Pictorialismi

Pictorialismo, or pictorialism, is a historical photographic movement that emerged in the late 19th century and lasted into the early 20th century. It aimed to establish photography as a fine art by prioritizing painterly aesthetics over documentary sharpness, emphasizing mood, composition, and atmosphere.

Practitioners sought to make photographs resemble paintings through soft focus, decorative tonality, and careful printing. Techniques included altered lenses and filters, manual retouching, and the use of alternative printing processes such as gum bichromate, platinum/palladium, carbon, and photogravure. Prints were often toned and produced on textured papers, with deliberate manipulations in the darkroom or upon the negative, sometimes including combination printing to create idealized scenes.

The subject matter tended toward landscapes, intimate portraits, allegorical or literary themes, and scenes with a refined, romantic or mysterious aura. Pictorialism was less about documentary accuracy and more about mood, narrative, and aesthetic unity.

Notable photographers and groups associated with pictorialism include Henry Peach Robinson and Oscar Gustave Rejlander in Britain, who popularized composite imagery; in the United States, Alfred Stieglitz, Gertrude Käsebier, Edward Steichen, Clarence H. White, and Anne Brigman were prominent advocates, with Stieglitz’s Photo-Secession helping to institutionalize the movement. James Craig Annan and other European practitioners also contributed to its spread.

By the 1910s and 1920s, pictorialism declined as “straight” photography and modernist sensibilities emphasized sharp focus, clarity, and direct representation. Nevertheless, the movement helped establish photography as an art form and influenced later fine-art photography and printing practices.