Pictorialism vs Staged Photography
ピクトリアリズム / 演出写真
Pictorialism comes from Photography Movements and Staged Photography from Photographic Genres. One is style and the other technique. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Pictorialism
Presented photography as art equal to painting, through soft focus, staged scenes and handworked prints.
Staged Photography
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Composes scene, figure, props and light before the shutter, shaking the very premise that photographs record reality.
| Pictorialism | Staged Photography | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | late-1800s–c.1914 | 19th century– / 1970s revival |
| Family | Photography Movements | Photographic Genres |
| Kind | Style | Technique |
| Cues | Soft focus / Mist and backlight / Painterly composition / Handcrafted prints | Constructed scenes / Props / Cinematic lighting / Deliberate artificiality |
| Best used for | Portraits meant to be atmospheric pictures rather than records · Landscapes sold as works, with the handmade print part of the value | Restaging the conventions of advertising or news images to cast doubt on them · Building a story into one frame meant for exhibition, not for record |
| Type | Title and sign by hand in the print margin, never on the image | Make the text in the frame as a prop rather than borrowing a typeface |
| Composition | Move the subject off center, gather the light in one area, sink the rest | Fix gaze and hand positions in advance and block the frame like a painting |
| Material | Soft focus, backlit mist, hand coated printing that keeps the paper texture | Built sets or models, cinematic lighting, large format shot and printed big |
| Caution | Applying blur uniformly afterwards leaves no trace of anyone following the light, and the result is simply a photograph out of focus. | Staging that only imitates a natural record leaves the assumption that photographs record reality untouched, and the whole reason for constructing the scene disappears. |