Pictorialism

Pictorialism is an evocative and expressive photographic movement that gathered its strength in the mid-1880s, peaked in the 19oos and persisted into the 1920s. Pictorialist photographers often overlaid large parts of a picture with shadow and fog, in contrast to their simple subjects. The idea of the Pictorialist movement was to focus mainly on the artistic quality of and image rather than the fine details, it was to allow the viewer to look at an image for its visual qualities as opposed to how it was taken.

Here is an example of pictorialism:

Une Balleteuse, 1900
Robert Demachy (French, 1859–1936)
Gum bichromate print

5 5/16 x 5 13/16 in. (13.5 x 14.8 cm)
Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1933 (33.43.58)

Demachy, R 1900, Une Balleteuse, Heilbrunn Timeline of art history, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, viewed 18 September 2011, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/33.43.58.