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Photography:
Tool for Commerce, Vehicle for Art
Wednesday November 2, 2011
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Friday September 30th TEST FORMAT
Part I:4 Slide IDs
2 points each for 8 points total
Part II:8 Short Questions
1 point each for a possible total of 8 points
Part III:
3 short essays
2 points each for a total of 6 points
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Focus on these Study Objectives for Part III: (two will be selected)
1. What was the purpose of Peales museum? In what ways was that purpose
expressed?
2. Which platforms (or which media) played significant roles in the lives and minds of
19th-century Philadelphians? What were they? What was their impact?
3. By the end of the 1830s, Philadelphias identity had been redefined yet
again. What happened, and what was the role of the citys creative community?
4. Specifically, how did artists like Clay and Lippard break from tradition?
5. How did Laurel Hill Cemetery and Fairmount Park manifest themselves in creative
expression?
6. "Eakins, like Whitman, sees beauty in everything. Why is this statement valuablefor us as it relates to the art of Eakins?
7. Explain what Michael D. Harris means when he discusses Tanners art as counter-
hegemonic. Would that term also apply to Eakins art?
And, for the third essay question, choose one:8. The idea for Philadelphias City Hall evolved with a sense of itself unique to time
and place. What were these forces and how were they resolved?
Or
9. William H. Rau's photographic series of the Pennsylvania Railroad had a particular
mission. How did Rau manipulate reality and photography to achieve thatmission?
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This week, exploring architecture and photography, wereconsidering some of the work of Frank Furness, John McArthur,
John Moran and William Rau. Here are our study objectives. (Both
will appear on the test this Friday. You'll have your choice as to
which one of the two to write up.)
1. The idea for Philadelphias City Hall evolved with a sense of
itself unique to time and place. What were these forces and how
were they resolved?
2. William H. Rau's photographic series of the Pennsylvania
Railroad had a particular mission. How did Rau manipulate realityand photography to achieve that mission?
Study Objectives for the Week
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A capitalist society requires a culture based on
images. It needs to furnish vast amounts ofentertainment in order to stimulate buying and
anesthetize the injuries of class, race, and sex. And
it needs to gather unlimited amounts of
information, the better to exploit natural
resources, increase productivity, keep order, makewar, give jobs to bureaucrats. The cameras twin
capacities, to subjectivize reality and to objectify it,
ideally serve these needs and strengthen them.
-Susan Sontag,
On Photography (1977)
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thousands of
works by 322
photographers
from the US andthe world
Photographic Hall at the Centennial Exhibition
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M.A. Roots daguerreotype
case in Photography Hall at the
Centennial Exhibition, 1876
M.A. Root and the beginnings
of photographys reflexivity
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. M.A. Roots daguerreotype case
Photography Hall at the Centennial Exhibition, 1876
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.
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John Moran, photographer and
Thomas Moran, painter
On the Wissahickon, 1864 and 1870
.
John Moran writes in 1865:
The Relation of Photography to
the Fine Arts.
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Great Central Sanitary Fair,
1864
PaintingsPhotography
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John Moran (1831-1903)
Thoughts on Nature, Art and Photography(1875): Art in all its forms is the form of
thought, and the photographic work which rises to this plane is the expression of the
photographer. Nature in some sort becomes plastic to his touch, and he moulds her to
his judgment, this he does by selection rather than construction; this happy selection
comes from the power to see the beautiful, and results from a highly trained taste.
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John Morans
naturalistic
photography:
He wanted viewers to
connect with the
subject but more, he
wanted to capture the
soul of nature and
have an emotional
response.
Nature becomes
plastic to his touch,
and he moulds her
to his judgment.
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Art or Documentation?
John Moran, Nos. 44 and 46 N. Water Street, 1868
On the Wissahickon, 1864
?
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John Moran
Nos. 44 and 46 N. Water Street, 1868
Frederick DeBourg Richards,
William Penns Mansion, 1854
Art or Documentation?
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John Moran
Slate Roof House, 2ndabove Walnut
Frederick DeBourg Richards,
William Penns Mansion, 1854
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603 Penn St., 1868
Birthplace of Benj. West, 1869
Kingsessing School House
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John Moran, House in Mickles Court, 1869.
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John Moran, House in Mickles Court, 1869 Robert Newell,Ancient building, first industrial
society, Arch above Second, 1875
Photographic Intent
Photographic Intent
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Terminal,
Alfred Steiglitz,
1892.
The Swimming Hole,Thomas Eakins, 1883.
The Pennsylvania
Limited,
William H. Rau, ca.
1892
Photographic Intent
The Head Cook, Gilliams & Stratton, ca. 1910
Terminal by Alfred Steiglitz 1892
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Galleries of the Photo-Secession, NYC (above)
Walton Hotel, Philadelphia (below)
Terminal, by Alfred Steiglitz, 1892.
The Pennsylvania Limited, William H. Rau, ca. 1892
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Third story of the
family studio at
930 Girard Street
home to William
Rau and LouiseBell after their
marriage in
1877.
Rau remained in
partnership with his
brother until 1880.
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Edward L. Wilson
William Rau and Louise Bell Rau
Rau and Wilson knew how photographers
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Henry Cammas, 1859-1860
Maxime Du Camp, 1850
Francis Frith in Egypt,
1856-1860
Rau and Wilson knew how photographers
established reputations and built careers
William Bell,
Perched Rock, Rocker Creek, Arizona, 1872
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I am working for fame
and name and feel sure
that I will have both as I
am straining every nerve
to make this the mostremarkable expedition in
this line that has every
been contemplated.
-William H. Rau
In a letter to Louise Bell
Rau, January 8, 1882.
The Wilson Lectures
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The Wilson Lectures
At the Academy of
Music
in 1885:
From the Dead Sea To Damascus
The Taking of Petra
Ramses and Aboo Simbel
The Sinai Peninsula
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William H. Raus
office and studio,
Corner of Juniper and
Chestnut Sts.
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1890s: Rau moves his studio to 238 South Camac Street
Rau documents both the Pennsylvania
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=238+south+camac&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=238+S+Camac+St,+Philadelphia,+Pennsylvania+19107&ll=39.947285,-75.16169&spn=0.007978,0.01929&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=39.947285,-75.16169&panoid=oWlhiOn-SUcMTE8/3/2019 11-2 Photography - Tool of Commerce, Vehicle for Art(1) (1)
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Rau documents both the Pennsylvania
Railroad and the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Soft Coal Hollow Greenwich Point
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Soft Coal Hollow, Greenwich Point
Hopper cars in this South
Philadelphia holding yard handled
300 cars of coal daily
Quadruple Track Tanks atMonmouth Junction, NJ
Track tanks enabled trains to
maintain speeds of 40-50 mph
while taking on water.
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Pennsylvania Limited, on Susquehanna Bridge, at Rockville. PRRs premier, east-west train:
baggage/club car; dining car; 3 Pullman cars and an observation car.
The surf bathing [in Atlantic City] is superb
and safe, the facilities for boating and sailing
are practically unlimited, and the fishing in the
inlets or the deep sea is matchless.
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Pennsylvania Limited on the Horseshoe Curve
Observation End on Penna. Limited, on the
Horseshoe Curve
PRRs moving first-class hotel on the east slope of the Allegheny Mountains.
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A capitalist society requires a culture
based on images. It needs to furnish vast
amounts of entertainment in order tostimulate buying and anesthetize the
injuries of class, race, and sex. And it
needs to gather unlimited amounts of
information, the better to exploit natural
resources, increase productivity, keeporder, make war, give jobs to
bureaucrats. The cameras twin
capacities, to subjectivize reality and to
objectify it, ideally serve these needs
and strengthen them.
-Susan Sontag, On Photography