Surrealism and Photography

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Surrealism and Photography

“Some may say the photographic medium is a forever changing one. Keeping a promiscuous nature, no one has been able to settle on a status for its position in the art world. Perhaps its astute adaptability is an instrument to its survival as an art form, but a distinct characteristic of photography is its ability to employ or replicate other art forms and movements.

So how does the lens-based imagery fare within the Surrealist? At first it may seem surreal in itself that surrealism, highlighting the prominence of the unconscious, should have anything to do with the all too physical process of photography. But it can be understood that instead of running away from reality, surrealists instead pursue a more profound form and meaning of it.

Surrealism took shape in the 1920’s, developing out of the Dada activities during World War I.  The movement, including the publishing of Andre Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto (October 15^th, 1924), proclaimed the prevalence of the subconscious thought over rational thinking. In short: to expose psychological truth by freeing thought from conscious reasoning.

It makes an arduous approach, dealing with such a free system of thinking - to reason and attempt to understand such a format that represses reason and thinking to begin with. It could be thought this itself is half the magic behind the movement. However, it is not the sole, nor primary, purpose behind the comprehensive reasoning of surrealist photography. These artists felt that the subconscious, rather than conscious, reason, should guide their work. And we look at these visual images, trying to grasp some understanding of what these, almost inexplicable, subconscious landscapes are expressing.

In theory, making photographs is the pictorial equivalent to the surrealist process of automatism. Although, surrealist photography has not always attached itself to such a straight forward and automatic approach. It is thought that, generally, surrealist photography took several forms: photomontage and manipulation, staged photography and documentary photography.”

The introduction to an essay based on Surrealism and Photography, written by myself last year. Although understanding the brash nature of surrealistic photography, sometimes perhaps perceived as “out there”, the potential and possibilities of its outcomes reach as far as the subconscious and imagination can go, quite literally.

This can be a good point to start with. And a good point to revert back to when finding yourself stuck, knowing that with surrealism there will be an answer – or a new question - as long as you have a mind to unfold.