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63-771: In September, 1894, Alfred Stieglitz returned to New York after an extended tour in Europe. He found both the quality and quantity of what he considered to be artistic photography, such as that promoted by the Linked Ring in Britain, was much greater in Europe than in the United States, and he was determined to do something to advance fine art photography in America. He turned to the two major photographic clubs in New York,

126-658: A new cover in place along with a more sophisticated layout. He also introduced the relatively bold concept of including at least one tipped-in, original photographs in each issue. In spite his editorial changes, however, Abel did not have the aesthetic sense of Stieglitz, and the overall quality of the images included in the magazine, including the original prints, was inferior when compared to the previous five years. When Stieglitz began independently publishing his own journal Camera Work in 1903, interest in Camera Notes quickly flagged. The photographers and critics who were at

189-442: A new journal that would be "the best and most sumptuous of photographic publications" and that it would published entirely by himself, "owing allegiance only to the interests of photography." He called the new journal Camera Work , a reference to the phrase in his prospectus statement in which he meant to distinguish artistic photographers like himself from the old-school technicians with whom he had fought for many years. To emphasize

252-556: A new level of photographic aesthetics among his close colleagues. For the remainder of the publication's life, American photographers were dominated the highest quality reproductions included in Camera Notes . Of the fifty photographers whose work was included either as photogravures or as tipped-in silver prints, thirty-five were Americans. While Stieglitz sought independence from the Camera Club in his editorial work, very few of photographers whose work he reproduced came from outside

315-409: A new magazine, one that would be independent of any conservative influences. It did not take him long to come up with a new plan. In August, 1902, he printed a two-page prospectus "in response to the importunities of many serious workers in photographic fields that I should undertake the publication of an independent magazine devoted to the furtherance of modern photography." He said he would soon launch

378-450: Is distinct evidence of personal feeling and execution." As a result, interest grew in processes such as gum bi-chromate, oil pigment and transfer, and supported the trend in producing images not for reproduction, but works of high value, as well as creating interest in surface texture, papers, and colour of print. In 1896 they began publishing The Linked Ring Papers, which were circulated annually to members until 1909 to promote and discuss

441-521: Is in the power of almost anyone to produce." Stieglitz set about to change this situation, and within eighteen months he and his friends succeeded in bringing about a merger of the two clubs. He immediately took over as Vice President of the newly formed and rejuvenated organization, now called The Camera Club of New York . He envisioned the new organization as the American beacon of fine art photography, and to help promote his vision he proposed expanding

504-717: Is on subtle gradations of tone and value that its artistic beauty so frequently depends. It is therefore highly necessary that reproductions of photographic work must be made with exceptional care, and discretion of the spirit of the original is to be retained, though no reproductions can do justice to the subtleties of some photographs. Such supervision will be given to the illustrations that will appear in each number of Camera Work. Only examples of such works as gives evidence of individuality and artistic worth, regardless of school, or contains some exceptional feature of technical merit, or such as exemplifies some treatment worthy of consideration, will find recognition in these pages. Nevertheless,

567-471: Is the mouthpiece of the Photo-Secession that fact will not be allowed to hamper its independence in the slightest degree." While making this proclamation in the journal, Stieglitz continued to unabashedly promote the Photo-Secession in its pages. In 1905, he wrote "The most important step in the history of the Photo-Secession" was taken with the opening of his photography gallery that year. "Without

630-580: The Linked Ring") was a British photographic society created to propose and defend photography as being just as much an art as it was a science. Members dedicated to the craft looked for new techniques that would cause the less knowledgeable to steer away, persuading photographers and enthusiasts to experiment with chemical processes, printing techniques and new styles. Photography was interpreted in two ways: art photography and science photography. The science of photography requires practice that determines

693-467: The Linked Ring's photography magazines, writing publications for the newspaper, and installations at Photo Salon. One of the most gifted and sensitive of "the Links", Evans is known for his images of architecture , specifically cathedrals . He is known to have spent weeks living in the cathedrals he photographed waiting for ideal lighting conditions to reveal the poetry in his subjects. Frank S. Sutcliffe

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756-407: The Photo-Secession at Fifth Avenue, New York City . Members include Mary Devens , Frank Eugene , Gertrude Käsebier , William B. Dyer , Eva Watson-Schütze , Edward Steichen , Edmund Stirling , and Clarence H. White . Pictorialist James Craig Annan was born into a household at the forefront of photography technology. In 1866 his father created a four-foot print of an eleven-foot painting with

819-530: The Pictorial will be the dominating feature of the magazine." In his first editorial Stieglitz expressed gratitude to a group of photographers to whom he was indebted. He listed them in a specific order: Robert Demachy , Will Cadby, Edward Steichen , Gertrude Käsebier , Frank Eugene , James Craig Annan , Clarence H. White , William Dyer, Eva Watson , Frances Benjamin Johnston , and R. Child Baley. Over

882-547: The Society of Amateur Photographers and the New York Camera Club, for assistance in his mission but received little interest from either organization. The critic Sadakichi Hartmann noted that the clubs at that time were "as good as dead. There was no vitality in them. Photography was merely as pastime to them, and all they had to show were their innumerable portraits, transcripts of nature, views, and snapshots as

945-593: The aesthetic vision he had championed for so long. Nine months later, in June 1917, what was to be the final issue of Camera Work appeared. This issue was devoted almost entirely to Strand's photographs. Even after the difficulties of publishing the last two issues Stieglitz did not indicate he was ready to give up; he included an announcement that the next issue would feature O’Keefe's work. Soon after publishing this issue, however, Stieglitz realized that he could no longer afford to publish Camera Work or to run "291" due to

1008-468: The aesthetics and practice of pictorialism. The Photo-Secession was founded by photographer Alfred Stieglitz in 1902. Stieglitz wanted to show that photography had artistic expression similar to that of painting and sculpture, emphasizing further the craftsmanship abilities of photographers. Photo-Secession members were also called American Links, and displayed works in the Little Galleries of

1071-424: The changing times, only four of the comments came from photographers – all of the rest were from painters, illustrators and art critics. It was the only issue that did not include an illustration of any kind. Issue 48 did not appear until October 1916, sixteen months later. In the interim two important events occurred. At the insistence of his friend Paul Haviland Stieglitz had begun another journal, 291 , which

1134-486: The club, was nevertheless an independent institution." The first issue of Camera Notes premiered in July, 1897. Camera Notes was immediately well-received, and in the second issue Stieglitz published a sampling of the praise that had come from other photographic magazines. Britain's Photogram , for example, said " Camera Notes is such a fine publication that we hesitate to use the adjectives necessary to describe it." With

1197-438: The collections of the original subscribers. For most of its life Camera Work was universally praised by both photographers and critics. Here are some examples that appeared in photography magazines when Camera Work first appeared: While Stieglitz definitely deserves this praise, he should not be seen without fault. In spite of Stieglitz's initial statement that Camera Work "owes allegiance to no organization or clique", in

1260-664: The costs and even the availability of the paper on which it was printed became challenging. Coupled with the public's decreased interest in pictorial photography, these problems simply became too much for Stieglitz to bear. He published issue 47 in January, 1915, and devoted most of it what Steichen referred to as a "project in self-adulation". Three years earlier Stieglitz had asked many of his friends to tell him what his gallery "291" meant to them. He received sixty-eight replies and printed all of them, unedited (including Steichen's previously mentioned opinion), in issue 47. As another sign of

1323-411: The effect of the war and the changes in the New York arts scene. He ended both of these efforts with no formal announcement or notice. When he closed "291" Stieglitz had several thousand unsold copies of Camera Work , along with more than 8,000 unsold copies of 291 . He sold most of these in bulk to a ragpicker, and he gave away or destroyed the rest. Almost all of the copies that remain today came from

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1386-920: The end it was primarily a visual showcase for his work and that of his close friends. Of the 473 photographs published in Camera Work during its fifteen-year existence, 357 were the work of just fourteen photographers: Stieglitz, Steichen, Frank Eugene , Clarence H. White , Alvin Langdon Coburn , J. Craig Annan, Hill & Adamson , Baron Adolf de Meyer , Heinrich Kühn, George Seeley, Paul Strand , Robert Demachy , Gertrude Käsebier and Anne Brigman . The remaining 116 photographs came from just thirty-nine other photographers. Three complete sets of Camera Work have sold at auction in recent years. A complete set of all 50 numbers in their original bindings sold at Sotheby's in October 2011 for $ 398,500. In 2007

1449-522: The fact that this was an independent journal every cover would proclaim "Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly, Edited and Published by Alfred Stieglitz, New York". Stieglitz was determined from the start that Camera Work would be the finest publication of its day. He asked Edward Steichen to design the cover, a simple gray-green background with the magazine's title, acknowledgement of Stieglitz's editorial control and issue number and date in an Art Nouveau -style typeface created especially by Steichen for

1512-476: The facts nor a tool to copy painted art but a new way of expression and creation ( Pictorialism ). Rather than continue to battle against these challenges, he resigned as editor of Camera Notes and spent the summer at his home in Lake George , New York, thinking about what he could do next. His close friends and fellow photographers, led by Joseph Keiley , encouraged him to carry out his dream and publish

1575-534: The flourish of trumpets, without the stereotypes, press-view or similar antiquated functions, the Secessionists and a few friends informally opened the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession at 291 Fifth Avenue, New York." Throughout its publication, it is impossible to view Camera Work separately from the rest of Stieglitz's life. He lived to promote photography as an art form and to challenge

1638-399: The focus of Camera Work turned from primarily American content to a more international scope. Stieglitz also continued to intertwine the walls of his galleries with the pages of his magazine. Stieglitz's closest friends (Steichen, Demachy, White, Käsebier and Keiley) were represented in both, while many others were granted one but not the other. Increasingly, a single photographer was given

1701-475: The forefront of fine art photography at the time recognized that, for all his shortcomings, Stieglitz really was the driving force in the movement. The last issue of Camera Notes appeared in December 1903. A column under this name and written by members of the Camera Club subsequently appeared in two other magazines, but it contained only news and notes about the club itself. Each of the twenty-four issues of

1764-418: The former newsletter of the club into a full-fledged journal with himself as editor. Later Stieglitz would write "As a condition precedent to undertaking this labor of love and enthusiasm, it was stipulated by our Editor [Stieglitz] that he would have unhampered and absolute control over all matters, direct or remote, relating to the conduct of the proposed publications; in short, Camera Notes, while published for

1827-406: The gravure came from a negative this fact was noted in the accompanying text, and these gravures were then considered to be original prints. Stieglitz, always a perfectionist, personally tipped in each of the photogravures in every issue, touching up dust spots or scratches when necessary. This time-consuming and exhausting work assured only the highest standards in every copy but sometimes delayed

1890-450: The in-fighting, and in early 1901 he announced that he would step down as editor after one more year. In May, 1902, Juan C. Abel took over as editor. Abel, who was the Club's librarian, had assisted Stieglitz with two issues of Camera Notes and had experience working on other photographic magazines. He sought to emphasize the change in editorial direction by redesigning the magazine, putting

1953-416: The journal. Even the advertisements at the back of each issue were creatively designed and presented, often by Stieglitz himself. Eastman Kodak took the back cover of almost every issue, and at Stieglitz's insistence they used the same typeface Steichen had designed for the cover. Gravures were produced from the photographers' original negatives whenever possible or occasionally from the original prints. If

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2016-584: The magazine measured 10 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ×  7 + 1 ⁄ 2  in (26 cm × 19 cm). Volumes 1-4 displayed a green Art Nouveau cover with a design attributed to Thomas A. Sindelar, a student of Alphonse Mucha . There were numerous halftone reproduction of photos in each issue, but what made the journal stand out were the hand-pulled photogravures. At least two and as many as four meticulously printed photogravures were included in each issue. In addition there were commentaries, criticism and reviews by important photographers and critics of

2079-658: The mailing of the issues since Stieglitz would not allow anyone else to do it. The visual quality of the gravures was so high that when a set of prints failed to arrive for a Photo-Secession exhibition in Brussels, a selection of gravures from the magazine was hung instead. Most viewers assumed they were looking at the original photographs. Before the first issue was even printed, Stieglitz received 68 subscriptions for his new publication. With his typical extravagant aesthetic taste and unwillingness to compromise, Stieglitz insisted that 1000 copies of every issue be printed regardless of

2142-598: The membership of the club. The most prominent of the non-Club members who were featured were F. Holland Day and Clarence H. White . Both figure prominently in Stieglitz's concurrent efforts to promote pictorialism through his establishment of the Photo-Secession . Eventually, Stieglitz's autocratic direction of the journal came under fire from the membership of the Club. In spite of the record of reproducing work mostly by Club members, some members felt Stieglitz

2205-410: The most important photographers in the world, with the goal to establish photography as a fine art. It was called "consummately intellectual", "by far the most beautiful of all photographic magazines", and "a portrait of an age [in which] the artistic sensibility of the nineteenth century was transformed into the artistic awareness of the present day." At the start of the 20th century Alfred Stieglitz

2268-478: The new process of carbon printing. This became Annan’s primary influence to become a skilled photographer himself. At a young age, he learned the process of photogravure in Vienna on a trip with his father. This process allowed Annan to work like an etcher —sharpening, shading, or blurring areas of the picture, describing this process as "a long drawn out pleasure". Frederick H. Evans was responsible for leading

2331-506: The next fourteen years he showed a decided bias by publishing many of their photographs while other talented photographers barely received notice. During this early period Stieglitz used Camera Work to expand the same vision and aesthetics that he had promoted in Camera Notes . He even used the services of the same three assistant editors who worked with him on Camera Notes: Dallett Fuguet, Joseph Keiley and John Francis Strauss. Over

2394-399: The norms of how art may be defined. As his own successes increased, either from recognition of his own photos or through his efforts to organize international exhibitions of photography, the content of Camera Work reflected these changes. Articles began to appear with such titles as "Symbolism and Allegory" (Charles Caffin, No 18 1907) and "The Critic as Artist" (Oscar Wilde, No 27 1909), and

2457-413: The number of subscriptions. Under financial duress he reduced the number to 500 for the final two issues. The annual subscription rate at the start was US$ 4, or US$ 2 for single issues. The inaugural issue of Camera Work was dated January 1903, but was actually mailed on 15 December 1902. In it Stieglitz set forth the mission of the new journal: "Photography being in the main a process in monochrome, it

2520-471: The outcome of the image, whereas the art aspect of photography concerns itself with the aesthetic experience and success of the photograph to the viewer. These differences created a tension in the craft that the Linked Ring sought to change. The group was founded in May 1892 by Henry Peach Robinson , former Photographic Society of Great Britain member George Davison , and Henry Van der Weyde . The Brotherhood

2583-498: The permanent display of photography. This was the first time a museum in the U.S. acknowledged that photography was in fact an art form, and, in many ways, it marked the beginning of the end for the Photo-Secession. After the Buffalo show Stieglitz began showcasing more and more art in Camera Work . In 1911 a double issue was devoted to reproductions of Rodin's drawings and analyses of his, Cézanne 's and Picasso 's work. While this

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2646-405: The preponderance of coverage in an issue, and in doing so Stieglitz relied more and more on his small circle of old supporters. This led to increased tensions among Stieglitz and some of his original colleagues, and when Stieglitz began to introduce paintings, drawings and other art forms in his gallery, many photographers saw it as the breaking point in their relationship with Stieglitz. While this

2709-421: The realm of modern art. In January, 1910, Stieglitz abandoned his policy of reproducing only photographic images, and in issue 29 he included four caricatures by Mexican artist Marius de Zayas . From this 'point on Camera Work would include both reproductions of and articles on modern painting, drawing and aesthetics, and it marked a significant change in both the role and the nature of the magazine. This change

2772-540: The sake of allowing him to rebut them, but in general his opinions dominated the visual and literary contributions to the magazine. Stieglitz also instilled in Camera Notes his belief that photographers should be familiar with other arts, since he saw his primary mission as promoting photography as a fine art itself. He included articles on Impressionism , Symbolism , genre painting and portraiture , and commentaries on aesthetics from well-known art critics and artists like Sadakichi Hartmann and Arthur Wesley Dow . At

2835-438: The same time, Stieglitz regularly took the opportunity to promote his own work, and while he was editor he published twenty-two of his own photos in the magazine, including two images twice. For much of the first year, Stieglitz emphasized foreign photographers in the magazine as encouragement to his U.S. colleagues to develop a uniquely American school of photography. Within a short time, he was rewarded for his efforts by finding

2898-586: The scope of Camera Work as well, although he decided against any name change for the journal. This same year a huge retrospective exhibition of the Photo-Secession was held at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York . More than fifteen thousand people visited the exhibition over its four-week showing, and at the end the Gallery purchased twelve prints and reserved one room for

2961-545: The second issue Stieglitz hit his editorial stride, with a full range of photographs and articles that included F. Holland Day writing on "Art and the Camera" and Lee Ferguson lamenting on "Our Lack of Exhibitions". With Camera Notes Stieglitz established the pattern he would continue for the rest of his life of exerting complete editorial and aesthetic control over all aspects of the publication. Occasionally he would allow some articles to express ideas contrary to his, mostly for

3024-428: The time. In an average issue, about half of the articles dealt with individual photographers and aesthetic issues, and the rest covering technical matters and notices and reviews of international exhibitions. As Stieglitz biographer Katherine Hoffman points out, "Each issue of Camera Notes was an art object itself, with its finely printed photogravures , well-designed layout and range of articles and text." Camera Notes

3087-412: The value of the issues in the marketplace and thereby attract more subscribers, Stieglitz began to destroy unwanted copies. The price of back issues soon increased substantially, but the number of paid subscriptions continued to dwindle. By 1915 the cultural changes and the economic effects of the war finally took its toll on Camera Work . The number of subscribers dwindled to just thirty-seven, and both

3150-467: The work of a young photographer, Paul Strand , whose photographic vision was indicative of the aesthetic changes now at the heart of Camera Work's demise. Strand shunned the soft focus and symbolic content of the Pictorialists and instead strived to create a new vision that found beauty in the clear lines and forms of ordinary objects. By publishing Strand's work Stieglitz was hastening the end of

3213-446: The work published in Camera Work would come from the Photo-Secession exhibitions he hosted, and soon rumors circulated that the magazine was intended only for those involved in the Photo-Secession. In 1904 Stieglitz attempted to counter this idea by publishing a full-page notice in the journal in order to correct the "erroneous impression…that only the favored few are admitted to our subscription list." He then went on to say "…although it

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3276-517: The years both Fuguet and Keiley contributed extensively to the journal through their own articles and photographs. Strauss’ role appears to have been more in the background. Neither Stieglitz nor his associate editors received a salary for their work, nor were any photographers paid for having their work published. One of the purposes of the new journal was to serve as a vehicle for the Photo-Secession , an invitation-only group that Stieglitz founded in 1902 to promote photography as an art form. Much of

3339-692: Was "a means of bringing together those who are interested in the development of the highest form of Art of which Photography is capable." Membership of the group was by invitation only; other members included James Craig Annan , Walter Benington , Arthur Burchett, Alvin Langdon Coburn , Frederick H. Evans , Alfred Horsley Hinton , Frederick Hollyer , Harold Moritmer Lamb , Richard Keene , Alexander Keighley , Paul Martin , Alfred Maskell, Lydell Sawyer (aka Lyd Sawyer), William Smedley-Aston , Frank Sutcliffe , J. B. B. Wellington , and, later, Americans Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. , Clarence H. White and Alfred Stieglitz . Robinson's son, Ralph Winwood Robinson ,

3402-464: Was a very bold move to promote modern art, it did not sit well with the photographers who still made up most of the subscription list. Half of the existing subscribers immediately cancelled their subscriptions. By 1912 the number of subscriptions had dropped to 304. The shift away from photography to a mix of other art and photography had cost Stieglitz many subscribers, yet he stubbornly refused to change his editorial direction. In an attempt to inflate

3465-628: Was also a member. Although works by female photographers such as those by Zaida Ben-Yusuf were exhibited at the annual shows during the 1890s , it was not until 1900 that Gertrude Käsebier became one of the first elected female members of the Ring. In November 1893, Robinson created the Photographic Salon, an annual exhibit event in England whose aim was to "exhibit [images] that are description of pictorial photography in which there

3528-422: Was both frustrated and exhausted. He had spent the past five years as editor of the Camera Club's journal Camera Notes , where his efforts to promote photography as a fine art form were regularly challenged by the older, more conservative members of the Club who thought photography was nothing more than a technical process. On the contrary, Stieglitz believed the photography is not just a mere source of documenting

3591-415: Was brought about by a similar transformation at Stieglitz's New York gallery, which had been known as the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession until 1908. That year he changed the name of the gallery to " 291 ", and he began showing avant-garde modern artists such as Auguste Rodin and Henri Matisse along with photographers. The positive responses he received at the gallery encouraged Stieglitz to broaden

3654-494: Was intended to bring attention to his gallery of the same name. This effort occupied much of Stieglitz's time and interest from the summer of 1915 until the last issue was published in early 1916. In April 1916, Stieglitz finally met Georgia O'Keeffe , although the latter had gone to see exhibits at "291" since 1908. The two immediately were attracted to each other, and Stieglitz began devoting more and more of his time to their developing relationship. In issue 48 Stieglitz introduced

3717-551: Was most well known for his image "Water Rats", exemplary of being one of the first images showing depth of field accomplished in camera. The Brotherhood represented themselves with a logo of three interlinked rings, which were meant in part to represent the Masonic beliefs of Good, True, and Beautiful. Camera Work Camera Work was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of

3780-1247: Was published quarterly from July, 1897 to December, 1902, and two more issues were published in 1903, for a total of twenty-four issues. The following is a complete list of the photogravures and halftones that appeared in the issues. For a detailed list of the published articles, see Peterson (1993). Volume 1 Number 1, July 1897 Volume 1 Number 2, October 1897 Volume 1 Number 3, January 1898 Volume 1 Number 4, April 1898 Volume 2 Number 1, July 1898 Volume 2 Number 2, October 1898 Volume 2 Number 3, January 1899 Volume 2 Number 4, April 1899 Volume 3 Number 1, July 1899 Volume 3 Number 2, October 1899 Volume 3 Number 3, January 1900 Volume 3 Number 4, April 1900 Volume 4 Number 1, July 1900 Volume 4 Number 2, October 1900 Volume 4 Number 3, January 1901 Volume 4 Number 4, April 1901 Volume 5 Number 1, July 1901 Volume 5 Number 2, October 1901 Volume 5 Number 3, January 1902 Volume 5 Number 4, April 1902 Volume 6 Number 1, July 1902 Volume 6 Number 2, October 1902 Volume 6 Number 3, February 1903 Volume 6 Number 4, December 1903 [REDACTED] Media related to Camera Notes at Wikimedia Commons Linked Ring The Linked Ring (also known as "The Brotherhood of

3843-540: Was spending too much time and effort promoting activities outside of the Club. He also faced criticism from more progressive members who felt that much of the work Stieglitz chose fell into the same tired aesthetics that he originally campaigned against. In late 1900 a special meeting of the Club was held to address these issues, and, while he appeared open to a democratic discussion of the journal, Stieglitz became upset that his leadership and aesthetic integrity were being questioned. He eventually became disillusioned with all of

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3906-412: Was taking place, in 1909 Stieglitz was notified about yet another sign of the increasingly difficult times. London's Linked Ring , which for more than a decade Stieglitz had looked to as model for the Photo-Secession, finally dissolved in antipathy. Stieglitz knew this signaled the end of an era, but rather than be set back by these changes he began making plans to integrate Camera Work even further into

3969-414: Was the single most important figure in American photography. He had been working for many years to raise the status of photography as a fine art by writing numerous articles, creating exhibitions, exhibiting his own work and, especially by trying to influence the artistic direction of the highly important Camera Club of New York. He was not successful in the latter, and as a result by the spring of 1902 he

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