noun
- a movement in photography emphasizing artistic expression and beauty rather than documentary accuracy, often using soft focus and manipulated printing techniques
Usage: photography; art history
Examples
- Pictorialism dominated fine art photography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- The photographer’s work showed clear influences of pictorialism with its dreamy, soft-focus effects.
- Alfred Stieglitz was initially associated with pictorialism before moving toward straight photography.
- The exhibition featured examples of pictorialism alongside more modern photographic styles.
- Critics of pictorialism argued that it made photography too much like painting.
- The pictorialism movement sought to elevate photography to the status of fine art.