Pictorialism is the name given to an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography
during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard
definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the
photographer has somehow manipulated what would otherwise be a
straightforward photograph as a means of "creating" an image rather than
simply recording it. Typically, a pictorial photograph appears to lack a
sharp focus (some more so than others), is printed in one or more
colors other than black-and-white (ranging from warm brown to deep blue)
and may have visible brush strokes or other manipulation of the
surface. For the pictorialist, a photograph, like a painting, drawing or
engraving, was a way of projecting an emotional intent into the
viewer's realm of imagination.
Pictorialism as a movement thrived from about 1885 to 1915, although
it was still being promoted by some as late as the 1940s. It began in
response to claims that a photograph was nothing more than a simple
record of reality, and transformed into an international movement to
advance the status of all photography as a true art form. For more than
three decades painters, photographers and art critics debated opposing
artistic philosophies, ultimately culminating in the acquisition of
photographs by several major art museums.
Pictorialism gradually declined in popularity after 1920, although it did not fade out of popularity until the end of World War II. During this period the new style of photographic Modernism
came into vogue, and the public's interest shifted to more sharply
focused images. Several important 20th-century photographers began their
careers in a pictorialist style but transitioned into sharply focused
photography by the 1930s.
