David Hockney is a great painter,but he has also known fame through photography, although he does not mince his words when he says ‘Photography will never equal painting!’
In the early 1980s, Hockney began to produce photocollages, which he called "joiners," first of Polaroid prints and later of 35mm, commercially processed color prints. Using varying numbers of Polaroid snaps or photolab-prints of a single subject Hockney arranged a patchwork to make a composite image. One of his first photomontages was of his mother. Because these photographs are taken from different perspectives and at slightly different times, the result is work that has an affinity with Cubism, which was one of Hockney's major aims – discussing the way human vision …show more content…
He noticed in the late sixties that photographers were using cameras with wide-angle lenses to take pictures. He did not like such photographs because they always came out somewhat distorted. He was working on a painting of a living room and terrace in Los Angeles. He took Polaroid shots of the living room and glued them together, not intending for them to be a composition on their own. Upon looking at the final composition, he realized it created a narrative, as if the viewer was moving through the room. He began to work more and more with photography after this discovery and even stopped painting for a period of time to exclusively pursue this new style of photography. From 1982 Hockney explored the use of the camera, making composite images of Polaroid photographs arranged in a rectangular grid. Later he used regular 35-millimetre prints to create photo collages, compiling a ‘complete’ picture from a series of individually photographed …show more content…
The work was even branded ‘unbearable’ for its expressiveness when exhibited in 1858, and partially covered with a cloth. It was also presented in a large-scale format, more frequently used for allegorical painting, and even purchased for the Royal Collection. In this way, its status was raised to that of a work of art rather than simply a scientific process of documentation.
Rejlander’s The Two Ways of Life, his composite and constructed photography techniques, and use of photomontage continue to influence contemporary photography today. This form of working was particularly popular with artists active throughout the 1990s, including David Hockney
Bibliography
Font-Réaulx, D. (2012). Painting and photography : 1839-1914. Paris: Flammarion
Galassi, P. (1981). Before photography : painting and the invention of photography. New York: Museum of Modern Art
Hockney, D. (1982). David Hockney photographs. London : Petersburg Press
Kingsley, H. (2012). Seduced by art : photography past and present. London : National Gallery
In the early 1980s, Hockney began to produce photocollages, which he called "joiners," first of Polaroid prints and later of 35mm, commercially processed color prints. Using varying numbers of Polaroid snaps or photolab-prints of a single subject Hockney arranged a patchwork to make a composite image. One of his first photomontages was of his mother. Because these photographs are taken from different perspectives and at slightly different times, the result is work that has an affinity with Cubism, which was one of Hockney's major aims – discussing the way human vision …show more content…
He noticed in the late sixties that photographers were using cameras with wide-angle lenses to take pictures. He did not like such photographs because they always came out somewhat distorted. He was working on a painting of a living room and terrace in Los Angeles. He took Polaroid shots of the living room and glued them together, not intending for them to be a composition on their own. Upon looking at the final composition, he realized it created a narrative, as if the viewer was moving through the room. He began to work more and more with photography after this discovery and even stopped painting for a period of time to exclusively pursue this new style of photography. From 1982 Hockney explored the use of the camera, making composite images of Polaroid photographs arranged in a rectangular grid. Later he used regular 35-millimetre prints to create photo collages, compiling a ‘complete’ picture from a series of individually photographed …show more content…
The work was even branded ‘unbearable’ for its expressiveness when exhibited in 1858, and partially covered with a cloth. It was also presented in a large-scale format, more frequently used for allegorical painting, and even purchased for the Royal Collection. In this way, its status was raised to that of a work of art rather than simply a scientific process of documentation.
Rejlander’s The Two Ways of Life, his composite and constructed photography techniques, and use of photomontage continue to influence contemporary photography today. This form of working was particularly popular with artists active throughout the 1990s, including David Hockney
Bibliography
Font-Réaulx, D. (2012). Painting and photography : 1839-1914. Paris: Flammarion
Galassi, P. (1981). Before photography : painting and the invention of photography. New York: Museum of Modern Art
Hockney, D. (1982). David Hockney photographs. London : Petersburg Press
Kingsley, H. (2012). Seduced by art : photography past and present. London : National Gallery