Surrealism in Photography

I think there is a difference between the surrealists as classicallydefined and photos of opportunity that appear odd.

The one is deliberate and conscious with an intention to make a point and the other is interesting opportunism but still, just an ordinary photograph.

JPea said

I think there is a difference between the surrealists as classicallydefined and photos of opportunity that appear odd.

The one is deliberate and conscious with an intention to make a point and the other is interesting opportunism but still, just an ordinary photograph.

Between the Surrealists and acts of surrealism, yes, I suppose. 

When I was doing music photography on an amateur level I hit on a bunch of sort of documentarian "meta" devices that I revisited again and again so as not to end up doing "stand at the front" stuff. Photographing a screen photographing a scene, photographing someone's screen photographing a scene and catching the lights of other phones etc., photographing musicians framed by tiny gaps in crowds, and photographing crowds where the band is nearly incidental -- like using them as a blurred source of illumination. Very amateur things but a more interesting exploration of music photography than just photographing bands on stage.

When I see e.g. Joel Meyerowitz's work that looks like happy accidents, I view it with the working assumption that he didn't just luck out on a regular basis with opportunistic shots -- I assume he developed potential ideas, then hunted down, shot and reshot them until they delivered the surreal result he wanted, which IMO qualifies him as a Surrealist -- maybe you can call this "found surrealism". When you look at some of the other work of street surrealists it would seem they all have their thematic approaches to revisit.

(Press photographers do this too -- was it Eamonn McCabe who shot the Oliver Letwin microphone eye stalks thing? That was I believe a practised shot and much emulated)

Edit: it was not McCabe. It was Martin Argles (who now works as an illustrator)

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

Astra Art said

MidgePhoto I didn't know about Lee Miller, definitely another one to have a look at 😁 Thank you

She is one of the Great Forgotten Female Photographers.

Like Yevonde or Ida Kar, perhaps (or Julia Margaret Cameron and Lady Clementina Hawarden, once upon a time).

Or like (the surrealist) Dora Maar. 

Photographers who history knew about but then sort of systematically undervalued until a great reassessment. 

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

Unfocussed Mike I'm really grateful for all the effort you've made to comment on my post. I've got lots of names to research now, thank you 😀

Have a look at:

Tim Walker

Alex Prager

Formento + Formento

Nadia Lee Cohen

Frederic Fontenoy

Gregory Crewdson

Martin Liddament I love Frederic Fontenoy 😊

I'll definitely check the others out. Thank you.

Great thread, thanks to the OP for getting this going. I too am now going through the suggestions so thank you everyone who has contributed. 

I dabbled with the surrealist idea, and shot a few using Magritte "son of man" painting as the start point, suspending an apple from fishing line in front of a modes face ( I'll see if I can dig some out and post on here)  but in the end I feel that it's using the surrealist concept and images as a start point and morphing them into something that I can shoot is the way forward.

I've a couple of ideas that are spinning around that this thread have resurrected so again thank you OP

Unfocussed Mike

The bath photos are marvellous.

I wonder what Putin's bathroom looks like.

jump the wall photography I had thought about an apple being suspended as well as an idea.. plus some interesting shapes using mirrors. I've done a little bit with mirrors but I think there's definitely more potential.

Also, I think your legs on haybales have a bit of a surreal feel and I really like them.

One thing you will find if you look back at surrealism is that it is very various. No two surrealists are the same.

There is some question if some of the above mentioned are surreal or not. The surrealist were a small group of artists who are well documented. See Wikipedia for example.

My point is that Surrealism is a movable feast and that none of the above are likely to have been created without the Surrealists example. Their influence came to a wider audience via advertising which owes a debt to the surrealist movement.

It is also hard to consider surrealism without also considering Dada which I urge the OP to do, be inspired and plough your own furrow. :)

Astra Art said

CalmNudes I rather like the fields with the paintbrushes.. definitely something there to consider and the challenge of doing something with similar impact in camera 😁

Funnily enough that's the idea I really want to steal - I want a lavender farm with purple and white growing in rows side by side and model with a large pot of purple "paint" 

The Surrealists met and exhibited in England when invited and organised by Miller and Penrose.

Here's an example offered of a surrealist touch creeping into Vogue fashion

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwQgEfErJnN/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

MidgePhoto

Not sure where the Surrealist bit is in these photos.

More post-war grittiness.

JPea said

MidgePhoto

Not sure where the Surrealist bit is in these photos.

More post-war grittiness.

It is, on my device, _one_ photo.

The text with it contains the assertion of the surrealist eye[1] but it is necessary to read to the end of the paragraph.

Surrealism can't be gritty?

We passed Guernica, the town, earlier this year, but didn't go to look at it or the museum, which dyrely remarks on a major work of grit by a surrealist of note.  "Did you make this (art)?" "You did".

[1] which some combination of finger and spell check initially rendered as "surrealist Rye". That'd be grain contaminated with Ergot fungus I suppose, which can cause the world to seem stranger. Trials at home are not recommended.

MidgePhoto said

JPea said

MidgePhoto

Not sure where the Surrealist bit is in these photos.

More post-war grittiness.

It is, on my device, _one_ photo.

The text with it contains the assertion of the surrealist eye[1] but it is necessary to read to the end of the paragraph.

Surrealism can't be gritty?

We passed Guernica, the town, earlier this year, but didn't go to look at it or the museum, which dyrely remarks on a major work of grit by a surrealist of note.  "Did you make this (art)?" "You did".

[1] which some combination of finger and spell check initially rendered as "surrealist Rye". That'd be grain contaminated with Ergot fungus I suppose, which can cause the world to seem stranger. Trials at home are not recommended.

The text says surrealist but it , for me, it is just an image with an optical trick that says, nor means anything.