MODERNISM/ POSTMODERISM
Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death valley 1948 Ansel Adams
Moonrise over Henandez New Mexico 1941 Ansel Adams
An example of Modernism photography is Ansel Adams a landscape photographer, he was an advocate of straight photography and went against the more pictorial style of the 1920s. His photographs are filled with passion and warmth and he abides by the rules. Ansel Adam developed a method of exposure and development which he called the zone system. To quote Ansel Adams
"Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer-and often the supreme disappointment"
"You don't take a photography, you make it" Ansel Adams
Modernism dates back as early as the 17th century, with the French Revolution which brought with it upheaval, changes in the personal and private life, social and political of the modern world. Modernism is about technical progress and production, also the power of science. It peaked in the 19th century with the change from rural communities to the urban cities and the advancement of industrialisation. Modernism is based upon a tradition of the self, together and complete, which began with Rene' Descartes philosophy which states "I think therefore I am." (Sturken & Cartwright 2001)
Marx believed if your modern your part of the universe and said "all that is solid melts into air" (Harper, D., Handout)
Postmodernism is a term used to describe modern images of the 21st century and the styles, approaches and ideologies which are associated with it. Postmodernism is from the late 1970s to the present, it challenges modern concepts, concerns and issues.
An example of a Postmodernist photographer is Sherrie Levine, she rephotographed canonical 20th century photographs taken by male photographers like Edward Western (1886 - 1958), Alexander Rodchenko (1891 - 1956) and Walker Evans (1903-75 )
Sherrine Levine series after Walker Evans (1981) was direct copies of the originals from an exhibition catalogue of Evans photographs of the 1930s rural America. Her images questions originality, subjectivity, authenticity and authorship, as well as the status which is given to the male photographer. She criticises Walker Evans individual and personal style from the modernist 'production to the postmodernist 'reproduction.'
Sherrine Levine 'After Walker Evans' 1981
Sherrine Levine: 'After Walker Evans 1980' - Re-Photographed pictures [5]
Postmodernism rejects modernism belief in truth, the belief in reason, self meaning and purpose. Postmodern photography is cold and disconnected and follows no fixed rules or moral codes. It can be anything we want it to be or perceived by the viewer, this questions authority and ownership. Is postmodernism and infringement of copy right in our rapidly changing world of visual Art?
References
Hacking, J., (2012) 'Postmodernism' Photography the whole story. London Thames & Hudson
Harveys, D., (No Date) Introduction Modernity - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow [Leaflet Obtained in lecture] 3, May 2013
L & Sturken, M., (2001) Practises of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
William, V., (2013) ' What makes Great Photography' London, Mark Fletcher.
http://mylens1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/modernismpostmodernism.html
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