred years down the track, Moholy-Nagy stands strong as a profound thinker and creative. His art and writing continue to be a powerful influence on contemporary artists, particularly in the field of photography. To me, Moholy-Nagy is God.
Things to come, László Moholy-Nagy 1936
Community of practice
I identify many of the teachers and artists from the Bauhaus movement in my community of practice, particularly Moholy-Nagy and Kandinsky. I am a book designer and typesetter by trade. My father (an illustrator, photographer, commercial artist, graphic designer and typographer) has also had a significant impact on my creative development. Considering this, it comes as no surprise that I am so passionately drawn to the Bauhaus movement.
Quotes
With few exceptions, music has been for some centuries the art which has devoted itself not to the reproduction of natural phenomena, but rather to the expression of the artist's soul, in musical sound. — Wassily Kandinsky (Kandinsky n.d.)
Keywords
Moholy-Nagy, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Constructivism, Bauhaus, WWII, Germany, Bauhausbücher, Books, Modernism, Futurism, Expressionism, Dada, Abstract, Typography, Film, Design, Photography, Art history
References
Kandinsky, Wassily. n.d. “Quotes”. Wassily Kandinsky. https://www.wassilykandinsky.net/quotes.php.
Kandinsky, Wassily. 1913. Composition 7. In ‘10 Artworks By Kandinsky You Should Know’. Culture Trip. https://theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/10-artworks-by-kandinsky-you-should-know/.
Maholy-Nagy, Laszlo. [1928] 2019. Bauhausbücher 8: Painting Photography Film. Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers.
Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo. 1936. Things to come. Image. http://www.artnet.com/artists/l%C3%A1szl%C3%B3-moholy-nagy/special-effect-f%C3%BCr-things-to-come-njNeWNe6qcXCU1TD_H-W1A2