DAY 142

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Group f/64

DON’T MESS WITH MY PHOTOGRAPH

Group f/64 was formed by a group of photographers from the San Francisco area in 1932 to practice and promote an aesthetic philosophy and technical approach to their art. At the time, the advent of smaller, more portable cameras was seen by many as a major breakthrough as a form of communication, or even art, for the masses. However, the members of f/64 eschewed the use of these newer cameras and instead dedicated themselves to using large-format cameras with small apertures, f/64 being the smallest. Members of the group included founders Ansel Adams and Edward Weston as well as a handful of others, including Willard Van Dyke and Imogen Cunningham.

Born in the midst of the Great Depression, the group sought to promote a new vision of the country by presenting the best contemporary photography of the American West; exhibit extremely clear, well-defined images; and adhere to what they called “Pure Photography,” which they described as “...possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form.” This was a direct response against movements such as Pictorialism, promoted by Alfred Stieglitz, which aimed to achieve a graphic arts quality, like painting.

Much of the better-known work created by artists in the group had nature as its subject—landscape or abstract details of elements from the natural world. —DJG