Photographic Art in Graphic Design from the 1890s to the 1960

The article presents the history of graphic design through the optics of one of its tools — photography. This approach makes it possible to talk about a special branch of the evolution of photography, namely photography in design. Being on the territory of design in an applied role, photography presents incredibly beautiful examples of design, ideas and visual communication. As a tool for the designer on par with type, colour and composition, photography brings something unique to design in every period under consideration. It flexibly integrates into trends, responds to the visual demands of the historical moment, wins the love of the viewer, is convenient and practical for professionals, and is easily interfaced with industrial technologies.

The article is structured by decades (from 1890s to 1960s). The change of creative generations, the maelstrom of historical events of the 20th century, as well as the wide boundaries of the design community that influenced the development of photography in design (Europe, USA, Russia) make this periodization acceptable in order to discover and describe the key features. The search for unique manifestations of photography’s capabilities at each historical stage became the aim of this paper.

The article covers the period of analogue photography formation. In 1890 we can already speak of the early influence of photography on graphic design objects, and the 1960s comes with the invention of digital photography. The key characteristics of each decade are identified and the evolution of tools for working with photography is revealed.

Theoretical and practical significance of the article consists in studying and analyzing the techniques of designers’ past experience of working with photography, which in turn can help modern graphic designers. The novelty of the paper is due to the lack of a full-scale study of photography as a tool of graphic design. This paper partially fills this gap in scientific knowledge.

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