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.
The group derived its name from the then-new camera aperture setting. The more commonly used Uniform System designation of US 256 was first suggested as the group’s name, but f/64 was suggested instead as it was less likely to be confused with a nationalist theme. The f/64 setting is the smallest setting on large format cameras, yet it secures the widest field of 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.
It was the actual size of these heavy cameras that played perfectly into the creative philosophy behind Group f/64. Pictorialism was en vogue in San Francisco at the time, which espoused the 19th century ideas of emulating 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.
The aim of Group f/64 was the redefinition of photography by means of its intrinsic limitations. 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 be some of the most influential photographers in the country, and their techniques and photographs are taught in many photography schools.
