How did Moholy-Nagy make photography made manifestly modern?A typical Laszlo Moholy-Nagy photograph might feature hard diagonals or contrasting geometric shapes, often under harsh lighti
Trang 1How did Moholy-Nagy make photography made manifestly modern?
A typical Laszlo Moholy-Nagy photograph might feature hard diagonals or contrasting geometric shapes, often under harsh lighting that cast dramatic shadows within the photo Moholy is known for using many radical techniques within his arts, which venture from constructivism to
modernism to surrealism In his time, he faced much opposition because of this; however, not only did he continue developing his methods, he is viewed as one of the foremost advocates of modernism in the twentieth century His greatest influence in photography may not have been his work or struggles, but his time spent spreading his principles as a teacher later in his life
Although, Moholy started his artwork with a brief period of militarism, he quickly discovered his own style He ignored lines of distinction between photographic and graphic expression He ignored the traditional dependence of photography on the forms of painting He ignored the role and purpose of photography as seen by the masses Moholy understood a camera to be a modern graphic tool that allowed him to capture and convey different aspects of reality to his viewers He tried to give his viewers a different perspective of casual subjects by photographing them from different viewpoints, such as bird's-eye and worm's-eye views He also framed his photos in a non-traditional style He often used diagonal composition to give a photo a different focus or to point out a certain aspect of the photo that may have otherwise been overlooked by his viewers
He often utilized foreground and background effects, placing objects in places that they were not typically placed He found this was another effective method of drawing attention to a certain point in a photo Because Moholy sought to show society as it was aesthetically, he utilized these radical compositions to convey the messages that were also considered radical
Moholy's endeavors are very reflective of his ideals and the aesthetic quality is evident in most all
of his photos He didn't have the political incentive that many artist of this time did He believed that, because art is rooted in society, an artist has an obligation to address social issues; he is a visionary for the society and he provides forms that convey ideas necessary for social advance and reform As he aged, he viewed art on increasingly social and revolutionary terms This is can be seen by comparing his later work to his first works The subject matter in his early work in militarism may be considered traditional and not controversial for the time; however, most of his later work was focused on what was considered modern subjects For example, he took a positive view of technology, photographing much "machine aesthetic" and abstract photos of the industrial age He liked technology as a subject because it directly represented the social change in society that came with industrialization The camera itself was also associated with technology because it was becoming more mechanical and technologically advanced Technology was making
photography faster and more practical What better subject to photograph, than the industry that was rapidly improving the very quality of that photograph
Moholy is also famous for his combination of photographical techniques He spent a lot of time
on the subject of lighting, even writing on this subject He referred to the forms produced by light
as "abstract seeing." Harsh lighting and shadows, double exposures, under and over exposures, photograms, variation of exposure times (producing rapid or slow seeing) and contrast are all prominent in his experiments with lighting He advocated photomontage (which he never referred
to as collages) as a way of "simultaneous seeing," which he often used to convey social messages
He achieved "intensified seeing" by means of filter variation, such as using infrared film
Depending on the filter and technique, if the photo was substantially changed, he called it
"distorted seeing." Moholy also viewed radiography (x-rays) as a creative form of photography, which he actually utilized All of Moholy's definitions of seeing can be looked up in his text, A New Instrument of Vision (1932), under the light varieties of photographic vision
Moholy was Hungarian but with the upset and war in Europe, he was first forced through a series
of moves and eventually landed in Chicago His work was well known in the US because his publications in Cahier d'Arts, his displays at exhibitions in New York and his writings Many of his photos catered to American ideals because America was an industrializing nation, looking to its future He started the New Bauhaus, an experimental school of art and design in Chicago After it failed, he took a teaching position at the Chicago Institute of Design, where he pushed the idea of improving the modern world by designing beautiful functional objects This idea is manifest in many American products today
As an artist, theorist and teacher, Moholy influenced the world of photography from its bulky,
Trang 2slow beginning to the fast, practical mobility of today's everyday camera He kept style and technique up to speed with the technological advancement His experimentation with light lead to the development of techniques that are now considered advanced and professional methods in photography His modernist ideals spread into the modern day and are obviously manifest in today's American industrial design and commercial advertisement Although, it is still questioned
as to whether or not photography is a true form of art, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy is in part responsible for it being a modern form of art