THE PERSUASIVE IMAGE
commercial photography as art
photographers who combine art and commerce
PAUL OUTERBRIDGE
In 1922 Outerbridge produced this
commercial still life photograph for a
clothing client. It was published in the
fashionable Vanity Fair magazine.
In recent years, the photograph has
been perceived as an important
example of modernist art and in the
year 2000 was sold at Christies auction
for a large sum.
Paul Outerbridge, Ide Collar, 1922
advertisement for Vanity Fair magazine,
Christies auction price: $314,000
Paul Outerbridge, Ide Collar, 1922
advertisement for Vanity Fair magazine,
EDWARD STEICHEN
In 1923 photographer Edward Steichen
became the highest paid photographer
in the world.
He worked in fashion, celebrity
portraiture, industrial and advertising
photography.
Steichen had been an artist and helped
to establish photography as a fine art in
the early 1900s
Edward Steichen, Douglass lighters, 1928
In the 1920s, consumers were
introduced to the new styles of modern
and design.
They came into contact with examples of
Cubism, Futurism and Art Deco design.
Edward Steichen, Douglass lighters, 1928
Edward Steichen, Douglass lighters, 1928
Luigi Rossolo,
Dynamism of an Automobile 1912
Futurist painting
A.M.Cassandre, Nord Express 1927
Art Deco poster
Steichen’s style in the 1920s and 30s
was dynamic and energetic.
Compare this modernist photograph
of a bridge to his earlier Pictorialist
photograph from 1903 …
Edward Steichen, 1931
George Washington Bridge,
Edward Steichen, Brooklyn Bridge, 1903
Edward Steichen, 1931
George Washington Bridge,
Edward Steichen, Brooklyn Bridge, 1903
Edward Steichen, The Flatiron 1904
Steichen took elegant portraits of
celebrities which were published in
Vogue and other magazines
Edward Steichen, Margaret Horan, c1931
Edward Steichen, Joan Crawford, c1931
Edward Steichen, Margaret Horan, c1931
Edward Steichen, Joan Crawford, c1931
Edward Steichen, Anna Mae Wong, c1931
Edward Steichen, Anna Mae Wong, c1931
Edward Steichen, Anna Mae Wong, c1931
Steichen experimented with abstracted
patterns in still life photographs. They
were commissioned by the Stehli Silk
company to be used as fabric patterns.
Edward Steichen, 1926
photograph for Stehli Silks pattern
He was one of the first fashion
photographers, and is credited with
establidshing the new genre through his
work for Vogue in the 1920s.
Edward Steichen, 1927
Ad for Evening shoes by Vida Moore,
Edward Steichen,
Tamaris with Art Deco scarf, 1926
Edward Steichen, 1927
Ad for Evening shoes by Vida Moore
Edward Steichen,
Tamaris with Art Deco scarf, 1926
Edward Steichen, Vogue page, 1920s
Steichen is also given credit for
helping to establish the new genre of
advertising photography.
Edward Steichen, nude photograph, 1936
Edward Steichen, nude photograph, 1936
Edward Steichen, Portrait of Lee Miller
Ad for Kotex sanitary products
Edward Steichen, Lee Miller, 1928
Edward Steichen, Portrait of Lee Miller
Ad for Kotex sanitary products
“The popularisation of Freudian ideas
and the romanticisation of the
photographer as creative artist
justified Anton Bruehl’s photographic
distortions to illustrate a larger
psychological reality: the inferiority
complex.”
Photograph by Anton Bruehl, 1932
Salvador Dali, detail from
The Lugubrious Game, 1929
Photograph by Anton Bruehl, 1932
Photography dramatises the advertising pitch
“Buyers do not question photographic evidence
of merit. They believe what the camera tells
them because they know that nothing tells the
truth so well.”
Photographers Association of America c1932
Advertisement for Listerine
Photography played a role in
advertising scare campaigns through
the use of dramatic documentary
photographs.
Photography played a role in
advertising scare campaigns through
the use of dramatic documentary
photographs.
Transport Accident Commisson billboard, 1990s
Following World War II, modern art
from Paris made an impact on
commercial photography and graphic
design.
Picasso, portrait of Dora Maar, 1937
Picasso, portrait of Dora Maar, 1937
Erwin Blumenfeld,
Alexander Lieberman art director, 1945
Erwin Blumenfeld,
Alexander Lieberman art director, 1950
Erwin Blumenfeld,
Alexander Lieberman art director, 1945
Vogue magazine, April 1950
Photographer: Irving Penn
Art Director: Alexander Lieberman
Tone and plane are set in sleek
opposition — a horizontal black
brim above a vertical white scarf,
sleeves precisely diagonal to both.
Behind a veil the eyes of the model
Jean Patchett - The Telegraph.
Irving Penn, Jean Pachett 1950
Tone and plane are set in sleek
opposition — a horizontal black
brim above a vertical white scarf,
sleeves precisely diagonal to both.
Behind a veil the eyes of the model
Jean Patchett - The Telegraph.
Irving Penn, Jean Pachett 1950
Irving Penn, Jean Pachett 1950
Irving Penn, Jean Pachett 1950
Irving Penn, Jean Pachett 1950
Irving Penn at work on a still life
Irving Penn’s fashion photographs are
like still lifes and his still lifes are like
fashion photographs.
Irving Penn, After Dinner Games, 1947
Irving Penn, Frozen foods, 1970
Irving Penn, After Dinner Games, 1947
Irving Penn, Frozen foods, 1970
Irving Penn, Edifice, 1980
“For some years I had been
accumulating scraps of material that
obsessed me: bits of glass, metal and
bone; a human cranium, old sewing
machines, a variety of dusts.”
- Irving Penn
Irving Penn, Edifice, 1980
Irving Penn, Ospedale, 1981
Irving Penn, Edifice, 1980
Irving Penn, Still Life with Shoe, 1980
Irving Penn, Collapse, 1980
Penn employed a spare and elegant
approach to the Clinique brand from its
inception.
He would photograph single products or
arrange them in simple group
compositions, monumentalizing the
simple product containers by reducing
background elements and emphasizing
recognition of the brand's logo.
- Irving Penn archives
Irving Penn, Clinique ad, 1980s
Irving Penn, Clinique ad, 1980s
Irving Penn, Clinique ad, 1980s
PETER KEETMAN
Peter Keetman was a German industrial
photographer. His abstract approach was
part of a German movement called
Subjective Photography.
In 1953 he spent a week photographing
the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg,
Germany, and produced a promotional
book.
The 1950s style was related to the 1930s
style of ‘New Photography’
Albert Renger-Patszch, ad 1930s
Peter Keetman used one of the new
Hasselblad cameras which gave
sharp focus and rich tones.
Peter Keetman, Schaubenpumpe, 1960
The new industrial photography
was part of a revolution in 1950s
graphc design, called International
Style.
Like the photographs themselves,
it was clear and functional and
made with technical precision.
Escher Wyss engineering, Switzerland,
1950
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works,
1948
Escher Wyss engineering, Switzerland,
1950
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works,
1948
Cazanueve engineering, Switzerland
Building with steel,
Bell Engineering, Switzerland
Cazanueve engineering, Switzerland
WOLFGANG SIEVERS
Wolfgang Sievers was a commercial
photographer for almost 50 years.
He specialized in industrial and
architectural photography.
Sievers almost never exhibited his
work as art, although he is now
regarded as one of Australia’s great
photographic artists.
Wolfgang Sievers
Gears for Mining Industry, Vickers Ruwolt
Australian postage stamp 1990
Wolfgang Sievers
Gears for Mining Industry, Vickers Ruwolt,
Wolfgang Sievers at work c1970
Wolfgang Sievers
Gears for Mining Industry, Vickers Ruwolt,
“This illustration is to our mind an
example of an outstandingly successful
treatment.
The glimpse of sky between the
reflecting boiler shells and the pictorial
effect of the close lying rails of the
gangways add up to a photographic
gem which should win admiration even
from the aesthete and the devotee of
the abstract.”
Photography in Industry, Munich 1967
Wolfgang Sievers
Sulphuric Acid plant,Tasmania, 1959
Wolfgang Sievers
Gears for Mining Industry,
Vickers Ruwolt, Melbourne 1967
Nordberg Crusher ‘before’
Wolfgang Sievers,
Vickers Ruwolt, Nordberg Crusher, 1969
Wolfgang Sievers
Gears for Mining Industry,
Vickers Ruwolt, Melbourne 1967
Wolfgang Sievers,
Vickers Ruwolt, Nordberg Crusher, 1969
Wolfgang Sievers,
Escalator site at Parliament Station, 1977