Distinctive features of the language of the photo avant-garde: the question of extending the boundaries of this concept

Abstract

This article is devoted to identifying the key characteristics of the language of photo avant-garde and analyzing the possibilities for expanding its boundaries. The aim of the study is to clarify the evolutionary trajectory of photographic language — from the representation of reality to formal construction, from visual form to the development of mechanisms of perception. The research methodology employed in this study combines historical, formal-analytical, and theoretical approaches to provide a comprehensive examination of the photo-avant-garde phenomenon and its influence on the subsequent evolution of photography and visual culture. By utilizing historical and cultural analysis, this study traces the transformation of photographic language and identifies the prerequisites for the photo-avant-garde’s emergence and development. To define the common features and specificities of various photographic practices associated with the avant-garde, a typological analysis was employed. This involved examining specific forms and styles, such as camera angles, photomontage, abstract photography, photograms, and phototypography, as well as characteristics of composition, lighting, and focus, through formal-stylistic analysis. Additionally, elements of contextual and intertextual analysis were utilized to assess the impact of social, political, and cultural conditions, as well as the interconnections between different art forms such as painting, graphics, and cinema, and photography. Finally, the study also delved into the spectator's perception of photographic works, the methods by which authors shape audience reception, and the changes introduced by the avant-garde to the very concept of the artistic image through phenomenological analysis. As a result, the linguistic features of the photo avant-garde are summarized, manifested in the use of camera angle, abstract photography, and photomontage, and their differences from traditional photographic language are examined. The study also incorporates types of practices that have traditionally not been considered part of the photo avant-garde — pictorial photography, ethnographic photography, and photographic documentation of performative actions. It is shown that, in terms of organizing viewer perception, media logic, and strategies of image construction, these practices exhibit similar linguistic characteristics. The conclusion is drawn that photographic language constitutes an open visual organizational system, the boundaries of which change depending on the development of media technologies and cultural practices, and that its reinterpretation contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between visual expression and the mechanisms of perception.