Photography and Society

Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956)

          Alexander Rodchenko was born in Russia on 23 November 1891. He was a painter, sculptor, designer and photographer. Radchenko was married to Varvara Stepanova. Before he became a photographer, he was first a painter. As the Bolshevics came to power in Russia, Rodchenko declared painting to be dead.



Alexander Rodchenko and Stepanova

          Rodchenko was one of the founders of Contructivism, an architectural and artistic movement that emerged in Russia in 1919, and provided social purpose. Rodchenko also developed a radical photographic style which was combined with cutting edge graphics. The “USSR in Construction” magazine displays Rodchenko's mastery of photomontage, a graphic technique that took its cue from cinema montage. Rodchenko's photomontages treated photographs as raw footage – suppressing their individuality – collectivising their energies, cutting, pasting, re-touching and re-photographing them to conjure up dizzying visions of the future (Documents for Artists). One of his most famous images is an image also published in “USSR in Construction,” devoted to the White Sea Canal.



White Sea Canal

         In 1998, some of his work was displayed in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. This exhibition consisted of more than 300 works in a wide range of media, and included an approximate reconstruction of the Workers' Club that Rodchenko designed (Museum of Modern Art, 1998). Alexander Rodchenko died on 3 December 1956.

Peter Kennard (1949-present)

          Peter Kennard was born in London, England on 17 February 1949. Similar to Rodchenko, he began as an artist who specialized in paintings. His work was influenced by Picasso, Bacon, Sutherland, and Giacometti (Kennard 2001). As a consequence of his involvement in the Vietnam War movement, he turned from painting to photomontages. The two main themes of his work were poverty and armament. His goal was to register the violence of its own making, which was symbolic of his desire to express the brutality of war and physical attacks on people (Kennard, 2001).

          Kennard became interested in working for an anti-nuclear movement called the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). As stated by Kennard on his own website, “The point of my work is to use easily recognisable iconic images, but to render them unacceptable. To break down the image of the all-powerful missile, in order to represent the power of the millions of people who are actually trying to break them. After breaking them, to show new possibilities emerging in the cracks and splintered fragments of the old reality.” (Kennard, 2001) The photomontages he made for CND were displayed on the street, on walls, in town halls, and even published in newspapers.


A poster of Broken Missile taped to the fence of Greenham Common by a protester, 1982

          Kennard has been taking images apart and fitting them together for almost 40 years. As a leading exponent of photomontage, Kennard has been able to restore the quality of historic events (Lubbock, 2008). For example, he has restored the quality of work from the 1970s, illustrations for the Workers’ Press about attacks on the government of Edward Heath (Lubbock, 2008). One of Kennard’s best-known works is the image he made for the GLC Economic Policy Group and the CND in the 1980s, which depicts nuclear missiles loaded onto Constable's Haywain. Below we can see the original photo, followed by the image manipulated by Kennard.





John Constable's original Haywain (1776-1837)




Kennard's Haywain with cruise missiles (after Constable)

John Heartfield (1891-1968)

          John Heartfield was born in Germany in 1891. Given the name Helmut Herzmut at birth, he later changed his name in part as a way to protest World War. In 1907, he enrolled at the Royal Bavarian Arts and Crafts School in Munich to study film, design and photography (Heartfield, 2000).



Self-Portrair, 1920

As a member of the Berlin Dada cultural movement, Heartfield used his collage work as a political medium, incorporating images from the political journals of the day. He edited ”Der Dada,“ and organized the First International Dada Fair in Berlin in 1920 (Heartfield 2000).  He also developed photomontage into a form of political and artistic representation to criticize the politics of the country at the time. Heartfield’s politically-charged photomontages were banned in his home country during the Nazi regime (Heartfield, 2000).

During the Second World War, Heartfield moved to Prague, in the Czech Republic, and contunued his photomontage work for the weekly newspaper, the Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (AIZ). His work was rediscovered in the late 1950s after he returned to Germany following the end of World War II. He became a university professor, receiving many prestigious awards. In 1968, Heartfield passed away due to health problems. Since then, his art has influenced generations of artists and graphic designers (Heartfield, 2000).

Example of Heartfield photomontages

 

Similarities and Differences

Similarities

          Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard, and John Heartfield have a lot of artistic traits in common, even though they were from different cultures and matured during different times; their work consisted of photomontage, which expressed political messages and propaganda. None of these artists were afraid to speak from the heart and to use their work to reflect the political problems that society was going through. Their photomontages expressed their vision on the current situation.

          Rodchenko’s purpose with the magazine “USSR in Construction” was to glorify the achievments of the Soviet Union using a combination of cutting edge graphics. He believed that art should reflect practical reason, and that it should contribute to the social ideas of the Communist Party during the Russian Revolution (Document for Artists, 2007).

          Peter Kennard and John Heartfield’s work refect their preoccupation with violence; the effects of war, weapons, and concerns for freedom, among other themes.

Differences

         Unlike the other artists, Alexander Rodchenko shot his photographs at odd angles, usually from high above or from below. Not only was Rodchenko a photographer, but he was also a painter (Document for Artists, 2007). 

         Besides photographs, Peter Kennard used different mediums all at once to create one piece. Some of these other materials include pigment ink, charcoal, acrylic, and paper on newspaper (Kennard, 2001). 

Impact of their Work

          Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard, and John Heartfield’s photomontages had a great impact on society and on other artists who desire to reflect the conflict or struggle within a specific situation. Through their work, they expressed their point of view about society and politics.

          Rodchenko’s unique style of taking photos from different angles – such as extreme close-ups, long shots, bird’s eye view, and worm’s eye view – was also very important; through this, his work impacted and shocked many people, and gained a greater following of people (Oxford University Press, 2009).

          Kennard’s work criticized and attacked the negative effect of nuclear weapons and violence on society. His pieces of art showed the causes rather than the results of this reality, which ultimately influenced many people. Even today, his photomontages are recognized and highly praised.

          John Heartfield’s work was significant because through it, he warned the people about the danger of the Nazis and Hitler’s regimen. Through his photomontages, Heartfield communicated the truth and the reality about what was happening in Germany at the time.

          In conclusion, the work of these artists has had a great impact on society. All of them were able to expose the reality of society and politics using photomontages. Even though they were not able to change the political situations in their respective countries, their courage and determination to speak up against the political status quo through their artwork has inspired people around the world. Thus, it is possible for photographers and photography in general to have an impact on society. Creating the adequate photomontage – with the goal of speaking the truth – we can influence what people think about any situation.

  



References

Alexander Rodchenko, Ideas and Wotk, to 1921. 2009. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A4975&page_number=7&template_id=6&sort_order=1&section_id=T072573#skipToContent

Aleksandr Rodchenko June 25-October 6, 1998. 1998. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Retrieved from: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1998/rodchenko/index.html

Documents for Artists. 2007. Genius of Photography. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/rodchenko.shtml

Heartfield Life and Work. 2000. Retrieved from: http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/2.html

Lubbock T. 2008. The Independent. Political photography: The illusionists. February 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/political-photography-the-illusionists-782869.html

PeterKennard.com. 2001. CND. Retrived from: http://www.peterkennard.com/main/my_art/my_art_set.htm