Creative Industries Plan

Creative Industries 7 Minutes

Creative Industries Plan

 

How the Industries Began

Fine art photography is not a genre of photography which is universally defined; it is a genre of photography which encompasses all the other genres as fine art photographers can photograph in a variety of different styles to create their art.

Late 19th to early 20th Century

Although photography began around the 1820s, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that fine art photography started to be produced. Therefore, I will begin by looking at the end of the 19th century where Alfred Stieglitz was a prominent figure in the photography and art community known for his landscape work, and studies of O’Keeffe. Some of these images include “A Venetian Canal” (1894), “Icy Night, New York” (1898), and “Sun Rays, Paula, Berlin” (1889).

Working closely with Stieglitz was Edward Steichen, in 1905 they founded the “291” gallery in New York which was a venue that specialised in avant-garde art. Some of Steichen’s earlier work includes “The Big White Cloud, Lake George” (1903), and “The Pond, Moonrise” (1904). Both photographers influenced the photography community and pushed the idea that photography could be an art form.

During this time Pictorialism was also popular, a style that began as a way to argue against the comments that photography was nothing more than a way to record things. It involved using dark room processes to alter images in post processing deviating from the norm. Most notable photographers of this style include Man Ray. His photo’s, dubbed “rayographs”, include “Gun with Alphabet Stencils” (1924), and “Dust Breeding” (1920). However, the style quickly lost favour as it was more about the work you did in the dark room than the work you did with your camera.

1920s to 1950s

Modernism soon over took the photography world after Pictorialism lost trajectory and now photographers were more interested in sharply-focused images rather than the softness that was apparent in Pictorialism. This can be seen in work by Ansel Adam such as “Yosemite Valley View with El Capitan and Half Dome” (unknown), “Monolith, The Face of Half Dome” (1927), and “Manzanita Twigs in Kings River Sierra” (1939).

Other prominent photographers included Paul Strand, who’s work included a wide variety of subjects such as “Boy” (1933), “Church” (1933), and “Boat and Sheds” (1929). In 1940 the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) established a department of photography and appointed Beaumont Newhall as its first curator and this is often seen as the first institutional confirmation of photography being proven to be an art.

1960s to Present

The 60s is where fine art really started to become present in the photography world. Spurred on by younger artists bored with the traditions of photography, more experimentation with the medium led to photographs that were less about documenting events and more about creating.

 

Notable photographers from the 1960s onwards include Bruce Nauman who created works such as “Thighing (Blue)” (1967), and “Tony Sinking into the Floor” (1973). Another prominent photographer was Annie Leibovitz, an American portrait photographer known for pushing boundaries and creating quirky portraits of celebrities. Her works include “John Lennon and Yoko Ono” (1970), “Viv Richards and Daughter” (1984), and “Mireille Radwan-Dana” (1998).

 

Fine art photography covers a range of styles and specialisms, including photojournalism, fashion, portraiture, landscape, documentary, street etc and so fine art photography is less of a style and more of an intention; the intention to provoke feelings, or an idea, or even a message. This can be seen in work today by Silvia Grav, Tom Johnson, and Rachel Baran.

Range of Specialisms

There is a variety of positions/roles that could be held by a fine art photographer, mainly due to there being no strict definition as to what a fine art photographer will or will not photograph, some of these include;

  • Lecturer at college/university
  • Exhibition work
  • Documentary photography
  • Commissioned work for large organisations/companies
  • Media jobs such as creating content online, leading workshops

Present Day Workings

  • Håkan Strand; landscapes
  • Aleah Michele; conceptual work
  • Michael Kenna; landscapes
  • Jared Ragland; documentary

Financial Importance

When researching the average salary of UK photographers, I got a few different answers based on the source website. Adzuna bases their average salaries on the jobs that are offered on their site, whereas Payscale bases their average salary on individuals who are self-reporting to their website as well as jobs being offered in industry.

  • Average salary on Adzuna: £38,378
  • Average salary on Payscale: £20,629
  • Film, TV, video, radio, and photography sector of Creative Industries accounted for £16.7bn (16.5%) of the total gross value added in 2017
  • Money from prints can range from £200-£4m (Peter Lik’s “Phantom”)
  • Books can be priced from one extreme to another; some going for around £30 per book whereas others could be upwards of £1000 (particularly limited edition such as Eric Chang’s “The Angel’s Crest”, priced between $750 and $1000)
  • Exhibitions can be self-produced, requiring you to promote yourself, print and frame your images, and organise a space to exhibit your work. Galleries will exhibit your work for commission ranging from 33% to 100% on top of the selling price.

Technology and Changes

Technology has changed photography in a lot of ways for the better and the worse. The purpose of a lot of the processes have stayed the same, for example both historical and modern photographers use post processing to improve their images, both use/d a variety of lenses and cameras, both store/d and printed their images and many more! The main advancements in technology and their affects are:

  • Film to digital; not only are digital cameras lighter, faster, and easier to use, they also require less equipment and photographic knowledge in their use
  • Limelight to digital flash; limelight was the first artificial light used in photography which created chalk white faces due to its imperfection as a light source. Now we have a variety of different kinds of artificial lighting which provide a multitude of effects
  • Post processing; before modern technology, photography was more a science than a skill, and as a photographer you would need to know how to develop your photos to get the best image. Not only was this expensive, it was also time consuming. Now we can download Photoshop for a relatively low monthly fee and edit our images when and where we like.
  • Storage; digital cameras now have at least one, and sometimes multiple, card reader slots where we can store SD cards of varying sizes whereas film camera require you to carry rolls of film for shooting.

Occupations Within

  • make-up artists when working with models
  • fashion designer to design and have clothes made
  • set designers for large scale projects
  • publishing companies to publish books
  • galleries and museums to exhibit artists’ work
  • printing companies who print images as well as leaflets/fliers to promote self-designed exhibitions

Legal Considerations

Fine art photography can essentially be of anything, and so there are several legal considerations depending on what kind of subject you photograph. If you are a fine art photographer that shoots landscapes, then that is a completely different situation than if you were doing documentary-type fine art photography. Therefore, I have selected the most appropriate and well rounded:

  • Insurance is important for your equipment so that is something were to happen then your equipment can easily be replaced.
  • Model release forms; when using models you must have them sign a model release form which states who can share the images, where they can share the images, how long for, and in which media (i.e. print/digital).
  • If being commissioned, a contract should be put in place between the artist and the individual or organisation who commissions them stating similar clauses to those described before, as well as information on how much will be paid, by what date, how many images will be supplied, and when they will be completed.
  • Permission to photograph in private property is required however, in the UK no permission is required to photograph private property from a public place.
  • Photographing children under the age of 18 in public is legal in the UK however, you do not have permission to publish those images unless their guardian signs a release form.
  • You do not need permission to photograph the police in public, or police incidents.

 

Bibliography

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Published by Jade Taylor Photography

I am a student photographer in the 2nd year of my HND based at Edinburgh College. I have enjoyed all aspects of photography so far with my favourites being landscape and wildlife. In June this year I was second shooter for my first wedding which taught me a lot of skills in working with many people at one time, as well as working under time constraints and various different lighting conditions. Following my HND I plan to progress to the BA, continuing with my studies at Edinburgh College and then on to my career as a freelance photographer.

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