ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2023.03.028
Exploring Aesthetics: Beauty without Utility in Harvey’s Fine Art Photography
Siyan Liu
1Jinling College, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
2Salem State University, Salem, MA, United States.
*Corresponding author: Siyan Liu
Published: May 05, 2023
Abstract
The paper delves into aesthetic beauty in photographs of Cig Harvey (b. 1973, England). Using Immanuel Kant’s theory of “Aesthetics”, this paper will explore how beauty without utility is expressed through order, harmony, and balance in Harvey’s photographs. For Kant, order, harmony, and balance are the keys to the beautiful and what he called the “sublime.” And what Kant’s theory “disinterested pleasure” reveals is that there is nothing utilitarian about beauty – no useful purpose to the piece we are enjoying other than its beauty. The piece of art should be judged apart from any practical function, which echoes the principle “art for art sake”. This paper focuses on three pieces of Harvey’s photographs Frozen Apples, Rockport, Maine, 2018 (see Figure 1), Exit, Self-portrait, San Francisco, California, 2005 (see Figure 2) and Scout & the Jacks, 2016 (see Figure 3). Through these three photographs this paper discusses how Harvey works as a fine art photographer to pursue true beauty, leaving the viewers with a feeling for the sublime.
Keyword
Cig Harvey, true beauty, Immanuel Kant, “disinterested pleasure”, photography
References
“CIG Harvey.” Robert Klein Gallery. https://www.robertkleingallery.com/cig-harvey.
Cig Harvey. Blue Violet [M]. Monacelli Press, 2021.
Cig Harvey. You an Orchestra You a Bomb [M]. Schilt Publishing, 2017.
Cig Harvey. You Look at Me Like an Emergency [M]. Schilt Publishing, 2012.
Madeleine Morlet. “Beauty and Joy: An Interview with Artist CIG Harvey.” Teeth Magazine [J], 16 June 2022.
Risch, Conor. “CIG Harvey: Telling a Personal Story That Everyone Can Relate To.” PDN Online, [J/OL] 29 Aug. 2016.
Walsh, Brienne. “CIG Harvey: Through Mother's Eyes.” PDN Online, [J/OL]9 Oct. 2018.
Copyright
© 2023 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
How to cite this paper
Exploring Aesthetics: Beauty without Utility in Harvey’s Fine Art Photography
How to cite this paper: Siyan Liu. (2023) Exploring Aesthetics: Beauty without Utility in Harvey’s Fine Art Photography. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 7(3), 623-626.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2023.03.028