Themes > Straight Photography

Straight Photography

The term “straight photography” was popularized by critic Sadakichi Hartmann, who often wrote for Camera Work. In a 1904 article titled “A Plea for Straight Photography,” Hartmann bemoaned the excessive handwork and painterly flourishes that characterized much of what he saw in Pictorialist photography, arguing, “We expect an etching to look like an etching, and a lithograph to look like a lithograph, why then should not a photographic print look like a photographic print?”[1]

 

Nearly a decade later Stieglitz would begin to focus on straight photography in his own work, a change that paralleled his discovery and exhibition of modern painting, drawing, and sculpture at 291. In a 1916 letter, Stieglitz described his most recent work as “intensely direct. . . . Not a trace of hand work on either negative or prints. No diffused focus. Just the straight goods. On [some things] the lens stopped down to 128. But everything simplified in spite of endless detail.”[2] Stieglitz’s devotion to straight photography was manifested in certain key artistic decisions: his refusal to crop the negative as he had done in earlier years; his tendency to employ contact printing rather than enlarging the negative; and his preference for the relative sharpness of platinum, palladium, or gelatin silver prints.

 

The modernist straight photographers whom Stieglitz would promote later in his career included Paul Strand, Ansel Adams, and Eliot Porter. The final issue of Camera Work was devoted entirely to Strand, an emerging photographer at the time, whose work Stieglitz described as “brutally direct.” In an essay reprinted in that volume, Strand advocated an approach that respected both the limitations and the potential qualities of the medium, “accomplished without tricks of process or manipulation, through the use of straight photographic methods.”[3]

 

 

[1] Sadakichi Hartmann, “A Plea for Straight Photography,” American Amateur Photographer 16 (Mar. 1904), pp. 101–09; reprinted in Beaumont Newhall, ed. Photography: Essays and Images (Museum of Modern Art, New York 1980), p. 186.

[2] Alfred Stieglitz to R. Child Bayley, Nov. 1, 1916, Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O’Keeffe Archive, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, box 4, folder 88.

[3] Paul Strand, “Photography,” Seven Arts 2, 524–25 (Aug. 1917), reprinted in Camera Work 49–50 (June 1917), p. 3.

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AIC_1949-662_T
Ansel Adams

Architecture, Early California Cemetery, 1932/36, printed 1936

n
AIC_1949-745_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe—Hands and Thimble, 1919

n
AIC_1949-795_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1923

n
AIC_1949-821_T
Frederick H. Evans

Piscina in Chancel of Little Snoring Church, Norfolk, England, c. 1905

n
AIC_1949-885_T
Paul Strand

Porch Shadows, 1916

n
AIC_1949-659_T
Ansel Adams

Windmill, 1932

n
AIC_1949-660_T
Ansel Adams

Autumn, Yosemite Valley, c. 1933, printed 1936

n
AIC_1949-661_T
Ansel Adams

Grass and Burned Wood, 1935

n
AIC_1949-688_T
Eliot Porter

Jonathan, 1938

n
AIC_1949-693_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-694_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-695_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-696_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-708_T
Alfred Stieglitz

From Room “3003” – The Shelton, New York, Looking Northeast, 1927

n
AIC_1949-711_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Marsden Hartley, 1916

n
AIC_1949-713_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Arthur G. Dove, 1912

n
aic_1949-714_t
Alfred Stieglitz

Ma, 1915/17

n
AIC_1949-716_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia Engelhard, 1920

n
AIC_1949-717_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Arthur G. Dove, 1923

n
AIC_1949-718_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-719_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-721_T
Alfred Stieglitz

John Marin, 1921/22

n
AIC_1949-722_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Waldo Frank, 1920

n
AIC_1949-723_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Katharine Dudley, 1922

n
AIC_1949-724_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Sherwood Anderson, 1923

n
AIC_1949-725_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Sherwood Anderson, 1923

n
AIC_1949-726_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Sherwood Anderson, 1923

n
AIC_1949-727_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Sherwood Anderson, 1923

n
AIC_1949-728_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Gable and Apples, 1922

n
AIC_1949-729_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Poplars—Lake George, 1935

n
AIC_1949-730_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Old Maple—Lake George, 1926

n
AIC_1949-731_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Tree Set 3, c. 1924

n
AIC_1949-732_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Hedwig Stieglitz, 1921/22

n
AIC_1949-733_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-734_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-735_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-736_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rebecca Salsbury Strand, 1922

n
AIC_1949-737_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Rainbow, 1920

n
AIC_1949-738_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Barn, Lake George, 1936

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AIC_1949-739_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Dualities – Dorothy Norman, 1932

n
AIC_1949-740_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Dorothy Norman, c. 1931

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AIC_1949-741_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Dorothy Norman, 1930

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AIC_1949-742_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918

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AIC_1949-743_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe—Hand, 1918

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AIC_1949-744_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1933

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AIC_1949-746_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe – Feet, 1918

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AIC_1949-747_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1922

n
AIC_1949-748_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1919/21

n
AIC_1949-749_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1922

n
AIC_1949-750_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918

n
AIC_1949-751_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1919/21

n
AIC_1949-752_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe—Hands, 1920/22

n
AIC_1949-753_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918

n
AIC_1949-754_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1922

n
AIC_1949-755_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918

n
AIC_1949-756_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1919/20

n
AIC_1949-757_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe – Hands and Horse Skull, 1931

n
AIC_1949-758_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918

n
AIC_1949-759_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918

n
AIC_1949-760_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe—Neck, 1921

n
AIC_1949-761_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe—Torso, 1918

n
AIC_1949-762_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1922

n
Alfred Stieglitz

House and Grape Leaves, 1934

n
AIC_1949-764_T
Alfred Stieglitz

House and Grape Leaves, 1934

n
AIC_1949-765_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Lake George, 1922

n
AIC_1949-766_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Car 2F-77-77, 1935

n
AIC_1949-767_Ta
Alfred Stieglitz

Lake George from the Hill, 1932

n
AIC_1949-768_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Grass and Frost, 1934

n
AIC_1949-769_T
Alfred Stieglitz

First Snow and the Little House, 1923

n
AIC_1949-770_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Dying Chestnut, 1919

n
AIC_1949-771_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Door to Kitchen, Lake George, 1934

n
AIC_1949-772_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Dancing Trees, 1922

n
AIC_1949-773_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Poplars—Lake George, 1932

n
Alfred Stieglitz

Lake George, c. 1922

n
AIC_1949-775_Ta
Alfred Stieglitz

Music – A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs, No. II, 1922

n
Alfred Stieglitz

Window: Wood, Glass, Snow, 1923

n
Alfred Stieglitz

Grass and Flagpole, 1933

n
AIC_1949-778_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Grass, 1933

n
AIC_1949-779_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Barn—Lake George, 1922

n
AIC_1949-780_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Hedge and Grasses – Lake George, 1933

n
aic_1949-781_t
Alfred Stieglitz

The Dying Chestnut Tree—My Teacher, 1927

n
aic_1949-782_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at the Shelton, West, 1931

n
aic_1949-783_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at the Shelton, West, 1931

n
aic_1949-784_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at the Shelton, West, 1931

n
aic_1949-785_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, Southwest, 1932

n
aic_1949-786_t
Alfred Stieglitz

New York from the Shelton, 1935

n
aic_1949-787_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, North, 1930/31

n
aic_1949-788_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, North, 1931

n
aic_1949-789_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, North, 1931

n
AIC_1949-790_T
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, Southwest, 1932

n
AIC_1949-791_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, c. 1929

n
AIC_1949-792_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1931

n
AIC_1949-793_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1924

n
AIC_1949-794_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Spiritual America: Songs of the Sky A1, 1923

n
AIC_1949-796_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1930

n
AIC_1949-797_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set E (Print 2), 1923

n
AIC_1949-798_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set E (Print 1), 1923

n
AIC_1949-799_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set E (Print 3), 1923

n
AIC_1949-800_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1923

n
AIC_1949-801_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1929

n
AIC_1949-802_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1925

n
AIC_1949-803_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1925

n
AIC_1949-804_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1925

n
AIC_1949-805_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1926

n
AIC_1949-806_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1930

n
AIC_1949-807_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1930

n
AIC_1949-808_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1927

n
AIC_1949-809_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1926

n
AIC_1949-810_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1927

n
AIC_1949-811_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1929

n
AIC_1949-812_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, 1925

n
AIC_1949-813_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 1), 1929

n
AIC_1949-814_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 2), 1929

n
AIC_1949-815_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 3), 1929

n
AIC_1949-816_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 5), 1929

n
AIC_1949-817_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 4), 1929

n
AIC_1949-818_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 7), 1929

n
AIC_1949-819_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 8), 1929

n
AIC_1949-820_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 6), 1929

n
AIC_1949-822_T
Frederick H. Evans

York Minster: Looking from the Chapter House Interior, c. 1902

n
AIC_1949-847_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Steerage, 1907, printed 1915

n
AIC_1949-884_T
Paul Strand

Frame Building, 1916

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