Stage Craft: Pictorialist Photography and Performance

In the early 20th century, the Pictorialists challenged the idea that a photograph's primary function was documentary; their goal was to elevate photography as a unique art form. To achieve this aim, they often created sets and employed human models to compose scenes, as if staging a play. This produced collaborative relationships with dancers, actors, and filmmakers. When Pictorialists left their studios, nature and the city became other sites for dramas. They used innovative printing and editing techniques such as soft focus and shadow to evoke the pastoral, the poetic, and later, the abstract. This exhibition shows how Pictorialist photographers combined historical art and modern modes of dance, acting, stagecraft, storytelling, and even early cinematography.