Straight Photography

Straight Photography is an important thread within the history of photography. It can be understood as a reaction against pictorialism that emphasized recording subjects plainly and directly, without painterly manipulation. This movement page brings together photographers, eras, and related contexts so readers can see how the approach developed, where it circulated, and which artists help define its historical position.

Basic facts
MovementStraight Photography
Photographers4

Overview

A reaction against pictorialism that emphasized recording subjects plainly and directly, without painterly manipulation.

Photographers

🇬🇧GB1853–1943
Frederick H. Evans
Straight Photography
Straight PhotographyArchitectural Photography+1

Frederick H. Evans was born in London in 1853.

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🇺🇸US1864–1946
Alfred Stieglitz
Modern Photography
PictorialismPhoto-Secession+2

Stieglitz made 291 and Camera Work a bridge from pictorialism to modern photography as museum art.

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🇺🇸US1883–1965
Charles Sheeler
Modernism
ModernismStraight Photography

Charles Sheeler was an American artist who moved between photography and painting and helped shape the visual language of American modernism.

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🇺🇸US1890–1976
Paul Strand
Modern Photography
Straight PhotographyModernism+1

Paul Strand's decisive break came in part from his first visit to Gallery 291 in 1907, where Lewis Hine introduced him to modern painting.

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