Compare the work of Alexander Rodchenko, Peter Kennard and John Heartfield and elaborate:
- What are the differences and similarities?
- Do you think they had impact on the society and created changes? Can photography and photographers achieve something like that?
By: Jennifer Hsu, Wonkeun Cho, Bruno Sacchetti & Michelle Lisi
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Introduction
The works of Alexander Rodchenko, Peter
Kennard and John Heartfield are quite different from each other. While all
three artist attempt to portray political messages, they all do so in their own
unique ways. Their photographs attempt to convey messages of the realities of
political changes during their times and the effects that arise from these
changes. With the works of Rodchenko, Kennard and Heartfield one would assume
that political activism is central to their portrayed images. One should also
take note of the techniques used by the artists, which can also create insight
into the photographers’ minds.
Similarities
The main and possibly the most apparent
similarity between all three artists is the main style they used –
photomontage. Photomontage is the process of making one photograph with cutting
and pasting a number of other photographs together. All of these artists took
this method due to the impact it creates; as Peter Kennard saw it at the time, photomontage had the power to show the
causes rather than the results.
 |
| Peter Kennard (Broken Missile) |
 |
| Alexander Rodchenko |
Something that is also prevalent between
the photos of all three photographers is the strong focus on the theme of war
and capturing the struggles of human rights and peace. All of these artists battle very political
topics, most of the photo published were for the purpose of propaganda.
Propaganda is a form of communication to influence how a community sees a
particular situation. As example is John
Heartfields anti-Hilter poster; this poster is meant to emphasize and refer to
how much money Hitler is swallowing and receiving from wealthy industrialists,
fearing Germany would vote for a communist government.
All
three artists do differ from each other, but relate in their works towards some
sort of message that they attempted to convey. Through their images, we as a
society can illustrate images in our mind of political changes and events
during their times.
 |
John
Heartfield (Adolf the Superman)
|
Differences
Although all three of these photographers
wanted to capture political issues, their messages were all very different and
unique in their own ways.
John Heartfield’s focus, in the time when he
was most proactive with his photography, was on the anti-Nazi/anti-Hitler
movement. John Heartfield went as far as changing his name from Helmut Herzfeld
to avoid his service time. When
looking at John Heartfield, this German photographer also used the techniques
of photomontage, like Kennard, but portrayed a more experimental approach to
his art. Heartfield, much like Rodchenko, was interested in the portrayal of
politics, however they do differ. Heartfield was devoted to anti-Nazi political
activism portrayals (No author, 2012) a. He expressed his views through these
images, even in response to his German heritage while he depicted the horrors of
World War One in Germany. Heartfield was also notorious for his infamous
utilization of quotations in his images, also creating some sort of irony to
his images.
John Heartfield (Blood and
Iron)
Peter Kennard was a more modern artist, and
his art is more relatable to people viewing his art today. His focus was very
much on armaments (military weaponry) and poverty, how those two create and
cause disparity in our society. Peter
Kennard focused mainly on politics, especially of those with British influence.
Instead of using personal responses as a form of communication like Rodchenko,
Kennard wanted to show the “unrevealed truth” behind the images that he
capture, which he found most useful. Using the technique of photomontage,
Kennard set his focus on art pertaining to the topics of armaments and poverty,
unlike the images of political activism created by Rodchenko. Kennard believed
that photography had the power to illustrate the causes of something rather
than the results created from something (No author, 2012)b. Kennard also had
been exposed to digital technology, which he was against, as we can see in the
quote below.
"There is a problem with montage in
that you see it everywhere now because of digital technology. There is so much
transformed imagery around that people accept constructed images without
questioning their meaning. I think my work was losing impact because of
that." –
Peter Kennard
Peter Kennard (Defended to
Death)
Alexander
Rodchenko was a Russian artist turned photographer during the Revolution of
October 1917, who created images that resembled Avant-Garde type works (The
Museum of Modern Art, 1998). The art of Rodchenko attempted to depict the
Communist culture following World War One, and created a unique styling in the
images portrayed (The Museum of Modern Art, 1998). Rodchenko’s works lead the
way of art in Soviet Russia and his abstract work creates images of personal
responses to illustrates Russia’s progress during that time frame. His work
rejects socially created conventional roles of self-expression and aesthetic
predilections, making him somewhat of a political artist (The Museum of Modern
Art, 1998). Alexander Rodchenko was an artist of very
controversial, by taking a very nihilistic focus to art to a point when many
didn’t believe what he produced was art. Rodchenko’s focus was on the society
but more so for the production aspect. He designed things for propaganda,
posters, book covers, and etc.
Did These Photographers Impact Society?
These
three photographers all had made a huge impact on the society, both through
their art and the meaning that they were conveying to the society. These three
artists were able to lead more than thousands of people, but they are not
worldwide famous photographer or artists. They all had a vision and were
determined to succeed in their life time. Each artist had impacted society in a
different but similarly significant way – whether it was Heartfield’s
propaganda material in late 1800’s, or Rodchenko’s innovative take on
photography. Whether it was good or bad they all made audience feel and change
the way they felt about the future. Photography is a very powerful tool, and it
can change people lives for decades; as technology improves every day it will continue
to provide heartfelt and impactful images to the human mind and therefore
placing a strong impact on everyone.
Can Photographers
Achieve that Impact on Society?
Photography is used around
the world as a powerful visual toll that not only impact society but also
creates changes. Photographers through their photographs have an influence in
persuading their audience and viewers. Photographers express their views through
their lenses, and the message generated can sometimes pursued a whole
civilization. Each photographer shapes their own message according to their
views about the world. This message as a result can have a massive effect on
society simply because reality is exposed. Photography can also influence
society to act in certain ways. News papers use photography to emphasize their
messages with images. The government use photos to illustrate their scrutiny
and to accentuate their accomplishments to pursue citizens to gain more
political control. Nonetheless Photographers throughout photography can achieve
change. Peter Kennard, John Heartfield and Alexander Rodchenko tried to create
change thought their lenses, but with not much success, their work and views still
impacts society until today. Peter Kennard, John Heartfield and Alexander
Rodchenko were above their fear, and by means of their work were able to impact
society at an extraordinary level. Their courage inspired many photographers
and followers to be original and confront their fears. Alexander Rodchenko
established unprecedented compositional paradigms that until these days
translate the idea of modern photographic art. Peter Kennard work has
influenced modern photographers, film makers and even some computer programs
like Photoshop. Finally, John Heartfield's art has had a considerate effect on
modern advertising. The proposal of a photomontage is used on many
advertisement printed in magazines today. These photographers created a landmark in the world, and
with their messages alive in their photographs we can look at their job and
learn from the past how to create a better future.
Bibliography
"Alexander Rodchenko -
Biography." The Internet
Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 17 Feb. 2012. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734447/bio>.
"Alexander Rodchenko: A
Man Who Took Life Lying down - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online,
Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3671028/Alexander-Rodchenko-A-man-who-took-life-lying-down.html>.
"John Heartfield:
Life." Towson University.
Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/life/WorldwarOne.html>.
My Blackboard. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
<https://gbc.blackboard.com/webct/urw/tp0.lc5122011/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct>.
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