f / 64

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The Group f / 64 (panel 64) was in 1932 in San Francisco by Ansel Adams , Imogen Cunningham , John Paul Edwards , Sonya Noskowiak , Henry Swift , Willard Van Dyke and Edward Weston founded. In photography, the name refers to the f-number 64, which describes a very small aperture and with which a particularly large depth of field is achieved. It was a counter-movement to the prevailing style of pictorialism at the time . For example, the zone system was developed by members of the group .

The group turned against the “shallow salon style” (Ansel Adams, Die Kamera, Munich 2000) with “strict” pictures of their own and represented an aesthetic that was close to straight photography , “ pure photography ” . With the extensive sharpening of her motifs, she released them from “reality”. The f / 64 group also used the contact print of large-format negatives (8 "× 10") on high-contrast, "hard" glossy paper. There was skepticism about the retouching and other manipulations .

manifest

Excerpt from the manifest of group f / 64, which was distributed at an exhibition in the MH de Young Memorial Museum in 1932 :

"The main objective of the group is to show in many exhibitions what its members consider to be the best photographic achievements of the West (the United States)."

“Pure photography is something that does not borrow from any other art form in terms of technology, design or concept. The works of the "Pictorialists", on the other hand, show subservience to the laws of art that are directly related to painting and graphic representation. "

literature

  • Ansel Adams: Autobiography. 2nd edition Christian Verlag, Munich 1989.
  • Optische Werke Rodenstock: Lenses for large format cameras. In: Publication 9543 511208 9/93 Munich 1993.
  • KD Solf: Photography. Basics, technology, practice. Revised new edition. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1986.
  • Franz-Xaver Schlegel: The life of dead things - studies of modern object photography in the USA 1914-1935. 2 volumes, Art in Life, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 300-004-407-8 (group f / 64: p. 215 ff.).