Enhanced!

Source: http://mosaiccommons. files. wordpress Ask students: Who is this woman? Do you recognize her? What is her name?

Credit: Arthur Felig, “Weegee” (American, 1899-1968); Marilyn Monroe Distortion, 1960; Silver print; 11 x 14”; Drapkin Collection Ask students: Who is this woman? Do you recognize her? What is her name? Background: Weegee (Arthur Helig), twisted the star’s lovely face into a caricature in Marilyn Monroe Distortion (ca. 1960) Share with students Weegee’s Biography: Weegee (1899 - 1968, Ukraine), born Ascher Fellig, emigrated to New York in 1909, where he worked numerous odd jobs, including as a photographer's assistant. In 1924, he was hired as a darkroom technician, but he left in 1935 to become a freelance photographer. He captured vivid images of the urban lifestyle and crime of New York City, selling the photographs to tabloids and newspapers such as the New York Post and the Daily News. He traveled throughout Europe working for the Daily Mirror on various photographic, film, and book projects until 1968, when he returned to New York. He published several books of his photographs during his lifetime and worked in Hollywood as a consultant for the film industry. His works have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art and the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, among others.

Marilyn Monroe Ask students: How are the two images similar? How are they different? How does the distorted image amplify Monroe’s distinctive features? Explain that distortion is one way that artists sometimes manipulate photographs to create works of art. Today, students will be introduced to an art exhibition called Enhanced! that features manipulated photography. Marilyn Monroe

Credit: Philippe Halsmann (Russia, 1906-1979); Salvador Dalí “Clock Face” 1954; Silver emulsion; 11 x 14”; Drapkin Collection Ask students: Who is this person? Why does he have a clock on his face? What makes up the two “hands” on the clock face? Background: Celebrity photographer Philippe Halsmann produced an amusing portrait of Salvador Dalí, in Salvador Dali “Clock Face” (1954) Share with students Halsmann’s biography: Philippe Halsman (1906 – 1979, Latvia)studied electrical engineering in Dresden. Following his move to France, Halsman rose to fame for his pictures in fashion magazines like Vogue. His images stood out from those of his peers for their sharpness and close cropping. In the early 1940s, Halsman moved to the United States and found success shooting for cosmetics firms and Life magazine. He began collaborating with Salvador Dali in 1941, creating a large compendium of works with the surrealist painter. He has published several books, including Dali’s Mustache and Halsman on the Creation of Photographic Ideas, and has been featured in many exhibitions worldwide. He was elected as the first president of the American Society of Magazine Photographers in 1945, and received the Life Achievement in Photography Award from this prestigious society thirty years later.

Clocks figured prominently in Salvador Dalí’s work Clocks figured prominently in Salvador Dalí’s work. From the Catalan area of Spain, Dalí’s Persistence of Memory (1931) is one of the artist’s most recognizable works. Salvador Dalí

Credit: Anonymous, San Francisco Examiner, 6/15/38; Silver emulsion, paint; 5.5 x 9 “; Drapkin Collection Ask students: What is the young man in the foreground doing? What do you think he’s thinking about? Who is in his “thought bubble”? Is the figure on the right the young man himself? Who is the man on the left? Background: A painted and collaged composite of a young man and an image of Thomas Edison illustrate an article about the young man’s ambitions (Dream Coming True, San Francisco Examiner, 6/15/38, Anonymous).

Credit: George Hurrell (USA, 1904-1992); Jean Harlow, 1935; Silver emulsion, paint; 8 x 10; Drapkin Collection Ask students: Background: In George Hurrell’s studio portrait Jean Harlow (1935), the background around the actress’s image is blocked out with white paint. Share with students Hurrell’s biography: George Hurrell (1904 – 1992, Ohio) originally studied painting at the Chicago Art Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts. At the time, he expressed little interest in photography, seeing the images as little more than references to use for his paintings. In 1925, he met famed landscape painter, Edgar Alwyn Payne, who convinced him to move to Laguna Beach to continue pursuing painting. Hurrell chose to stay, painting and photographing the west coast environment. In 1928, a friend asked Hurrell to take her portrait. This portrait initiated a relationship with MGM, which contracted Hurrell as the head of the portrait photography department in the late 1920s. In 1932, Hurrell left MGM to open his own studio, capturing the iconic Hollywood glamour of the period. He later worked for Warner Brothers Studios and Columbia pictures. Hurrell helped to create training films for the United States Army Air Forces, and upon his return to Hollywood in the mid-1950s found that his style of portraiture was no longer in style. He moved to New York and began working for the advertising industry, publishing his images in various fashion magazines before returning to California in the 1960s. His images can be found in museums around the world and continue to be recognized as the visual timeline of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Credit: Anonymous; Press Photo, USA, 9/18/66; Silver emulsion, paint; 7 x 9”; Drapkin Collection Ask students: Background: The background around the civil rights activist is blocked out with white paint in Press photo of Martin Luther King, Jr., USA, 9/18/66 (Anonymous).

Credit:Jeff’s Soliloquy – To Be or Not To Be Hanged (Francis Hacker, 1865) presents a satirical fabricated carte de visite of a fleeing Confederate States President Jefferson Davis in a dress. Read aloud the caption under the image. Ask: What is a soliloquy? Who is Jeff? From what time period do you think this is? Why is Jeff wearing a dress? What do you think the artist was trying to say with this piece? Share with students Hacker’s biography: Francis Hacker (b. ca 1828) was an American photographer most noted for his documentation of the Civil War era. As photographic equipment was largely too cumbersome and slow for transport, photojournalism in that era often involved manipulating the image to obtain the desired setting or to more accurately match the accompanying story. These manipulated photographs often contained a few photographic components, while the remainder of the image was crafted by the artist.

Credit: Anonymous, USA; Lincoln’s Head on Henry Clay’s Body, 1862; Carte de Visite; 2.5 x 4”; Drapkin Collection Ask: Who do you think this is? Although you can identify the head/face as Abraham Lincoln’s, why doesn’t the body seem to be his? Whose body do you think it is? Background: In this Civil War era carte de visite, we see Abraham Lincoln’s Head on Henry Clay’s Body (anonymous, 1862). In the pre-digital days of newspaper publishing, some picture editors freely altered images by composite and painting in the pre-press stage.

Credit (left): William Mortensen (American, 1897-1965); Human Relations, 1936; Photogravure; 8 x 10”

Credit: William Mortensen (American, 1897-1965); The Conclave, 1933; Bromoil enhanced to look like drawing; 10.5 x 14”

Which manipulated photograph did you enjoy the most today? Why?