Photography Through Times

            The name straight photography probably originated in a 1904 exhibition review by the critic Sadakichi Hartmann in the journal Camera Work, in which he called on photographers to "work straight." This form of photography was around the 1900 through 1970s. It took place mainly in Europe and the United States. The movement represented a reaction against late 19th century Pictorialism, in which photographers sought to copy the effects of painters. To do this, photographers rejected darkroom tricks in favor of the basic properties of the camera and printing process. .
             The Subject Matter Usually identifiable, representational subjects: portraits, landscapes, still lives, etc. Straight photography looks so familiar it is easy to forget that it is a conscious style. Usually, Straight Photographers produce black-and-white pictures. This style is often employed in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography. .
             Some famous photographers of the twentieth century are: Robert Adams documented the environmental destruction of the American West in the late 20th century. Manuel Alvarez Bravo showed cultural and surreal imagery from Mexico. Diane Arbus took psychologically disturbing portraits. E. J. Bellocq took prostitute's portraits from the red-light district of New Orleans in 1912. Margaret Bourke-White was a Photojournalist who made some of the first photo-documentation of the Nazi concentration camps. Julia Margaret Cameron took Victorian portraits with a soft focus, from the early days of photography. Alvin Langdon Coburn a pioneer of abstract photography with his "Vortographs". Imogen Cunningham an American modernist, best known for close-ups of flowers and plants. Roy DeCarava documented the African-American experience and its cultural icons. Robert Doisneau took Happy photos of Parisian life in the mid 20th century. Walker Evans produced imagery of American society during the Great Depression. John Gutmann produced pictures in the 1930s America but NOT the Great Depression, a precursor of the street photographers of the 50s.