El coleccionista cuando reflexiona sobre su propia colección a veces encuentra, o eso cree, afinidades entre diferentes artistas muy separados en el tiempo.
En realidad las afinidades se producen de manera natural pues la cámara mira el mundo que rodea al fotógrafo.
Esto, por ejemplo, me sucede a mí cuando repaso las palabras de Albert Levy que marcan o definen su modo de ver la fotografía.
Esta es la propuesta de Levy sobre sus fotos en sus propias palabras:
Je réclame pour ma collection de
photographies, aujourd`hui composée de plus de 2500 sujets
différents, et qui s’augmentera progressivement :
1º La bon choix des sujets ;
2º La qualité et la finesse des détail ;
3º Une conservation indéfinie ;
4º L`uniformité de grandeur
5º Le prix modéré
Las casas que Albert Levy fotografía se recogen en series de arquitecturas de diferentes lugares
- https://photocollection.alonsorobisco.es/architecture_levy.html
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: First Series, Private City Dwellings. (16) (15) linkAlbert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Second Series, Country Dwellings. (16)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
3rd series, French Gothic and Renaissance, Civil and Domestic
Architecture, New York: Albert Levy, 1884. (14)Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Fifth Series, Messrs. Vanderbilt's Mansions. (16)Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Ninth Series, Street Fronts. (16)Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern
American Architecture: Tenth Series, Sea Shore Cottages and
Country Houses. (16)Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern
American Architecture: Twelfth Series, Modern Street Architecture
of Berlin, Street Fronts and Apartment Houses. (16)Albert Levy's Photographic Series, the Fourteenth Series: Romanesque and Gothic Churches in the South of France (24)Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern
American Architecture: Sixteenth Series, American Private City
Dwellings. (16)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series: Twenty-second series. Chicago and Cincinnati private dwellings (35)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
Twenty-fourth series.(Berne, Lucerne, Zurich and other Swiss
cities and towns) (21)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
Thirty-First Series, Street Fronts, Stores, Office , Etc : Lévy, Albert.
c1884 (15) linkAlbert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
33rd series, American City and Country Residences, etc, New York:
Albert Levy, 1884. (14)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series :
Thirty-Fifth Series, Sea Shore Cottages And Country Houses, Bar
Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (16) (15) LinkAlbert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series :
Thirty-Sixth Series, Sea-Shore Cottages, Etc., Newport, R.I., And
Long Branch, N.J : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (15) linkAlbert Levy's Photographic Series Of Modern American Architecture. : Lévy, Albert. 1883Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (16)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic series. (15) link Architectural Photographic Series, city houses/Levy: 1
album, 38 leaves of plates: photographs 36x46 cm. New York, Albert
Levy (between 1880-1895?). (20).
pero con unas características comunes:
- Arquitectos famosos en su tiempo.
- Propietarios ricos o conocidos.
- Sin personas
- Aisladas, en lo posible, las casas de su entorno.
Pues bien pienso que esta manera de ver la fotografía por Levy en pleno siglo XIX (1870'-1890') no es muy diferente a unos estilos fotográficos del siglo XX cuyos representantes principales han sido:
Albert Renger-Patzsch ( Nueva objetividad)
Fue uno de los máximos representantes de la Nueva Objetividad alemana, movimiento artístico surgido
tras el fin de la Primera Guerra Mundial que, en términos generales y
como reacción al Expresionismo previo, se afanó en lograr una representación del mundo lo más objetiva posible.
El fotógrafo logró combinar las cualidades descriptivas y objetivas de la fotografía con sus aptitudes estéticas, logrando con su obra una verdadera ruptura con las prácticas fotográficas anteriores.
Ésta fue para el artista la única manera de conseguir que la fotografía
alcanzara una identidad propia, claramente diferenciada de la herencia
pictorialista y de los experimentalismos híbridos de las vanguardias de
principios del siglo XX. Su obra es el claro reflejo de sus palabras: “ya no se puede concebir la vida moderna sin la fotografía”
Museo Reina Sofia. Bernd Hilla Becher (fotografía industrial,series)
Reunieron en total unos 16.000 negativos, siempre siguiendo una
metodología sistemática: fotografías en blanco y negro, tomas de
rigurosa frontalidad y prolongadas exposiciones bajo una luz invernal.
La presentación de las imágenes resultantes también es sistemática, y
completa el estilo característico de los Becher: fotografías
documentales de arqueología industrial, que se disponen agrupadas por
tipologías y ordenadas en una estructura reticular
Museo del Prado. Thomas Struth (Escuela de Düsseldorf,series)
Desde 1974 hasta 1977, se dedicó a fotografiar a las personas por
las calles de Düsseldorf y otras ciudades, posteriormente reflejó sus
impresiones en su obra, ciudades en blanco y negro, tomadas con una
cámara de mayor formato. Un ejemplo temprano de estas imágenes urbanas
en blanco y negro, en las que la arquitectura se convierte en la
portadora de historias del mundo pasado y presente, es Crosby Street New
York, 1978 (Fig. 1). Muchas más escenas de la ciudad de Nueva York
siguieron en 1978 ya que Struth fijó su residencia allí como artista.
Desde 1974 hasta 1977, se dedicó a fotografiar a las personas por
las calles de Düsseldorf y otras ciudades, posteriormente reflejó sus
impresiones en su obra, ciudades en blanco y negro, tomadas con una
cámara de mayor formato.
When collectors reflect on their own collection, they sometimes find, or so
they think, affinities between different artists widely separated in time.
In reality, these affinities arise naturally, as the camera observes the world
around the photographer.
This, for example, happens to me when I review Albert Levy's words that
define his approach to photography.
This is Levy's approach to his photos in his own words:
I advertise my collection of
photographs, currently composed of more than 2,500 different subjects, which
will progressively increase:
1. The good choice of subjects;
2. The quality and precision of the details;
3. An indefinite preservation;
4th The Uniformity of Grandeur
5th LowPrize
The houses Albert Levy photographs are collected in series of architectures
from different locations
https://photocollection.alonsorobisco.es/architecture_levy.html
but with some common characteristics:
- Famous architects of their time.
-
Wealthy or well-known owners.
No people.
-
The houses are isolated, as far as possible, from their surroundings.
Well, I think this way of seeing photography in the 19th century
(1870s-1890s) is not very different from some of the 20th-century photographic
styles, whose main representatives have been:
Albert Renger-Patzsch (New Objectivity. )
https://www.fundacionmapfre.org/arte-y-cultura/exposiciones/historico/ano-2017/renger-patzcsch/
He was one of the leading representatives of the German New Objectivity, an
artistic movement that emerged after the end of World War I. In general terms,
and as a reaction to the preceding Expressionism, it strove to achieve the most
objective representation of the world possible.
The photographer managed to combine the descriptive and objective qualities of
photography with his aesthetic aptitudes, achieving a true break with previous
photographic practices with his work. For the artist, this was the only way for
photography to achieve its own identity, clearly differentiated from the
pictorialist heritage and the hybrid experimentalisms of the avant-garde
movements of the early 20th century. Their work clearly reflects their words:
"modern life can no longer be conceived without photography."
Reina Sofia Museum. Bernd Hilla Becher (industrial
photography, series)
https://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion/obra/aufbereitungsanlagen-plantas-preparacion
They collected a total of approximately 16,000 negatives, always following
a systematic methodology: black and white photographs, rigorous frontal shots,
and long exposures under winter light. The presentation of the resulting images
is also systematic and complements the Bechers' characteristic style:
documentary photographs of industrial archaeology, arranged in groups by type
and arranged in a grid-like structure.
Prado Museum. Thomas Struth (Düsseldorf School, series)
https://www.museodelprado.es/actualidad/exposicion/thomas-struth-making-time/1e5e00f6-6b63-4aa2-93ce-d993e628d853
From 1974 to 1977, he dedicated himself to photographing people on the
streets of Düsseldorf and other cities, later reflecting his impressions in his
work, black and white cities, taken with a larger-format camera. An early example of these black and white
urban images, in which architecture becomes the bearer of stories from the
world past and present, is Crosby Street, New York, 1978 (Fig. 1). Many more New York City scenes followed in
1978, as Struth took up residence there as an artist. From 1974 to 1977, he dedicated himself to
photographing people on the streets of Düsseldorf and other cities, later
reflecting his impressions in his work, black and white cities, taken with a
larger format camera.
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: First Series, Private City Dwellings. (16) (15) linkAlbert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Second Series, Country Dwellings. (16)Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
3rd series, French Gothic and Renaissance, Civil and Domestic
Architecture, New York: Albert Levy, 1884. (14)
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Fifth Series, Messrs. Vanderbilt's Mansions. (16)
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Ninth Series, Street Fronts. (16)
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern
American Architecture: Tenth Series, Sea Shore Cottages and
Country Houses. (16)
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern
American Architecture: Twelfth Series, Modern Street Architecture
of Berlin, Street Fronts and Apartment Houses. (16)
Albert Levy's Photographic Series, the Fourteenth Series: Romanesque and Gothic Churches in the South of France (24)
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern
American Architecture: Sixteenth Series, American Private City
Dwellings. (16)
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series: Twenty-second series. Chicago and Cincinnati private dwellings (35)
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
Twenty-fourth series.(Berne, Lucerne, Zurich and other Swiss
cities and towns) (21)
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
Thirty-First Series, Street Fronts, Stores, Office , Etc : Lévy, Albert.
c1884 (15) link
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:
33rd series, American City and Country Residences, etc, New York:
Albert Levy, 1884. (14)
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series :
Thirty-Fifth Series, Sea Shore Cottages And Country Houses, Bar
Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (16) (15) Link
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series :
Thirty-Sixth Series, Sea-Shore Cottages, Etc., Newport, R.I., And
Long Branch, N.J : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (15) link
Albert Levy's Photographic Series Of Modern American Architecture. : Lévy, Albert. 1883
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (16)
Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic series. (15) link
Architectural Photographic Series, city houses/Levy: 1
album, 38 leaves of plates: photographs 36x46 cm. New York, Albert
Levy (between 1880-1895?). (20).
