Pictorial Photographers of America

“ He who reverently observes life and wrests from its verities those elements which are in tune with his “ego”—transposes these into some concrete form without the damning desire for self aggrandizement, pretense, or mere seeking for originality—is building on good foundations. It is from an over-weening desire for originality that most of the affectations of so called “Modern Art” proceed.
Natural individuality—the sincere personal vision of the artist—is an inherited asset. ”

“ The amateur photographer, however, finds his expenses heavy and the temptation strong to sell his pictures; while in America the professional photographer is frequently so much in love with the pictorial possibilities of his work that he loses sight of the financial end of it.
For the worker to get the real enthusiasm and benefit from photography, the thing now necessary to mark a distinct note of progress, or to make an outstanding year, is to have a great international exhibition, similar to the one held in Buffalo in 1910. ”

“ Every healthy-minded youngster born, has two early ambitions: one to be a great baseball player, another to become President. And yet the scouts and managers for the Big Leagues have difficulty in discovering talent above the average.
In the field of Pictorial Photography, the average is exceedingly high. This volume is a demonstration. To be sure, if one seeks, one can quickly discover atrocities in the galleries and on the printed page; but my conviction is that the progress from the purely aesthetic standpoint has kept pace with the mechanical and scientific strides made in Photography. ”

“ But in that fact there is no cause for discouragement to the novice, for new names are to be found in the catalogues of all the exhibitions, and there is no league to keep out any individual's pictures anywhere. That is one of the triumphs of our art—that, while judges may sometimes err and exclude a good picture or select a poor one, there is a general open-mindedness in recognizing merit wherever it exists. ”

“ Men of ideas have brains that function exactly as those of other normal well-ordered citizens. They are not gifted by strange kinks in their brain cells. When the prominent cartoonist is contemplating the banal act of shaving or putting in a new furnace, his thoughts are no more or less exalted or lofty than when creating a cartoon idea intended to sway public opinion. ”

“ By Henry Hoyt Moore We cannot claim for our art any outstanding phenomenon like the interest in the radio that has swept the country this year, or any remarkable development in the science of photography like the invention a few years ago of the Lumière plate. ”

“ The Pictorial Photographers, besides holding their general meetings in one of the larger rooms and sharing the lounge for social purposes, have now their own room (with attendance) which, accessible day and evening, will be a meeting place for our members, resident and non-resident, and a center from which we may get into touch with one another; a place for the continuous exhibition of prints upon the walls and in portfolios, where art lovers, buyers and advertisers can see and, if they wish, arrange to buy our work or come into communication with our workers ”

“ But we must remember that we are working to popularize photography as an art as well as to demonstrate our own artistic feeling and technical skill, and we ought not to lay too great stress on a difficult branch of our work, to the discouragement of those who would seek to share the delights of a beautiful recreation. ”

“ The weird conceptions and grotesque ideas in back of most of the unsolicited material submitted would make one easily believe that the artists are inmates, or perfectly qualified to be inmates of asylums. I am seldom inclined or required to urge an artist to seek originality of idea. ”

“ Struggling young artists are constantly advised to cultivate their imagination. What is imagination? Arthur Brisbane defined this in the most compact, tangible statement: “Imagination is nothing more than the power to see and realize what others fail to see and realize.” The illusive idea that we are searching for is nothing hidden or mystic but right before our very eyes. ”

“ It is to be regretted that platinum paper is not being manufactured in America for photographic purposes, for the quality of a choice platinum print is still regarded by many as unsurpassed, and many workers wish to see platinum resume its old place among the photographer's resources. ”

“ The question is sometimes raised whether the general public who attend photographic exhibitions are interested in processes as such. I think the question must be answered in the negative. It is the general effect that interests the outsider, and he cares not whether the print is a gum, a bromoil, a bromide, a platinum, or a palladiotype. We must beware lest we get enamored of a process rather than the result. ”

“ In fact, the recognition that photography is receiving from accredited representatives of the fine arts makes its position no longer a doubtful one. Any of the arts may be used for commercial purposes, but that fact does not take away from them their rightful place when they are used by competent hands for aesthetic purposes. ”

“ No matter how hardened by experience, a conscientious editor cannot fail to suffer for and with the unhappy authors and artists whose work goes back with the proverbial pink rejection slip. Why are drawings and photographs rejected? What is wrong with the great mass of rejected material? My observation is that they suffer more from a lack of clear thinking and careful execution than from a paucity of ideas. ”

“ More recently established exhibitions that are to be noted are those of the San Francisco Pictorialists, the Oakland Salon, the Canadian National at Toronto, the Buffalo Salon, and that of the Pictorial Photographers of America at the opening of the Art Center in New York City. At many of these exhibitions pictures from the same exhibitors were hung, and as the judges at practically all of them were different men (and women) , including professional artists, it is evident that there was a consensus among the competent critics that these exhibitors at least are doing worthy work. ”

“ As to processes that are in favor, the bromoil and the bromoil transfer still continue to attract a host of workers. European workers seem still to have access to better and cheaper materials for this work than we in America, as is evidenced by the number and quality of the prints that are produced in the Scandinavian countries and in Germany, where bromoil work has even acquired a commercial status among professional photographers. ”

“ Some one once said: “All one's life is music if one touched the notes rightly and in tune.” A very happy thought and true. But finding the right note is infinitely more difficult than the striking in tune. ”

“ The increasing number of museums that are opening their exhibition halls to good photography is an evidence that is obvious to all observers. Caustic critics like Joseph Pennell may decry photography, but many able artists and critics, attending exhibitions of photography that are being held in many of our centers of art, are having their eyes opened to the beauty of lens work in the hands of men and women who use the camera with feeling and insight. Then, too, we must not forget the fact that some well-known artists, beginning with D. O. Hill and continuing with Mrs. ”

“ His work is the acquiring of a technique, the constant patient practice and experiment in his particular craft. This unending exercise gives the artist power to state his message clearly—in the simplest way. ”

“ A well-known worker is pretty sure to have his photographs declined by the judges in most of the photographic exhibitions if he falls below his standard, and, on the other hand, a gifted beginner will quickly get a place in the seats of the mighty if he can produce the photographs that entitle him to distinction. ”

“ Such exhibitions should be encouraged, for not only do they stimulate the exhibitor to show worthy work, but they are in the nature of spurs to the activity of every serious worker who has the privilege of seeing them. ”

“ In one sense these aims were visionary, because they were thought out and formulated by men of vision, who now stand justified: in hardly one of these directions have we failed to make important advance and in many we have pushed far. ”

“ An auto-focus enlarger, at a comparatively small price, has also been put on the market for amateur use; and with the increasing use of small cameras and the adoption of simpler methods this may prove a boon to those who wish to make bromide enlargements more easily than they could by the older methods. ”

“ Art Alliance of America, Art Directors Club, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York Society of Craftsmen, Society of Illustrators, the Stowaways and the Pictorial Photographers of America, which together own a fine, large, centrally situated building, completely remodeled for their occupation and divided into galleries, meeting rooms and executive offices. ”

“ Mr. Ben J. Lubschez addressed a large audience upon the “Story of the Motion Picture,” followed by Mr. Herbert J. Seligman upon “Cinema Plastik.” At our succeeding meetings we have had the pleasure of listening to Mr. William H. Zerbe, Mr. Richard M. Coit, Mr. Ira W. Martin, Mr. Pirie MacDonald, Mr. Edward Penfield, Mr. Fred Dana Marsh and Mr. Alexander P. Milne. Interest in the monthly print contests held at these meetings has been maintained and the value of the feature demonstrated by the gain in number and quality of the entries. ”

“ Vernon, N. Y.MORNING GLORYBy Otis Williams, Los Angeles, Calif.THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWNBy Thomas R. Hartley, Pittsburgh, Pa.SEAR AUTUMNBy Anson Herrick, San Francisco, Cal.THE BAZARBy Margaret D. M. Brown, Arlington, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.WANDERERS FROM HOMEBy P. Douglas Anderson, San Francisco, Calif.DECORATIVE STUDYBy Henry A. Hussey, Berkeley, Calif.THE WAY UPBy Folsom Rich, Chicago, Ill.COLONEL MARSHBy E. L. Mix, New York CitySHADOW DESIGNBy G. W. Harting, New York CityAT GUINGAMPBy Mrs. ”