Art History Friday

Portrait Photography
Beginnings of Photography
First photographs shown to
the French Academy:
January 1839
Early photographs took
several days to make
Louis Daguerre created a
faster method known as the
daguerrotype
Daguerrotypes were printed
on silver-coated copper
sheets
Subjects had to stay still for
several minutes
 The First
Photograph
of a
Person:
Boulevard
du Temple,
Paris, 8 in
the Morning
By Louis
Daguerre
The First Photograph
of a Person:

Boulevard du Temple,
Paris, 8 in
the Morning
By Louis Daguerre
First Portrait Photography
The first ever portrait photograph (shown
right): taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839
Daguerrotype portraits became very
popular, especially in America
Eventually switched to paper-printed
photography
Photographers worked in studios or
travelled with cameras to sell portraits
Portraits became the most common use of
photography
Alfred Stieglitz
The first photographer to argue that his
work was fine art
Wanted to represent modern life
Took hundreds of portraits of his wife,
artist Georgia OKeeffe
Owned his own gallery in New York City,
was also an art dealer
 Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia OKeeffe,
1933
Dorothea Lange
American photographer
Known for documenting peoples lives
during the Great Depression, especially in
the Dust Bowl
Owned her own portrait studio in San
Francisco
Began taking photographs in the streets
of San Francisco
Her & her husband hired by the
government to travel and document the
Dust Bowl
Right: Migrant Mother, 1936
 Dorothea Lange

White Angel Bread

Line, 1933
Dorothea Lange

Mississippi Delta
Children, 1936
Diane Arbus
American photographer
Known for her photographs of people
shunned by society - dwarfs, giants,
transgender people, circus performers,
and others
Owned a commercial photography
business with her husband
Diane left in 1956 to pursue artistic
photography
Often became friends with the people she
photographed
Suffered from depression
 Diane Arbus

Identical Twins,
Roselle, New
Jersey, 1967
 Diane Arbus

A Jewish Giant at
Home with his
Family in the Bronx,
1970
Annie Liebovitz
Considered one of Americas best portrait
photographers
Began her career as a photographer for
Rolling Stone Magazine in 1973
Famous for her personal, relatable
photographs of celebrities
Took the last photograph of John Lennon
Continues to take challenging, celebrated
photos today
Her work is sometimes controversial
 Annie Liebovitz

John Lennon and

Yoko Ono
 Annie Liebovitz

Arnold
Schwarzenegger
and his wife Maria
Shriver
 Annie
Liebovitz

Viola Davis
(for Vanity
Fair)