Though seldom mentioned outside of photographic circles, Group f/64 included such luminaries as Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and John Paul Edwards. Founded in San Francisco in 1932, Group f/64 would expand in following years to include a number of members. Members, particularly Ansel Adams, would go on to impact the process and prowess of photography for decades to come. In 2006, one of his prints alone fetched more than $600,000 at auction.
Though the initial name of the group was proposed as the then-common Uniform System designation of US 256, the members decided to use f/64 as it was less likely to be confused with a nationalist name. F/64 is the smallest setting on large format cameras, securing the maximum field depth. This means that a photo taken on this setting has the same sharpness from background to foreground.
Small apertures of this type imply use of long exposures. That means that traditionally, this setting was used for subject matter that either did not move or moved very slowly - still lifes and landscapes. However, the group's location in California meant that these long exposures were less necessary, given the relatively bright light available. Cameras of this size did tend to be large and clumsy, which limited subject matter to some degree, however. By comparison, the cameras used in 1930s reporting and action photos were much smaller and easier to maneuver.
This camera size went well with the philosophy espoused by the group for "straight photography". Pictorialism was in fashion in San Francisco at the time - an opposing movement dating from the end of the nineteenth century in which photography attempted to emulate etchings and paintings. Soft focuses, special lens coatings and filters, and heavy darkroom manipulation were all used to achieve this end, which Group f/64 found unnecessary. They strove for a clear, defined photographic image using simple, direct presentation and photographic methods only, a strong contrast to the pictorialist philosophy.
Group f/64 sought to define and refine photography via its inherent limitations, rather than comparing it to other, more established forms of art. They pointed out that the aesthetics and ideological conventions of painting and drawing, which were often used to judge photography, had developed before photography itself even existed, and could not take that medium into proper account. Members of Group f/64 went on to become some of the most influential photographers of the time. Indeed, a great many of their techniques are taught in photography schools today.
Though the initial name of the group was proposed as the then-common Uniform System designation of US 256, the members decided to use f/64 as it was less likely to be confused with a nationalist name. F/64 is the smallest setting on large format cameras, securing the maximum field depth. This means that a photo taken on this setting has the same sharpness from background to foreground.
Small apertures of this type imply use of long exposures. That means that traditionally, this setting was used for subject matter that either did not move or moved very slowly - still lifes and landscapes. However, the group's location in California meant that these long exposures were less necessary, given the relatively bright light available. Cameras of this size did tend to be large and clumsy, which limited subject matter to some degree, however. By comparison, the cameras used in 1930s reporting and action photos were much smaller and easier to maneuver.
This camera size went well with the philosophy espoused by the group for "straight photography". Pictorialism was in fashion in San Francisco at the time - an opposing movement dating from the end of the nineteenth century in which photography attempted to emulate etchings and paintings. Soft focuses, special lens coatings and filters, and heavy darkroom manipulation were all used to achieve this end, which Group f/64 found unnecessary. They strove for a clear, defined photographic image using simple, direct presentation and photographic methods only, a strong contrast to the pictorialist philosophy.
Group f/64 sought to define and refine photography via its inherent limitations, rather than comparing it to other, more established forms of art. They pointed out that the aesthetics and ideological conventions of painting and drawing, which were often used to judge photography, had developed before photography itself even existed, and could not take that medium into proper account. Members of Group f/64 went on to become some of the most influential photographers of the time. Indeed, a great many of their techniques are taught in photography schools today.
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