noun
- a photographer who practices pictorialism, emphasizing artistic composition and mood over sharp documentary realism
Usage: photography; art history
Examples
- The pictorialist used soft focus and careful lighting to create dreamlike images.
- Early 20th-century pictorialists often manipulated their prints to achieve painterly effects.
- As a pictorialist, she valued emotional impact over technical precision.
- The exhibition featured works by famous pictorialists like Alfred Stieglitz.
- Many pictorialists rejected the idea that photography should simply record reality.
- The pictorialist movement influenced how photography was viewed as fine art.