essay about photography as art

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How Photography Pioneered a New Understanding of Art

The advent of photography significantly changed how art was perceived and gave way to new artistic movements. These movements transformed the way we think about art.

The earliest widely available photographic process was made public in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, creator of the Daguerreotype. The popularization of photography caused a great stir in the art world and led to significant changes in how art was perceived. Since photography could depict the world more accurately than painting, the latter had to reinvent itself. For this reason, the focus of painters shifted from representing reality to portraying emotions and impressions. Photography can, for this reason, be seen as a great drive for the reinvention of painting that occurred in the late 19th and throughout the 20th century.

When and How Did Photography First Appear?

The first successful photographic process, the Daguerreotype , was created in 1837 by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. Daguerre had previously worked as a professional scene painter at a theater. For this reason, he already knew the camera obscura , a small, darkened room with a tiny hole or lens which allowed an image from the outside through. Daguerre took inspiration from this process in order to create the world’s first photographic camera.

The camera obscura had already been used for centuries and allowed the reflection of images from the outside world on a flat surface. Until Daguerre, the main difficulty had been to engrave the image produced without having to draw over it on a piece of paper. Even after other inventors in the 19th century managed to transfer the image onto a piece of copper, the image quickly disappeared when exposed to light. Before Daguerre, it was impossible for a photograph to leave the darkroom in which it was produced.

However, Daguerre didn’t engrave the images on paper but rather on silver-coated copper plates. This invention was announced to the public by a friend, Dominique François Jean Arago, in 1839. From there on, this new process spread throughout the world. In late 1839, daguerreotypes began being produced in several different industrialized nations. Due to how quickly it spread, this new invention was quickly perfected by several manufacturers.

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It was in the United Kingdom in the early 1840s that the first European photography studios appeared. Revelation times decreased significantly, from Daguerre’s thirty minutes to only twenty seconds in most studios. In the late 1880s, George Eastman created the first film rolls. From there on, photographers didn’t need to carry silver-coated copper plates around, and photography became cheaper and more accessible.

Reception of Photography: The Democratization of Art 

Photography had a significant impact in 19th-century society and its reception within artistic circles varied . While some welcomed photography and used it as an aid for their artistic production, others criticized this invention and refused to consider it as worthwhile for artists, as did Gustave Courbet .

Regardless of the differing receptions of photography, this invention revolutionized 19th-century European societies. For the first time, art had become affordable not only for the higher classes but also for the lower ones. Middle-class and lower-class families could have their portraits done almost instantly at a photography studio for relatively affordable prices.

It can be said that there was, for the first time, a democratization of art and image. While some reacted positively to this and the accessibility of art throughout society, others saw it as a banalization of artistic creation. Many were critical of photography and saw it only as an industrial imitation of art for commercial purposes.

Art Before the Advent of Photography

Despite their variations, the artistic movements in Europe before the 19th century had always had realism as their focus . Their change and variation manifested primarily in thematic change (what was painted) or technique, but realistic representation had always been valued in all of them.

At the time of the invention and spreading of photography, the leading art movements in Europe were Romanticism and Neoclassicism . The first had already introduced a shift in the artistic world by emphasizing the artist’s expression.

In Romanticist painting, there were many elements that did not belong to reality (supernatural elements, for example) but were nevertheless represented realistically.

In Neoclassical painting, there was a revival of the representation of mythological figures and scenes. As beautifully and harmoniously as possible, these were always represented in great detail and accuracy. Even if some artists didn’t fall within these artistic movements, they still painted realistically. Whether it was human subjects, nature, or mythological figures, what European paintings at the time had in common was their aim at representing images as accurately and in as much detail as possible.

Impressionism: An Art Movement Shaped by Photography

Painters who witnessed the advent of photography developed a different perception of reality and images than their predecessors. These artists understood that reality was transient and that each moment was fleeting and limited. The nature of reality, these painters realized, was to be in constant movement.

For this reason, the artistic movement of Impressionism was the first to deviate from the realistic norm in European art. The artists of Impressionism accepted that photography was the best for capturing fixed images and that they could not outdo it. For this reason, impressionists explored other dimensions of painting, such as color, light, and movement. This style made it clear that painting was not meant to compete with photography, but rather to complement it, to represent that which photography couldn’t.

Impressionist painters, instead of accurately representing reality in detail, focus on the impression of reality and attempt to convey movement in their paintings . Impressionist paintings represent reality as perceived by the human eye: fleeting and transient, sometimes unclear or blurred. At first, these somewhat blurred representations of reality were criticized as low-quality or unfinished paintings, but in time they came to be appreciated.

From this time on, it became widely accepted that painting could not compete with photography in accurately representing reality. This realization, in a way, released painting from the shackles of realism and opened the door for a shift in artistic circles. Instead of valuing realism, artists began focusing on expressing emotions, impressions, and all that which is part of the human experience. In many ways, Impressionism created a bridge between traditional art, which had realism at its core, and modernist art, which distanced itself from an accurate representation of reality.

The Modernist Art Movement: A New Conception of Art

By the beginning of the 20th century , it was clear that photography had come to stay. Not only that but there was another brand-new medium for representing reality: film. After an 1895 film projection in Paris by the Lumière brothers, this new medium was quickly improved and gained significant popularity. Representing reality accurately was no longer a necessary task for painters. For this reason, Impressionism was only the first of a series of artistic movements which strayed away from realism.

During the first half of the 20th century, there were multiple movements within Modernism that transformed the art world. The first was Fauvism , which represented real scenes and subjects using bright colors which usually did not correspond with reality. Fauvists used thick brushstrokes, taking inspiration from Post-Impressionist painters such as Vincent van Gogh. The foremost name in Fauvism was Henri Matisse. When asked what the color of the lady’s dress in his famous painting Woman with a Hat was, he allegedly replied: “ Black, obviously .”

One of the earliest movements within the Modernist current was Expressionism , which had its origins in Van Gogh and Edvard Munch, but was significantly developed a few decades later through the German group Die Brücke ( The Bridge ). In Expressionism, the focus is not to represent the outward reality accurately, but the inward reality, feelings and emotions. Expressionist artists used vibrant colors and unusually thick brush strokes, and the resultant paintings were extremely dense and intense, conveying clear emotions and environments.

Particularly during the years following World War I , Expressionist paintings become particularly grotesque and dark. By focusing on emotions in the representation of reality, Expressionists could paint a more accurate and critical picture of society. In many ways, these paintings could show what photography could not, namely the artists’ feelings surrounding the reality represented.

Probably one of the most famous movements within Modernism is Cubism . This movement revolutionized the concept of perspective and rejected the representation of three-dimensional objects. Instead of using typical modeling and perspective techniques, Cubists, such as Picasso or Braque, represented the objects as two-dimensional, often trying to include different perspectives of a single object at a time. By exploring perspective in such a way, Cubism, like other Modernist art movements, goes beyond what photography can do. Sometimes, the objects represented stray so far from reality that it is extremely difficult to understand what they are. Later, Cubism evolved to become more accessible and easier to understand, as seen on Picasso’s most famous paintings, such as Guernica .

Around 1920 began one of the most important movements within Modernism: Surrealism . Surrealists pick up where the Dadaists left off. Though fruitful in its first years, the Dadaist movement quickly lost itself in its own absurdism and was abandoned by many artists. Surrealism, despite enigmatic and absurd in its own way, is not at all devoid of meaning. Quite on the contrary, it attempts to demonstrate the overlapping of psychological processes in the human mind that cause dreams and imagination.

In Surrealist painting, it is not the physical reality that is represented, but the dream and unconscious reality. As in other Modernist art movements, Surrealism is complementary to photography because it represents something well beyond its reach: the human mind and the dream world. By breaking free of the shackles of reality, Surrealist painters portray our minds and dreams in a revolutionary way.

How Modernist Painting Influenced Photography

Despite not being created with artistic purposes in mind, photography was quickly explored by artists. First, photography was used as an aid for painting or other traditional art forms. Later, some artists began exploring the combination of photography, painting, and other mediums, thus creating new art forms, such as photomontage. One of the foremost artists in this new artistic medium was Hannah Höch , an artist of the Weimar Republic, who created famous examples of photomontage.

It took some time and controversy for photography to be considered a fine art form. Many critics, well into the 20th century, still refused to accept photography as anything more than an industrial mechanism that imitated reality but had little artistic value on its own. However, throughout the 20th century, photography began being recognized as an art form, and photographers created innovative ways to express themselves through it.

Modernism also significantly influenced photography and its alternative representations of reality and human emotion. During the 20th century, photographers also explored experimental and abstract photography . Despite still representing reality, these types of photography explore shapes, colors, and perspectives without striving to accurately represent a given scene or object.

How Photography Changed Our Perception of Art: An Overview

The 1837 invention of the Daguerreotype impacted society and the artistic world that Daguerre could not have foreseen. By surpassing painting in its ability to represent reality, photography, in a way, released painting from the need to be realistic. Photography also allowed for more widespread access to art and portraits, which were in high demand in 19th-century society.

Impressionism was the first movement to be shaped by photography and stray from the realism that was the norm in European art. This movement acted as a bridge between previous movements and Modernism. In the various artistic movements within Modernism, many artists explored countless new ways to express themselves. Artists began focusing on the human experience and different ways to perceive reality and created revolutionary works. Photography followed the tendency towards subjectivity and abstraction, which contributed to its recognition as an art form of its own.

Nowadays, art is understood not only as a faithful representation of reality but as something which provokes thought and emotion. Many viewers are interested in the meanings and feelings an artwork conveys or represents or the social criticism it contains. Realism, although still valued by some, has lost its place as a priority within artistic circles and by artists themselves. This is especially clear when we think about art movements that have distanced themselves from reality, such as Abstract Expressionism .

4 Techniques of 19th-Century Photography You Should Know

By Eva Silva BA Languages, Literature and Culture Eva Silva has a BA in Languages, Literature and Culture from the University of Lisbon. Her research and work revolve around German history, culture, language, literature, and European culture in general.

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When Photography Wasn’t Art

Today, photography is commonly accepted as a fine art. But through much of the 19th century, it was an art world outcast.

Today, photography is commonly accepted as a fine art. But through much of the 19th century, photography was not merely a second class citizen in the art world—it was an outcast.

Photography was invented in the 1820s and though it remained a fledgling technology in the few decades thereafter, many artists and art critics still saw it as a threat, as the artist Henrietta Clopath voiced in a 1901 issue of Brush and Pencil :

The fear has sometimes been expressed that photography would in time entirely supersede the art of painting. Some people seem to think that when the process of taking photographs in colors has been perfected and made common enough, the painter will have nothing more to do.

London’s Victoria & Albert Museum became the first museum to ever hold a photography exhibition in 1858, but it took museums in the United States a while to come around. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , one of the first American institutions to collect photographs, didn’t do so until 1924.

When critics weren’t wringing their hands about photography, they were deriding it. They saw photography merely as a thoughtless mechanism for replication, one that lacked, “that refined feeling and sentiment which animate the productions of a man of genius,” as one expressed in an 1855 issue of The Crayon . As long as “invention and feeling constitute essential qualities in a work of Art,” the writer argued, “Photography can never assume a higher rank than engraving.”

At best, critics viewed photography as a useful tool for painters to record scenes that they may later more artfully render with their brushes. “Much may be learned about drawing by reference to a good photograph, that even a man of quick natural perceptions would be slow to learn without such help,” wrote one in an 1865 issue of The New Path . But the writer’s appreciation ended there. Photography couldn’t qualify as an art in its own right, the explanation went, because it lacked “something beyond mere mechanism at the bottom of it.”

Some, like landscape photographer John Moran , however, fought back against this idea. “This refusal to rank Photography among the fine arts, I consider, is in a measure unfounded, its aim and end being one in common with art. It speaks the same language, and addresses itself to the same sentiments,” he wrote in a March 1865 issue of The Philadelphia Photographer. While he could not entirely escape the stigmas of his time—he declared photography could never “claim the homage of the higher forms of art” because “in the actual production of the work, the artist ceases and the laws of nature take his place”—he articulated an important argument for photography as a form of creative expression:

The exercises of the artistic faculties are undoubtedly necessary in the production of pictures from nature, for any given scene offers so many different points of view; but if there is not the perceiving mind to note and feel the relative degrees of importance in the various aspects which nature presents, nothing worthy the name of pictures can be produced. It is this knowledge, or art of seeing, which gives value and importance to the works of certain photographers over all others.

Moran’s central contention, that “there are hundreds who make, chemically, faultless photographs, but few make pictures” remains true today. Few are making photos with chemicals anymore, but billions make legible photographs with the click of a button. Still, as was the case 150 years ago, the art is in the eye, not the device.

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Photography: is it art?

F or 180-years, people have been asking the question: is photography art? At an early meeting of the Photographic Society of London , established in 1853, one of the members complained that the new technique was "too literal to compete with works of art" because it was unable to "elevate the imagination". This conception of photography as a mechanical recording medium never fully died away. Even by the 1960s and 70s, art photography – the idea that photographs could capture more than just surface appearances – was, in the words of the photographer Jeff Wall , a "photo ghetto" of niche galleries, aficionados and publications.

But over the past few decades the question has been heard with ever decreasing frequency. When Andreas Gursky's photograph of a grey river Rhine under an equally colourless sky sold for a world record price of £2.7 million last year, the debate was effectively over. As if to give its own patrician signal of approval, the National Gallery is now holding its first major exhibition of photography, Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present .

The show is not a survey but rather examines how photography's earliest practitioners looked to paintings when they were first exploring their technology's potential, and how their modern descendants are looking both to those photographic old masters and in turn to the old master paintings.

What paintings offered was a catalogue of transferable subjects, from portraits to nudes, still lifes to landscapes, that photographers could mimic and adapt. Because of the lengthy exposures necessary for early cameras, moving subjects were impossible to capture. The earliest known photograph of a person was taken inadvertently by Louis Daguerre – with Henry Fox Talbot one of photography's two great pioneers – when he set up his camera high above the Boulevard de Temple in Paris in 1838. His 10-minute exposure time meant that passing traffic and pedestrians moved too fast to register on the plate, but a boulevardier stood still long enough for both him and the bootblack who buffed his shoes to be captured for ever.

When Daguerre turned his camera on people rather than places the results were revelatory. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was so struck by Daguerreotypes that she rhapsodised over "the very shadow of the person lying there fixed forever". The fidelity of features captured meant that she "would rather have such a memorial of one I dearly loved, than the noblest Artist's work ever produced" not "in respect (or disrespect) of Art, but for Love's sake". If, however, her photographer followed the advice of Eugène Disdéri , who wrote in 1863 that: "It is in the works of the great masters that we must study the simple, yet grand, method of composing a portrait," she could satisfy love with both physiognomy and art.

What some pioneering photographers recognised straight away was that photographs, like paintings, are artificially constructed portrayals: they too had to be carefully composed, lit and produced. Julia Margaret Cameron made this explicit in her re-envisagings of renaissance pictures. Her Light and Love of 1865, for example, shows a woman in a Marian headcovering bending over her infant who is sleeping on a bed of straw. It is part of a line of nativity scenes that is as long as Christian art, and was hailed by one critic as the photographic equivalent of "the method of drawing employed by the great Italian masters". I Wait , 1872, shows a child with angel's wings resting its chin on folded arms and wearing the bored expression that brings to mind the underwhelmed cherubs in Raphael's Sistine Madonna . Such photographs were not direct quotations from paintings, but they raised in the viewer's mind a string of associations that gave photography a historical hinterland.

If Cameron and contemporaries such as Oscar Rejlander and Roger Fenton (who took numerous photographs of still-life compositions of fruit and flowers as well as his better known pictures of the Crimean war) were keen that their photographs should reflect their own knowledge of art, the links went both ways. In 1873, Leonida Caldesi published a book of her photographs of 320 paintings in the National Gallery, and her intended audience was not just the public but artists themselves, for whom the photographs were both more accurate and more affordable than engraved reproductions. By 1856, thanks to Fenton's photographs, artists could study classical statues in their own studios.

It was perhaps in depicting the nude – such as Fenton's bestselling photograph of the discus thrower Discobolus – that photography could repay its debt to art. Hiring a life model was expensive, and engravings were a poor substitute. Delacroix was one artist who "experienced a feeling of revulsion, almost disgust, for their incorrectness, their mannerisms, and their lack of naturalness". He praised instead the painterly aid provided by académies (books of nude photographs) since they showed him reality: "these photographs of the nude men – this human body, this admirable poem, from which I am learning to read". He even helped the photographer Eugène Durieu pose and light his models. And in 19th-century Britain and France, when pornography was illegal, photographs of the nude were in demand from customers who had no artistic interests.

When it came to landscape photography the new medium appeared just as the impressionists were beginning to work in the open air. Some commentators saw photography's real challenge to painting as lying in its ability to capture what the photographer and journalist William Stillman called in 1872 "the affidavits of nature to the facts on which art is based" – the random "natural combinations of scenery, exquisite gradation, and effects of sun and shade". Another practitioner, Lyndon Smith , went further, declaring landscape photography the answer to the "effete and exploded 'High Art', and 'Classic' systems of Sir Joshua Reynolds " and "the cold, heartless, infidel works of pagan Greece and Rome".

Being new was a laborious business, however. Eadweard Muybridge , the British-born photographer who first captured animals in motion and as a result ended the old painterly convention of showing horses running with all four legs off the ground, was primarily a landscape photographer. His pictures of the Yosemite wilderness , for example, involved carrying weighty cameras, boxes of glass negatives, as well as tents and chemicals for a makeshift darkroom, up mountains and through forests. Monet's painting expeditions by contrast required only paint and canvas.

If early photographers had no option but to negotiate their own engagement with painting their modern descendants can call on nearly two centuries of photographic history. It is a point the exhibition makes by combining old and new. So when a contemporary photographer such as Richard Billingham photographs an empty expanse of sea and sky in Rothko washes of slate blues and greys ( Storm at Sea ) he is referring to a heritage that encompasses both the monochrome tonality of Gustave Le Gray 's atmospheric photographic seascapes of the 1850s and a painting such as Steamer on Lake Geneva, Evening Effect , 1863, by the Swiss artist François Bocion .

The point is made across the different media. A brittle portrait of a suburban couple from Martin Parr's 1991 album Signs of the Times , for example, is contrasted with Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews of 1750 . Both are images of possession and entitlement, the latter displaying landowners at ease amid their fields and woods, comfortable with both themselves and their station, the former a couple posing stiffly in their sitting room.

Meanwhile a 19th-century flower painting by Henri Fantin-Latour is the starting point for Ori Gersht's fragmented blooms, Blow Up . Gersht froze his flowers with liquid nitrogen before exploding them with a small charge and photographing the petals turned to flying shards. Among the nudes, Richard Learoyd's Man with Octopus Tattoo , 2011 , is placed next to the gallery's 1819-39 painting of Angelica Saved by Ruggiero by that connoisseur of bodily curves, Ingres. The appeal of flesh and its sinuosity is timeless.

The curators of the National Gallery exhibition have avoided using many of contemporary photography's biggest names (there is no Andreas Gursky and no Cindy Sherman for example), and nor do they include photorealist painters such as Gerhard Richter or Andy Warhol . Their choices are largely less celebrated figures as if to show how deep is the seam of photographers still working with the long visual past. When in 1844-6 Fox Talbot published his thoughts about photography he gave the book (the first publication to contain photographic illustrations) the title The Pencil of Nature . This exhibition lays out what photography's founding father could never know: how the camera has also always been the pencil of art.

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Philosophy of Photography as an Art Essay

Many people claim that the word art cannot apply to contemporary artworks and photojournalism. When it comes to paintings or sculpture, it is argued that artists simply try to stand out from the rest of their peers or shock the public. Photography is regarded as a mere reflection of the reality that is created with the help of technology. This paper focuses on photography and its connection to art. It can be difficult to differentiate between photographs and pieces of art. However, Arthur Danto’s notion of interpretation as a key component of art can help in identifying artworks within the domain of photojournalism.

When considering the nature of contemporary art, Danto refers to Brillo Box by Andy Warhol (29). The art critic emphasizes that the depiction of Brillo boxes acquires an artistic value when the picture is characterized by hidden meanings and interpretations. Therefore, in order to identify a masterpiece among mere depictions, it is necessary to focus on meanings and interpretations (Danto 55). In simple terms, a photograph of a pile of boxes becomes an artwork if the viewer sees the idea behind the object. For instance, the photographer can reflect on such issues as consumerism or environmental responsibility. Importantly, although photographs can be easily reproduced, they can still be regarded as works of art as the photographer managed to capture the meaning.

In conclusion, it is necessary to stress that photography is a specific form of art that involves the use of technology. Danto’s view on artistic value helps in understanding photojournalism. Meaning and interpretation are elements of art. Hence, photographs that have hidden or explicit meanings are works of art. When people take pictures to capture memories, they use technology to reflect reality. When photographers capture meanings in the reflection of life, they create pieces of art.

Danto, Arthur C. What Art Is . Yale University Press, 2014.

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• Reading Response: Arthur Danto
• Andy Warhol’s Pop Art and Mass Production
• Aesthetics Art: Theory and Philosophy
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• Ethical Principles in Photojournalism
• The Issue of Ethics in Photojournalism
• Andy Warhol's Biography
• Robinson, Emerson, and Photography as an Art
• “The Valley of the Shadow of Death” the Photography by Roger Fenton
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Is Photography Among the Fine Arts?

By: Zofia Mowle Fine art is a form of visual art, intended to be appreciated entirely for its imaginative and visionary content. Photography has developed throughout the course of many years, and there has definitely been a shift in the way we appreciate it as an art form. The field of photography has expanded significantly and in today’s society anything that has artistic intent behind it, whether that be abstract, portrait or landscape photography, will be considered fine art. The discussion of whether or not photography should be considered a ‘fine art’ is a topic that has been debated for hundreds of years. There are such strong arguments for both sides, and it’s important to recognise all these factors when forming an opinion. 

Joseph Pennell is an American illustrator and author, who spent the majority of his life studying the traditional means of architectural drawings in Europe. During his time abroad he established an international reputation for himself as someone of high regard within the fine art world. Joseph Pennell had an extreme bias and unfavourable opinion towards photography. In 1897, Pennell wrote an excerpt titled ‘Is Photography Among the Fine Arts?’ In this excerpt he provided an array of reasons as to why photography is not among the fine arts. There’s a strong bias against photography, which is supported within the text. Pennell discusses the lack of skill required with photography, as it’s “merely mechanical and [does] not require the [same level of] training that art does.” [1]  To continue, Pennell argued that photography shouldn’t be considered a fine art as it’s too easy. He compared photography to a simple hobby, saying that, “photography is amusement and relaxation.” [2] Traditional painting and photography are two completely different forms of art. Therefore, it’s difficult to truly compare them when debating the topic of what makes something ‘fine art.’ Throughout the reading he continually expresses his belief that artists are more qualified and trained than photographers, and therefore are superior. He judges photographers and ridicules them, saying what a farce it is that “Titian, Velasquex and Rembrandt actually [studied].” [3] The art of photography is to capture our surroundings with a realistic approach. Unlike with paintings, cameras have the ability to see everything and capture specific moments of time, which may go unnoticed within our everyday lives. They are essentially machines that have the capability to produce a documentary fact. Similarly to how there are machines to create carpets and machines to produce shirts, the camera is a machine that was invented to generate pictures. For this reason, Pennell questions why photography is considered an art form at all. If photography is such an automated process dependent on machinery and chemicals, then why is it art? “The man who sells margarine for butter, and chalk and water for milk, does much the same, and renders himself liable to legal prosecution by doing it.” [4]  It’s clear from Joseph Pennell’s excerpt that photography is not a form of ‘fine art.’ Fine art usually involves a story and is intended to have a purpose that evokes some sort of emotion from the viewer. I agree with Pennell that it’s not possible just to take a beautifully composed picture and call it fine art. In order for an image to be considered fine art it must be designed with the intention of resonating with the viewer and compel the audience to perceive the subject matter differently. 

In contradiction to Joseph Pennell’s excerpt, Paul L. Anderson wrote a book titled ‘The Fine Art of Photography.” This book was interesting as the author went against everything previously mentioned and he discussed the array of reasons as to why photography should be considered among the fine arts. Paul L. Anderson was an American photographer and author, who wrote many books on the art of photography. Anderson considers photography a unique form of graphic art. In his book he conveys the importance of photography as an art form, and how it’s a collaborative process where “scientific knowledge and artistic feeling go hand-in-hand to the production of a fine result.” [5] He defines fine art as “any medium of expression which permits one person to convey to another an abstract idea of lofty character, to arouse in another a lofty emotion.” [6] Anderson highlights an important factor that must be established, which is to draw the line between fine art and craftsmanship. He uses Michelangelo’s David as a clear example of something that is considered fine art, whereas a typical Indian man’s tobacconist sign as something that is not. However, it’s not possible to say just where these two expressions merge. Anderson argues that, “the Indian may carry a glimmering of an abstract, and to that extent may possess some of the elements of fine art.” [7] The question of whether or not photography is among the fine arts varies significantly from person to person. Anderson believes that for photography to be considered a true art form, and not a craft, the photographer must create an image with a specific vision. The artist must use the camera as a medium for creative expression with a goal of creating something that expresses an idea, message and emotion. 

E. Thiesson created a Daguerreotype titled Native Woman of Sofala, 1845. In my opinion, this photograph is an exquisite example of fine art. It’s a profile portrait of an African woman seated on a wooden chair. The composition is well-balanced and the figure is situated in the center of the frame. It’s a raw and organic image that provokes a multitude of emotion within the viewer. Her expression resembles something of contemplation -she appears to be deep in thought and it forces us, as the viewer, to ask questions. Her posture is slouched, she does not wear any makeup, her hair is natural and she wears a kaba skirt, which is a traditional African skirt made from kiswah. Her breasts are left uncovered, but not in a sexualised way. She’s a traditional African woman and her appearance represents her culture. One of the essential purposes of photography is communication. This image communicates heritage, it teaches us about ethnicities and cultures that differ from our own. We use photography as a form of documentation and it’s used for educational purposes. Pennell would argue that this photograph isn’t an example of fine art, as it’s simply just a woman sitting on a chair. In his reading he makes direct comparisons between photography and painting, emphasising that one is significantly more impressive than the other. What’s better, a nude photograph or a nude painting? Pennell believes that getting a model to pose naked for a photograph puts other artists like Botticelli to shame, for he “sees what he has been taught to like by reading books on painting; which he does not understand and which teaches nothing for him.” [8] Despite this, in my opinion, Thiesson’s photograph is a true example of fine art photography. It’s evident that the artist took the time to carefully create the composition, from the framing of the image to the details of the woman -her attire, posture, expression, etc. Dona Schwartz, an author and professor of journalism, wrote an article on the social construct of photography. In her article she argues that photography draws upon “ethnographic research comparing the activities of the camera club and fine art photography.” [9] This comparison translates to Thiesson’s photograph, as it’s a collaboration between ethnographic photography and fine art. 

It’s interesting to debate the topic of what is and what isn’t considered to be ‘fine art.’ To this day, photographs remain to have less monetary value than paintings and sculpture. In my opinion, both mediums fulfil different tasks -a photographer captures a single moment, a snapshot of life, and a painter makes a picture. Paintings have the ability to illustrate deeper meanings that photographers are either unable to, or struggle to, encapsulate within their work. However, in my opinion, this doesn’t take away from what is considered ‘fine art.’ I believe that photography is among the fine arts, as fine art photography requires a similar level of precision and specific vision that other fine art mediums, such as painting and sculpture, require. Fine art photographs are created just as carefully as paintings, and therefore it’s unjust to classify photography, as a whole, as a medium that is unworthy being considered fine art. 

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• Cinematography

Is Photography Art? — Both Sides of the Debate Explained

I s photography art? This question has been debated since the creation of the first camera, and is still sometimes contested to this day. The answer may seem obvious to those working within the photographic medium, but there is some dissent, even within the artistic community. We will be playing devil’s advocate and taking a look at both sides of the is photography art debate.

Photography definition in art

Defining art.

Before we can answer is photography art? We need to make sure we have a rock-solid definition of “art.” Art means different things to different people, so for the purposes of total clarity, we’ll be going by the dictionary definition.

For any other unclear terms, our ultimate guide to film terminology is a great resource for looking things up.

PHOTOGRAPHY DEFINITION IN ART

What is art.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines art as: “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.” The dictionary also defines a work of art as something that is “produced as an artistic effort or for decorative purposes.”

So, is photography art? Based on this definition, it seems pretty clear that photography is considered a visual art. The umbrella of art is far reaching and can encompass any skillful creative endeavor. Despite the inherent artistic value in still photography, there are still plenty of individuals who would argue that photography is not an artistic pursuit. Let’s elucidate their point of view.

Does photography count as art?

Debunking why photography is not art.

Those on the opposing side in the is photography art debate rely on a few different arguments to make their case. One common stance against photography as art is that photography captures reality rather than creating a subjective reality, which is what “real art” does.

Why photography is not art stance: it merely captures reality

Taking this into consideration, does photography count as art? If so, what type of art is photography? It is easy to debunk the stance that derides photography as an art form.

The idea that photography cannot do any more than capture a moment of real life is quite reductive to the entirety of what makes photography art. 

You needn’t look far to find examples of aesthetic photographs that push the bounds of objective reality.

A clear-cut example of photography as an artform

It is easy to view the photographer as artist when taking all of the creative photography choices they make into consideration: subject, lighting techniques , camera framing , lens choice , symbolism , technical settings, post-processing, and many more decisions are what makes photography art.

What type of art is photography? In this case, surrealism

This same argument that opposes the classification of the photographer as artist because they capture reality also suggests that there is no artistic merit in capturing a moment in time that shows real life plainly. Believing this argument suggests that the work of street photographers is non-artistic.

What is photography in art? The answer may be subjective

In the debate over is photography a form of art , suggesting that capturing reality is not artistic devalues the important photographic work done by the likes of war journalists, which is not a favorable stance to hold when taking historical context into account.

What is fine art photography if not candid images showcasing the horrors of war

The importance of war photographers, sports photographers , and other photojournalists can not be understated.

Is photography a fine art? This powerful photo from the Vietnam war says yes

Let’s dig deeper into what made photography an art form initially.

Photography as an Art Form

What made photography an art form.

Is photography art or science? When the first camera was invented , the question: is photography a fine art? was certainly more open to debate. The development of photography as an art form happened quickly. The practice of photography began rooted in science and experimentation but it wasn’t long for photography to be considered a visual art.

A case could be made for science in the question: is photography art or science? But, what made photography an art form in the first place was the application of science in the creation of art. What type of art is photography? The answers are as limitless as with any other medium. Just as a painter uses paint, a brush, and a canvas, the photography uses a camera and film as their tools.

What is photography in art?

Is photography art — arguments against.

Is photography art? Another time-tested argument against an affirmative answer has to do with replication. This argument posits that since photographs can be replicated infinitely, their artistic value is inherently lower than a traditional work of art, such as a painting, that was made by hand and exists as a one-of-a-kind piece.

Copies and prints can be made of a painting, but the original painting remains a singular work of art elevated above all subsequent copies.

What is fine art photography

Some detractors answer the question is photography a form of art on a conditional basis. There are people who assert that a still photograph is never art, while there are others who assert that photography is considered art under the right circumstances, but that not every photograph taken is automatically considered a work of art.

Acclaimed visual artist Roger Ballen holds a complicated view on is photography art? He believes there is an important distinction between a photographer and an artist who uses photography as their medium.

What is photography in art? Roger Ballen answers

Now that we’ve heard from those who don’t believe photography is art, at least not in all instances, let’s hear from the other point of view.

Related Posts

• What is Double Exposure? →
• What is Overexposure in Photography? →
• Types of Camera Lenses for film and photography →

Is photography art?

The case in favor of photography as art.

It is plain to see that a carefully composed , exposed , focused , and captured image has inherent artistic value. Photography, as a medium, can shade reality with new context and meaning. Messages and symbolism can be conveyed through the presentation of a still image.

The juxtaposition of visual elements can take on new value when frozen in time as a photograph. All of the near-infinite photographic variables and possibilities make it clear that photography is artistic

This TED Talk examines photography as a form of creative self-expression.

TED Talk by Flore Zoe

The manipulation of different camera types as tools, and of the visual subject as a canvas make for endless photographic potential. The first cameras in history maybe have been used more for the purposes of documentation rather than art, but it was not long before the artistic potential of the camera was first explored. Drawing, painting, and sculpting existed as art forms for thousands of years before the invention of the camera.

Whenever a new art form comes into existence, there is a hesitancy from the industry’s gatekeepers to recognize the new with the same reverence as the old .

Over time, barriers to artistic acceptance have been eroded and the pretentious protection of “traditional art” has lessened. These days, the general consensus is that photography is, in fact, an art form. For tips on taking artistic photographs, check out the video below.

How to Take Artistic Photographs

More So than with photography, a debate continues as to whether or not filmmaking is artistic. Any passionate filmmaker or cinephile will tell you, “Yes! Of course filmmaking is art!” But there are individuals who do not share that point of view. If you believe that filmmaking and photography are art forms, then we have numerous articles that can help further your understanding and appreciation of these creative mediums.

Cameras for Photography and Video

Is photography considered an art form? Absolutely. The most important piece of technology when working as a photographer or a videographer is the camera. There are many different types and models of cameras on the market these days. Telling them apart and, more importantly, knowing which one to choose for your own projects can be a challenge. Our camera guide can bring you up to speed on the different types of cameras available to you.

Up Next: Types of cameras →

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Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

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Photography and Philosophy: Essays on the Pencil of Nature

Scott Walden (ed.), Photography and Philosophy: Essays on the Pencil of Nature , Blackwell Publishing, 2008, 325pp., $79.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781405139243.

Reviewed by John Andrew Fisher, University of Colorado at Boulder

Shows devoted to photography seem to be everywhere in the art world. As Scott Walden, the editor of this collection of essays notes, photography "has become the darling of the avant-garde." It appears that photography has become trendier than painting. One reason for this may be that while the nature and scope of painting has been thoroughly investigated over the last two centuries, photography appears to be relatively unexplored. Moreover, as a medium photography has the advantage over both painting and sculpture of permeating social life and thus of appearing to be easier to understand in an art-world setting than other art forms. In addition, the variety of uses of photography in everyday life -- portraits, snapshots, fashion and advertising photographs -- provide artists with a multitude of genres to explore and often parody.

Perhaps surprisingly then, only a few of the thirteen essays that make up this collection directly address the artistic or conceptual content of current art photography. This is not to say that the collection is in any way disappointing. On the contrary, it is a ground-breaking, cutting-edge anthology of essays by leading analytic philosophers of art all focused in one way or another on the foundations of photography. In his contribution to the collection, Walden elaborates on his focus on truth in images with an explanation that could also serve as a rationale for the entire collection:

the operative assumption here is that the best methodology for understanding our appreciation of pictures involves first developing an understanding of their most literal aspects, and then proceeding to an understanding of the more complex aspects in terms of these relatively simple ones… . The faith is that if we can understand truth in relation to the depiction of the simple, visible properties of people and objects depicted, we can then, in terms of these and some other -- as yet undetermined -- principles governing the viewing of pictures, arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the use of images in journalism, advertising, illustration, and art. (p. 94)

This faith might seem debatable, but in fact these essays do indirectly illuminate photography as art even when that is not their primary goal. By undermining the complacency with which we approach a mass art medium, they indirectly address the central aesthetic question that arises in looking at art photography: "In what ways can I appreciate a photograph aesthetically?"

Why does photography merit extended philosophical examination? Few other art media have troubled art theorists as much as photography, and this has been true since its inception in the nineteenth-century. Only instrumental classical music has fascinated philosophers as much. In pure instrumental music there is no intrinsic representational content, yet the music feels as if it is saying something and sounds as if it expresses emotions. In the case of photography we have the opposite problem: instead of too little representation, we have nothing but pure representation; we see nothing in a photograph but the objects that are photographed.

There are four fundamental issues that underlie the more specific themes of these essays: (i) What is the nature of photography? (ii) Given this nature, can photographs as photographs be fine art? (iii) How does photographic representation differ from other types of visual representation? and (iv) In what way are photographs more realistic, objective or true than representations produced in more traditional media?

Most of the papers were written especially for this anthology, although three chapters are reprints of papers by prominent figures in analytic aesthetics (Kendall Walton, Roger Scruton, Arthur Danto). Two of these papers, Walton's "Transparent Pictures: On the Nature of Photographic Realism," and Scruton's "Photography and Representation," are classics and serve to anchor the anthology by providing influential albeit controversial accounts of the foundations of photography. Walton argues that photographs are 'transparent,' by which he means that in looking at photographs we "quite literally" see their subjects. Scruton argues that a photograph cannot be what he calls a "representation," and by this he intends to imply that it cannot qua photograph be a work of art. To make their arguments, these two thinkers develop extended analyses of concepts central to photographs: in Walton's case, the concepts of seeing and visual experience, and in Scruton's case, the concept of an artistic representation. In relating photography to more general concepts, these papers join several others in the anthology. For example, Danto argues that individuals have rights over the way they appear, a meditation spawned by what he regards as untruthful photographic portraits.

Although the anthology is not divided into sections, one can collect most of the articles into three main groupings. The first group consists of five articles, all directed at analyses of the realism, objectivity, and truth that we attach to photographs: Walton on the transparency of photography, Cynthia Freeland on icons, Aaron Meskin and Jonathan Cohen on evidence, Walden on truth and Barbara Savedoff on authority. Danto's contribution, "The Naked Truth," also explores the specific sort of truth that might be ascribed to photographic portraits. He proposes a distinction between the optical truth that a high-speed photograph, which he calls a 'still,' might reveal and the natural way we see people or things. He argues that the "still … shows the world as we are not able to perceive it visually. It shows us the world from the perspective of stopped time" (300). Such photos often lie as portraits, Danto thinks, and when they do, they violate the personhood of the subject by failing to respect the image the subject desires to project to the community.

In "Transparent Pictures" Walton aims to understand the sort of realism possessed by photographs. He notes that photographs are not necessarily more accurate than paintings, yet he supports the idea that photography is "a supremely realistic medium" (21)). There is a gap, in his view, between the realism and immediacy of photography and what can be achieved by painting. He rejects the idea that in looking at a photograph we are having an illusion, as if we are mistaking the photograph for the objects photographed. His big claim is rather that photography "gave us a new way of seeing" (21). He means this quite literally: "Nor is my point that what we see -- photographs -- are duplicates or doubles or reproductions of objects … My claim is that we see , quite literally, our dead relatives themselves when we look at photographs of them" (22). He argues for this in several ways. One is a slippery slope argument, moving from seeing objects by means of mirrors, telescopes, etc. to seeing objects via live broadcast television, to seeing objects in documentary film. Although this implies seeing the past, he thinks we accept that we see events that occurred millions of years ago through a telescope. He does allow that we see photographed objects indirectly . Nor does he claim that we fail to see the photographs themselves. We see the objects -- our dead relatives -- by seeing the photograph; "one hears both a bell and the sound that it makes" (24).

Don't we also say that we 'see' Lincoln in a painting? Walton argues that this is fictional seeing, and this is because the sort of seeing involved applies equally to non-existent painted objects. Walton's theory of photography and of the way it differs from painting is based on the mechanical process of forming images which characterizes photography. Whether through an optical-and-chemical or digital process, once the shutter is triggered the image is determined by what is in front of the lens, not by the beliefs of the photographer:

The essential difference between paintings and photographs is the difference in the manner in which in which they … are based on beliefs of their makers. Photographs are counterfactually dependent on the photographic scene even if the beliefs (and other intentional attitudes) of the photographer are fixed. Paintings which have a counterfactual dependence on the scene portrayed lose it when the beliefs (and other intentional attitudes) of the painter are fixed. (38)

If a painter who is trying to depict the scene in front of her believes that there is a gorilla in the scene, she will put it in the painting even if it is not actually there, whereas even if a photographer also has that belief, a gorilla will not appear in the image if one does not exist in front of the camera.

The transparency of photographs is not about how photographs look, but about how we take them to imply that the objects we see in them existed. This explains, he suggests, why we experience a sort of shock when we learn that a Chuck Close photo-realist self-portrait is not a photograph: "We feel somehow less 'in contact with' Close when we learn that the portrayal of him is not photographic" (27). By contrast, "[v]iewers of photographs are in perceptual contact with the world" (48). This is not to deny that photographs, like some mirrors, can distort, nor that some photographs are constructions (combinations) that taken as a whole are not transparent.

Walton even allows that a "photograph, no less than a painting, has a subjective point of view" (35). Still, his account raises the question of whether the causal process that announces the existence of the objects photographed is the only defining characteristic of photography. Doesn't the photograph also show how these things appeared? Do we not only see our dead relatives, but also that the scene appeared a certain way ? Yet that appearance is the result of adjustments of many variables by the photographer. Although Walton says, "[p]hotography can be an enormously expressive medium," (35), it is not obvious how his account of the literal seeing involved in seeing a photograph addresses the subjective and expressive aspects of photographs. In literally seeing the objects in a photograph do we also literally see what they looked like? We think we do, but is there a basis for this thought in the transparency of photography?

The four papers that follow Walton's all grapple with photography's realism or truth. Freeland's "Photographs and Icons" points out that there are two senses of "realism," an epistemological sense related to truth and accuracy, and a psychological sense related to psychological force. She usefully employs terminology of Patrick Maynard's to mark this distinction as the difference between the "depictive" function of a picture and its "manifestation" function, which is similar to Walton's notion that we 'contact' the objects we see in the photograph. By describing an impressive parallel between photographs and religious icons, she presses the argument that photographic realism as the manifestation of the objects photographed has less to do with our beliefs in the epistemic status of photography than it does with our attitudes and emotions, such as the desire to sustain contact with departed people. In so far as her argument centers on portraits, whether of saints in icons or of people in photographs, it would be interesting to ask if it implies that we do not feel in contact with the non-human objects in, say, landscape photographs.

In "Photographs and Evidence," Meskin and Cohen approach realism from a different angle. They reject Walton's claim that we literally see the objects in photographs. Instead, they analyze the special epistemic status of (depictive) photographs in terms of their information content: "photographs typically provide information about many of the visually detectable properties of the objects they depict" (72). They follow Dretske in understanding that "information is carried when there is an objective, probabilistic, counterfactually supporting link between two independent events" (72). Because it is an objective link, their notion of the information carried by a photograph is independent of any subject's beliefs or other mental states. Their claim about photographic information is weaker than it might at first appear to be. Consider color: "photographs typically carry information about the color of the objects they depict -- if the colors of the objects had been different then the photographic image would have been different" (73). This concedes that the photograph does not tell the viewer what the color is ; as they note, "systematically replacing the colors of a picture with their complements would not thereby change the informational content of that picture" (74). They contrast visual or v-information about the appearance of objects with information about the egocentric location of the objects they depict, which they call e-information. In their view, the special epistemic status of photography is grounded on the fact that photographs provide v-information without providing e-information, whereas ordinary seeing provides both sorts of information.

Walden's "Truth in Photography," looks at photographs as potential sources of true beliefs. He contrasts objectively formed images -- those produced mechanically, such as photographs -- with subjectively formed images, such as handmade images. He argues that "we generally have better reason to accept beliefs engendered by viewing photographic images than we do those engendered by viewing handmade ones" (104). He concludes by considering whether the wide-spread adoption of digital-imaging techniques will undermine our confidence in the objectivity (mechanical nature) of the image-forming process. He argues that it is in "our collective interests to resist the implementation of such techniques [that undermine objectivity]" (109). One reason is that even if we still form true beliefs from looking at an image, these will be less epistemically valuable if we lack grounds for confidence in their truth.

Savedoff's contribution explores what she calls the documentary authority that we ascribe to photography: we regard a photograph as capturing a bit of the actual world. She makes this key to the ways that art photographs work; whether recognizably depictive or more abstract, they depend on and play off of this authority. The effectiveness of many artistic photos depend on our taking them as factual. She shows how the irony or humor of a photograph is made more profound because we regard the scene depicted as really in the world, not constructed by the photographer. She goes on to show how artistic photographs, because of their authority as photographs, often force the viewer to disambiguate complex images and thus see the world made strange. This authority also accounts for an important distinction between abstract paintings and abstract photographs. In the latter we are enticed to play a game of identifying the actual objects photographed. In a Cubist painting "the forms refer to objects … In the case of photographs, the forms are the forms of the objects before the lens" (122).

A second group of articles revolves around Roger Scruton's position. In "Photography and Representation" Scruton couples many of the same basic facts about photography that other authors accept with his own not implausible view of what an artistic representation of the world is to conclude that photographs as such can never be artistic representations: "photography is not a representational art" (139). It should be said that he is referring to a logically ideal photography, which he defines as having a purely causal and non-intentional relation to its subject. An ideal photograph of x implies that x exists and that it is, roughly, as it appears in the photograph. Yes, there is an intentional act involved in taking the photo, but it is not an essential part of the photographic relation. The appearance of the subject, therefore, is "not interesting as the realization of an intention but rather as a record of how an actual object looked" (140). Appearances in a representational painting are a different story. "The aim of painting is to give insight, and the creation of an appearance is important mainly as the expression of thought" (148). Given how they are defined, ideal photographs cannot express thoughts. He argues that "if one finds a photograph beautiful, it is because one finds something beautiful in its subject" (152). On the other hand, in so far as the photographer manipulates the image in some way, going beyond the 'ideal' photographic process, for example in a photo-montage, she becomes a painter. So, Scruton in effect presents a dilemma for anyone who would defend the possibility of photographs as art: either a given photograph is an 'ideal' photograph and hence not an artistic representation or it is in important ways not photography but a form of painting. To answer this challenge one would have to show that the photographic process involves possibilities for expression of the artist's thought and style that lie outside of Scruton's stark options.

Articles by David Davies and Patrick Maynard follow and counter Scruton's argument by going into details of photographic composition. Davies' "How Photographs Signify" takes direct aim at Scruton's argument by developing ideas drawn from Rudolph Arnheim and Cartier-Bresson. Davies shows how the geometry of a carefully composed photograph prevents the viewer from perceiving it as a "transparent window upon its subject" and instead leads her "to see the subject in a particular way." So, contra Scruton, there is a "thought embodied in perceptual form" (182-183). Maynard ("Scales of Space and Time in Photography") presents the most detailed analysis of the various dimensions of a photograph -- negative space, dynamics, etc. -- to argue that there are "inextricable but irreducible artistic values in snapshot art." Savedoff's sensitive discussion of various genres of art photography also provides weight to the argument against Scruton.

A third theme of the collection involves comparisons between films and still photographs. Scruton inspects film's credentials to be art in spite of its being a series of photographs (an artistic defect from his point of view). Gregory Currie ("Photography and the Power of Narrative") compares the ability of still photographs and film to support a narrative. In his second contribution to the anthology, "Landscape and Still Life," Walton investigates the differences between what can be depicted in a still picture and in a moving picture. Both Walton and Currie sketch accounts of the viewer's imaginative experience to explain the difference between what can be depicted in still and moving photographs.

Noël Carroll ("The Problem with Movie Stars") notes that movie stars often bring a persona to a movie role and that this persona is sometimes essential to our understanding of the narrative of the movie. He argues that this fact is inconsistent with standard assumptions about how we should understand fictional narratives. These assumptions dictate that extra-work information about an actor is not relevant to an understanding of the fictional world of the work. The cognitive background relevant to appreciating photographs as photographs is also explored by Dominic Lopes ("True Appreciation"). He contrasts two principles of adequate appreciation in general. One drawn from the theories of nature appreciation of Allen Carlson and Malcolm Budd requires that "an appreciation of O as a K is adequate only if O is a K" (212). One's appreciation of a whale will be inadequate if one appreciates it as a fish rather than a mammal. A different principle requires that "an appreciation of O as a K is adequate only as far as it does not depend counterfactually on any belief that is inconsistent with the truth about the nature of Ks" (213). He suggests reasons to favor the latter requirement as a general principle. However, this principle implies that our aesthetic appreciation of photographs is inadequate to the degree that we find them compelling because we have false beliefs about the accuracy with which photography records how things look.

I note in conclusion that Walden provides a thorough Introduction and an extensive Bibliography. As you would expect, there are photographs (32 of them) that illustrate the arguments. There is also a substantial Index, which is a bonus in an edited book. All in all, this is a very valuable collection that gathers together a set of articles and issues that should be of general interest to philosophers of art. As an anthology of analytic philosophy of art this collection may be most appropriate for upper-division and graduate aesthetics courses, although it would also be a provocative addition to interdisciplinary courses in photographic or film theory.

Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide a journal of nineteenth-century visual culture

Photography and the Arts: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Practices and Debates edited by Juliet Hacking and Joanne Lukitsh

Andrés Mario Zervigón Professor of the History of Photography Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Email the author: Zervigon[at]rutgers.edu

Citation: Andrés Mario Zervigón, book review of Photography and the Arts: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Practices and Debates edited by Juliet Hacking and Joanne Lukitsh, Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 22, no. 1 (Spring 2023), https://doi.org/10.29411/ncaw.2023.22.1.15 .

Juliet Hacking and Joanne Lukitsh, eds., Photography and the Arts: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Practices and Debates . London: Bloomsbury, 2020. 248 pp.; 62 b&w illus.; bibliography; index. $120 (hardcover), $32.95 (paperback) ISBN: 9781350048539 ISBN: 9781350283527

Earlier last summer in 2022, the two editors of Photography and the Arts staged a book launch at Photography Network with a provocative query: “Who’s Afraid of Art Photography?” The question, they readily admitted, recalled the postmodern critique of photography primarily waged by contributors to the journal October in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a group, these critics and academics called into question—among other things—the creative ambitions of nineteenth-century photographers. Even more pointedly, they criticized the collecting and exhibition prerogatives of contemporary curators who championed such aspirations or perceived them in purely functional photography. Aesthetics in the medium’s first century, the October -based authors maintained, had to be understood as an archaic relic of modernist aesthetic conventions that the same postmodern intervention sought to debunk. Since then, discussions of ambitious art practices in nineteenth-century photography (or the conjuring of their presence) have appeared suspect at best, if not outright retrograde in our current historiographical context that still trades heavily in the currency of vernacular photography with all its quotidian patina. Why turn our attention to elite images when they represent only a fraction of the photographs produced and consumed in the medium’s early decades? Is not such a focus itself elitist and shortsighted? As editors Juliet Hacking (Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London) and Joanne Lukitsh (Massachusetts College of Art and Design) suggested at their launch, scholars and critics have grown fearful of early art photography as a subject of study, even if for legitimate reasons.

Their response to such trepidation is to broaden the category of art photography to the more capacious rubric of ambitious photography and suggest, in turn, that there’s a great deal more at stake in such images than their pleasing or sublime aesthetics may imply. As the editors and their contributors demonstrate, some of the most profound debates on the medium in the nineteenth century circled around enterprising image makers, generating photographic discourses and bracing pictures that tell us much more about their moment than we would know if we did not take such practices seriously and understand them on their own aesthetic terms. The editors and their contributors do just this in a useful historiographical introduction and twelve chapters. The reader comes away from the texts with a number of useful insights. Images and—more specifically—objects presented through the category of art did not just make beauty and philosophy possible in a medium closely associated with the mechanical and the functional. They also enabled several seemingly unrelated discourses to enter visual cultures under the cover of elegant art. In the images under scrutiny, such rubrics perform the work of dehumanization, colonialism, and nationalism, while others serve to promote new technologies and related reproductive media. Beauty, in other words, often served—intentionally or not—as a fig leaf in photographs with other agendas seemingly well outside the realm of art. Establishing this fact, along with making fundamental additions to our historical knowledge of photography, represents the volume’s primary contribution.

The introduction opens the book with a useful discussion of the state of the field, specifically as regards studies of nineteenth-century photography and the twentieth-century understandings of art that were mapped onto it retrospectively. What becomes clear in the first two pages is that Hacking and Lukitsh take the October -based critique and its postmodernist considerations seriously. As these critics from the 1970s and 1980s would advise, the editors and their contributors aim to restore the plurality of photography in the medium’s first century, making room for discussion of practical prints meant for information, documentation, evidence, illustration, and reportage, as well as those consciously presented as fine art. The diversity that the editors and their contributors navigate generally fits under a nineteenth-century rubric of “the arts,” which was far more capacious and embracing than it is for us today. The category included such things as electroplating, eclectic forms of reproduction such as plaster casting, colonial pictorial documentation, news reporting, and narration, all of which are covered in the volume. Few of these categories and the networks they generated consistently accord with the modernist photographic “way of seeing” that classic twentieth-century histories of the medium retrospectively took as their aesthetic standard for serious nineteenth-century prints. As the editors explain, the book “claims a significance for historical interactions between photography and the arts beyond matters of cultural status, judgements of quality or taxonomy” (1). What their openness to “the arts” laudably enables is a series of inter-medial investigations that show just how closely bound various forms of reproduction became once brought together over a primary objective, such as cataloging insects or building types. Teasing out the complex relationships that such investigations require constitutes a chief aim of the contributors as well, as they explore the social, political, scientific, and economic conditions that gave rise to specific bodies of photographs and the conditions through which those pictures can be understood today. The introduction brilliantly unpacks the historiographic significance of this approach for the medium’s first century.

The first section, “The Arts of Reproduction,” focuses on notions and practices of replication in which photography was embedded with other media and processes. Stephen Pinson’s “A Bug for Photography? Hippolyte Fizeau’s Photographic Engraving and Other Media of Reproduction” begins with an account of the famous French physicist’s technique for replicating and mechanically printing daguerreotypes just a few years after photography’s public introduction in 1839. In the course of his essay, Pinson unfolds the importance of reproduction as a term that Fizeau both worked with in formulating his process and used in advancing it publicly. Today we associate the word closely with photography in all its endless multiplicity. But as Pinson explains, it was part of an unstable vocabulary that had to be slowly forged and adapted from other discourses developing around electricity and entomology (among other things), and most intriguingly in the relationship of one with the other. Electroplating had become an essential part of the daguerreotype process in preparing the plate with silver, and it was key for Fizeau’s procedure as well, while reproduction seemed a fundamental term for understanding an insect’s quick course of life and the omnipresence of so many bugs. But when in 1836 gentleman scientist Andrew Crosse seemed to provoke the generation of insects with electricity, and photography years later became wrapped up in documenting these specimens, notions of reproduction became closely associated with the new medium.

In “Casting History: The Role of Photography and Plaster Casting in the Creation of a Colonial Archive,” Sarah Victoria Turner analyzes the convergence of reproductive media in the form of plaster casting and photography, particularly in colonial India. She writes of the awe that the caster and the photographer “share in the transformative ability of the reproductive process of both plaster casting and photography to turn liquid materials into solid forms that could be transported, preserved and shared well beyond the sites of their making” (33). Both media, she explains, had “rapidly expanded the European view of other cultures,” forging a “reproductive continuum” that transported Indian monuments to Britain as three-dimensional casts, photographs of the casting process, and further photographs of the resulting casts in books (35). The trace, it seems, mattered most in this sequence, not the precise medium involved in reproduction.

Joanne Lukitsh in her contribution “Modernizing the Victorian: Reading the Photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron 1886–1914” focuses on photographer Julia Margaret Cameron’s posthumous reception, and the degree to which her reemergence as an important figure was largely based on carbon prints of her work, not her original albumen prints. Yet the carbon reproductions, which Cameron herself commissioned, transformed and frequently reduced the effects of blur and exposure that the artist originally fashioned for her photographs. The result was a different understanding of her work in the late nineteenth century that attended as much to the effects of mechanical printing as to Cameron’s original camera aesthetic. Once again, as Lukitsh underscores, photography and replication cannot be considered separately as vocabularies or formal expressions. Two additional chapters discuss Cameron as well, indicating the degree to which discussion of art in photography circled around her prints.

The next section, “Photography and Aesthetics,” explores cases in which the medium takes on and transforms aesthetics associated with other media. Herta Wolf’s chapter “The Photographic and the Picturesque: The Aesthetic and Chemical Foundations of Louis Désiré Blanquart-Évrard’s Activities” accounts for the success of the famous Lille printer in publicizing his procedure for replicating and mechanically reproducing daguerreotypes and other early photographic processes. Using his procedure, Blanquart-Évrard published luxurious albums of photographs showing exotic regions and countries, but all with an eye to the expectations of the picturesque that audiences had grown accustomed to in the fine arts. Wolf argues that aesthetic idioms migrated across media in this early moment of photography and heavily determined the choice and form of images in early mass-printed volumes.

Similarly, Sean Robert Willcock in his chapter “Picturesque Conflict: Photography and the Aesthetics of Violence in the Nineteenth-Century British Empire” underscores how the picturesque as a pictorial approach could transform the world with all its complexity into a picture that one appreciated for its formal qualities. The result allowed audiences to ignore any ethical concerns about motifs of decay and violence. He cites John Ruskin, who expressed just such concerns about the immorality of the picturesque at the time. Willcock concentrates on the photographic expression of this mode in the context of colonial India, for example in Felice Beato’s prints of wartime violence, the first of their sort. Under the rubric of the picturesque, which made the threat and lingering trauma of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 familiar and consumable, the photographer employed the mode for staffage, often rendered as dead bodies and enemy bones. Beato, along with Samuel Bourne and others, had learned to translate such illustration into photography and, in the process, acclimatized viewers to horrific levels of colonial and imperial violence.

In “Sun-Struck: Elizabeth Rigby (Eastlake) and the Sun’s ‘Earnest Gaze’ in Calotypes by Hill and Adamson,” Lindsay Smith analyzes the aesthetic influences that informed Lady Eastlake’s famous essay on photography. Eastlake, as Smith explains, relished Rembrandt’s painterly style, just as many others did in her time, and she prized the modernist approaches of Turner and Constable. She found such attributes in the calotypes of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, which she strongly promoted and sought to model in her own work. And most interestingly, she resisted the speed and detail of the new collodion process, preferring a long exposure over the “wink of the sun.” In such a manner, the sitter could grow into the image, much as Walter Benjamin would later say of Hill and Adamson, while the print captured “the mystery of light” typical of Rembrandt’s work. Such aesthetics, Eastlake complained, had been sacrificed for a capacity to see too much in the new photographic processes.

Patrizia Di Bello in her chapter “‘Carlyle Like a Rough Block of Michael Angelo’s’: Thinking Photography through Sculpture in Julia Margaret Cameron’s Portraits” provides an excellent analysis of the equation that Cameron made of her photos with non-finito sculpture in which the input of the artist can be discerned and appreciated. But here it is not the hand and chisel, but the hand and machine, with lens manipulation itself understood as a manual activity. Di Bello sums up her argument nicely by explaining that “Cameron’s claim to Michelangelo is asking us to understand blurred and out-of-focus prints as the actions of posing and focusing made visible, and optical or chemical glitches as the non-finito of photographic materials” (117).

Sophie Gordon’s chapter “Art, Reproduction and Reportage: Roger Fenton’s Crimean Photographs” challenges us to look beyond the famous prints themselves and toward the larger sea of reproduced images that they spawned. To make her point, Gordon provides a thorough history and contextualization of Fenton’s Crimean work, the essay’s short length notwithstanding. What one learns are the various factors that brought him to the war and that made exhibitions of his photographs popular with audiences even as the conflict unfolded. But beyond such venues, his photos were used as the basis for other pictures that spread with acclaim through the UK, including as woodblock engravings in illustrated magazines and as studies for paintings, which may have formed the original reason for his commission. Gordon sums up her argument for the multi-media intention propelling his project by explaining that “With a greater willingness to see Fenton’s Crimean photographs not just as finished works, but also as interim studies which can undergo transformation through context and reproduction, we can develop more nuanced understandings within this remarkable group of photographs” (135). Beyond this important point, her chapter astutely proposes that as contemporary knowledge of the war reached readers in the news and elsewhere, viewers could fill in Fenton’s notoriously empty and static photographs with their own visualizations of what they had understood the war to be, making a case for types of imaginative projection not often associated with nineteenth-century photography.

The association of pictorialist photography with French impressionism has regularly struck historians as a given, even if a concrete linkage has been difficult to uncover. Yet in her chapter “Impressionism in Photography,” Hope Kingsley finds in George Davison an effusive praise for the movement, and she carefully explains its effect on his most famous picture An Old Farmstead (1890), also known at the time as The Onion Field . In a particularly interesting analysis, she also unpacks Peter Henry Emerson’s critique of Davison and the differences the former perceived between overall diffuseness in his rival’s work, and the more calculated differential focus that Emerson preferred over any pictorial reference to painterly impressionism.

In her chapter “‘The Poetical Talents of our Artists’: American Narrative Daguerreotypes,” Diane Waggoner uncovers the surprising genre of storytelling in a process that otherwise seemed to lack a tradition of narrative. As she notes, we have grown accustomed to thinking of Oscar Rejlander, Henry Peach Robinson, and Julia Margaret Cameron as masters of narrative, which became a key strategy in dislodging photography from its straightforwardly factual and functional associations. Yet in the early 1850s, US photographers had already begun to master storytelling in daguerreotype. There were so many producers of such images that Waggoner can even break them down into categories. There were even competitions for such daguerreotypes, complete with awards and favorable reviews in the press. But for all such good coverage and encouragement, the narrative daguerreotype never caught on as a sustained practice in the United States and faded quickly with the greater use of glass plates, which better met North American expectations for precision. Though short lived, as Waggoner explains, narrative daguerreotypes anticipate movements in photographic art that emerged in the next decade in the UK.

Coeditor Juliet Hacking’s chapter deals most directly with contemporary debates about photography as fine art. Titled “‘Radically Vicious’: Henry Peach Robinson, Alfred Henry Wall and the Critical Reception of Composition Photography, 1859–63,” it chronicles the heated—even vicious—debate over Robinson’s approach to composing his photographs through composite negative printing. We have generally understood these parleys as having come about by the shocking revelation of the photographer’s technique. While Hacking indeed finds shrill cries of pictorial deception, she also uncovers the political and class anxieties that fundamentally roiled this discourse. Alfred Hall, a photography critic of unstable economic means and class status, essentially felt compelled to defend petit-bourgeois values of self-culturing in his grievance-addled screeds that asserted photography as an inherently truthful and edifying medium, not to be diminished by Robinson’s deceptive path toward fine art. Though Robinson would continue to make his composite prints and even publish popular literature on pictorial effects in photography, Hall’s terms of debate went on to define art photography for decades to come.

By contrast Marta Weiss explores not the debates around fine art photography but its actual status in the institutions that collected it. Her chapter “From ‘Studies from Nature’ to ‘Studies for Painting’: Julia Margaret Cameron in the South Kensington Museum” reveals that photography maintained an exceedingly slippery classification in one of the country’s most energetic stockpilers of the medium’s prints. Cameron’s work, the chapter’s primary example, was collected on varying terms, sometimes for a picture’s value as a study for painters, at other times as a record of the famous sitter depicted, or both, thereby demonstrating the then “dual capacity of photography to record likeness and evoke the imaginary” (196). But they were rarely acquired as free-standing pieces of fine art. With the aid of Alfred Hall’s criticism, which makes another appearance in the volume, Weiss shows that photography’s status as art was still in flux and hard to pin down, with Cameron herself suggesting in a different exhibition that her images might serve useful study purposes for artists. Though Rosalind Krauss long ago admonished us not to evaluate photographs as art when their original purpose was entirely different, Weiss underscores that even in their own time, the value of such works remained surprisingly multivalent.

The book supports its studies with a reasonable number of well-chosen illustrations and a logical layout of chapters and sections that makes the reading easy. The only serious flaw in the publication is its exceedingly small typeface, which may require a good pair of reading glasses or even a loupe for readers who lack perfect vision. Strangely, the extended quotations feature larger and darker text, which would have been perfect for the book as a whole. Also on the production side, the first pages of this reviewer’s edition are already slipping out of their binding. The editors likely had little say in such matters. One might encourage Bloomsbury to make its publications more user friendly and long-lasting.

During the summer book launch, Douglas Nickel suggested that the editors and their contributors had tried to decouple art from aesthetics and thereby dismantle the reductive binary between functional and non-functional photography that has dominated, up until now, our histories of the medium in the nineteenth century. Many of the chapters indeed make this effort. But the volume as a whole shows how the category of art, freighted with multiple associations and taken quite seriously at the time, propelled the force of aesthetics in photography to shape meaning across multiple fields of knowledge. The arts, as well as politics, colonialism, class tensions, and gender issues, in addition to the more predictable inheritance of the painterly, sculptural, and print arts, all entered the weave of photography’s nineteenth-century fabric under the banner of ambitious photographic image making.

ESSAY SAUCE

FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY

• Photography and arts essays

Our photography and arts essays cover a broad range of topics, spanning arts and visual culture, art histories, the classical world, theatre, creative writing, photographic fine art practice and more.

Film making became an art form, rather than a science.

Ever since the invention of the camera and the discovery of image capture, society has found many uses for photography. As are most new inventions, the camera was tried and tested in labs and went through countless experiments before becoming commercially available. However, this didn’t stop people and companies attempting to perfect their own. In … Read more

Changing attitudes towards fashion

Fashion itself is a continuously changing industry, therefore attitudes towards the industry and what the industry creates is also a developing notion. The incorporation of contemporary designs from the Met Gala, Prada, Gucci, Balenciaga and Moschino and the proliferation of camp, ugliness as exciting, the celebration of so-called ‘bad taste’ and the ‘trickle-across and bubble-up … Read more

History of colour in film

Films have been used to create a visual representation of a variety of alternative realities. The way in which they persuade the audience of this is through a multitude of methods such as setting, lighting, sound, colour and more. This essay will delve into the history of colour and discovering what developments have been made … Read more

How can we distinguish between good and bad interpretation?

Interpretation is an important mechanism to help us have a better understanding of a knowledge ground. Most of the time it is triggered by our senses. A simple example that I had is when I first listened to Any Song by Zico. The song appealed with such an addicting and joyful melody that made me … Read more

Theatre, Environmental Change, and Lac / Athabasca

“Theatre is able to tell stories that help enact social change…The aim of theatre is for the audience to leave a show feeling moved and then inspired to incorporate the moral into their own lives. Theatre is a gateway to understanding imperative topics by being put into the experience.” (Labaziewicz) Theatre and its ability to … Read more

Human Forms and the Surrealist landscapes

Chapter 1: Introduction – The History of Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement originated by the poet Andre Breton, who was at first part of the Dada group but then went to initiate Surrealism in Paris in 1924. He defined Surrealism as a `Psychic automatism in its pure state’, in other words it means to … Read more

Analysis of 5 paintings

Artists use different mediums to visually represent different messages to viewers. While there is a multitude of techniques, all artists aim to convey a particular conceptual image through their creations. The Metropolitan Museum of Art possesses one of the most incredible art collections the world. Visitors may experience a large variety of art, in different … Read more

Art from the Nuestras Historias exhibit

The Nuestras Historias exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art is filled with stories of Mexican identity from the Permanent Collection Gallery. This exhibit contains the work of many artists who have various backgrounds, which is one reason why this is such a diverse collection. The exhibit contains many sculptures and paintings, but one … Read more

Stephen Reilly’s Unconquered Statue and the Korean War Memorial

My dissertation explores the artistic elements of Stephen Reilly’s Unconquered Statue located at Landis Green directly adjacent to the southern entrance of Doak Campbell Stadium and Tallahassee’s Korean War Memorial designed by Shawn Bliss and erected in 1999. The Korean War Memorial at Cascades Park is the local monument presents captivating formal elements of the … Read more

The Land Beneath Us

During the mid-nineteenth century, Earthworks, or land art, started to arise as a new art movement. Many Earthworks artists were “seeking ‘a world outside of cultural confinement’” (1. Doss, American Art of the 20th-21st Centuries, 198.).  During the 60s, much of the United States was under very conflicting times starting with Kennedy and space programs … Read more

An analysis of Baroque Art

The Baroque can be considered as era that consisted of a complex proliferation of ideas and methods that were made possible through rich economic and cultural exchange(). Its origins can be identified in the 16th century as a shift away Mannerisms overly complicated and excessive style, to an emphasis on clarity of narrative, emotional charge, … Read more

The legend of Hercules

Ancient Greek as well as Roman mythologies are known to be polytheistic religions which emerged in Western Europe many years ago. Both of the cultures believe in the same gods as well as demigods, also known as half-gods; however they have different names to designate them. Perhaps the most famous demigod known most notably for … Read more

How has demand in the performing arts sector been analyzed?

Introduction When talking about performing arts, it feels almost compulsory to begin with Baumol and Bowen (1966), who introduced the theory and empirical framework for conducting research in performing arts sector. Costs disease, the gap between the increase in spending of artistic organizations in public performing arts and low increase of labor productivity sector was … Read more

Reflection on journey as illustrator (including SWOT)

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‘The Last Judgement’ by John Martin

‘The Last Judgement’ was painted in 1853 by John Martin. It is oil on canvas and has the measurements, including the frame, of 240 x 368.5 x 17.5cm. The painting is part of a triptych, including ‘The Great Day of His Wrath’ and ‘The Plains of Heaven’. It is held at the Tate Britain in … Read more

How to write a photography essay

Photography is the capture of an image, motion or expression and making it visible or permanent by chemical treatment, in short digital storage.

When taking photography as a major in school and when writing a photography essay you first of all come up with a strong thesis on your essay conveying your exact position and setting out the tone of your essay.

This thesis will be the basis of your whole essay as you expound on it throughout your paragraphs.

Understanding  how to write a photography essay  is something that a lot of photographers do not get used to. When you are asked to write your own essay you are mainly asked to:

• Alternatively, whatever type of shot the photographer used, did it serve its purpose? If you were given that tenor of job would you use the same technique? If yes why? No why? And support your answers.
• By use of this black and white technique, did the commercial shot appeal enough to the intended target group by the company? Give your opinion on this technique and use in the caption, how and why you would or would not use it and back up your opinions.
• The origin of photography and impact on culture. Focus on the photography industry has continually advanced throughout the years and how these changes have either eased or complicated photography. Here you generally give an outlook opinion on the general use of photography but still basing your ideas on the same caption under study.

Black and white technique, how it gradually came to change with the introduction and use of colour technique between the 1930s to the 1960s, how and why it has become more effective in the 20th century.

The precise use of black and white in photography is to give your caption an artistic edge, was it a good decision on this specific caption? Did it give this artistic effect? What is your personal view on the use of this effect as compared to the more popular color?

When learning how to write a photography essay you must keep the above pointers in mind. Keeping those in mind and a thesis in hand, you can now decide on what angle to tackle your essay be it exploratory, argumentative or a compare and contrast piece:

• Compare and contrast essay  – here you focus and use two different captions of the same photographer using different techniques, citing their effects, their general outlook ,how the different techniques used in the captions serve their purpose, back up your ideas, support or disagree to the choice of techniques used citing how and why they were the best choice or not.
• Exploratory essay  – here you try linking your personal opinion, use of the technique of the caption, its effect in earlier and modern times, its effectiveness in its intended purpose i.e. artistic or commercial. Basically base your essay on a conversational tone as if to invite the readers to join in and give their own opinions.
• Argumentative essay  – here your main focus will be based on the already made critics or opinions on the caption by other people i.e. renown photographers in the photography industry. It’s also good to have in mind you will have to use facts, analysis and other evidences to cement you thesis and still persuade the reader to agree to your idea.

Throughout the essay you will provide references to back up your angle of study in your essay and in case of any questions sprouting up in your essay you must provide answers.

Conclude your essay by summing up all your points supporting your main thesis as stated throughout the essay to satisfaction and proof read your work.

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Essay About Photography As An Art

Today, our team of paid essay writers want to talk about photography. In our times, there are endless debates about whether we can consider a photography as an art, or it is only the source of its achievement, all the same as, for example, canvas and paint? You can create real works of art with them, but it is likely possible to “build” the business. After all, photographer in modern world in not only the creative person, but also a kind of businessperson. It cannot be any grand event possible without high-quality photo session. Photography is in demand and brings good income. However, everyone, who loves photography and admires the masterpieces of professionals, himself creates qualitative unique works and does not set for himself the goal to sell his creation. The answer is obvious: photography is an art. We will discern formation of photography and aspects of photography, on which we can consider it as an art in essay about photography.

In order to confidently talk about whether the photography is art, we need to figure out, what photography and art are. Can they co-exist? Alternatively, is this a “whole” being? In order to do this, we should look back and look for answers in the pages of the photography’s history.

Formation Of Photography

The desire to preserve the beauty of the fleeing life has created an amazing form of art – photo. The history of photography - is an exciting history of the origin and the realization of the dreams of fixing and long-term preservation of images, which surround us, and the phenomena of objects. It is one of the brightest and most stormy phases of the development of modern information technology. Only hinsighting on the past of photography, we can estimate the enormous impact, which it has had on the development of modern culture, science and technology. The history of photography, unlike studies in other types of arts with a long tradition, began to develop only in last time, precisely in the postwar years. At this time books, which were dedicated to photographic art, were published in many countries. Of course, research in this area lagged behind the genres of photographic art. That happened because of many aspects:

•        the lack of a large number of museums, archives, collectors;

•        fragility of the negatives and paper prints of the time.

Photographic art as the number of shots and speed of playback were questioned under the doubt. Indeed, it took little time on photo work in contrast to the paintings, which were painted over the years. We will look in chronological order the history of photography in photography essay.

I would like to point out a few facts, without which the photography would not be at all.

Technique allowed getting image. It was important to fix it without the participation of drafter.

It was done for the first time only in the XIX century. The Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce began to cover the metal plates with bituminous varnish. Varnish became insoluble under the influence of light but in different areas in varying degrees, depending on the brightness.  Engraved relief arose on the plate after the treatment of it with a solvent and acid etching.

 The invention of Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. Image (daguerreotype) was got on a silver plate, treated with iodine vapor. Plate was manifested after exposure for 3-4 hours in mercury vapor and fixed in hot solute of salt or hyposulfite. Daguerreotypes differed with very high quality of images, but it was possible to get only one shot.

The third man, who stood at the origins of photography, was an Englishman, William Henry Talbot. He made shots on paper impregnated with salts of silver. Talbot printed the resulted negative image with the help of contact method and magnification.  Inventor named his own creation as “calotypy” (from the Greek “wonderful imprint”). The main advantage of calotypy is to obtain multiple copies of the same image.

One of the central problems in the identification of any form of art is a problem of his tongue. Analyzing the history of photography’s individual language, we should identify several periods of its development. Initially photographers preferred to shoot nature and environment, for example rivers, forests and various buildings.  This first period began in 1839 and remained as the main little more than a decade. The second period is linked with appearance of new photo technology, which managed to reduce exposure tens of minutes to seconds and expand at the same time opportunities of reflection all wider range of reality’s objects. Photographers seeked to make all environment as an object of shooting. The naturalness and ingenuousness created freshness of perception and fascinated by its simplicity. In the late 19th - early 20th century new method in photography was developed. It got name pictorialism. Artists, which preferred wealth of tones to disharmony and representation, made an attempt of pictorialism’s overcome. Now, we should discuss about the main aspects of photography in this history of photography essay.

Aspects of Photography As Key Factors Of Photographic Art

During the birth of photography the opinion in the aesthetics prevailed, that only man-made product can be considered as art. The image of reality, which was obtained with the help of technical physical and chemical methods, could not even pretend for such status. Although first photographers, which gravitated to the artistry of images, showed considerable compositional ingenuity in image of reality, photography did not fit into the system of social values and priorities for a long time.

In the first years after its appearance, the public opinion and experts attributed photography from different fields of culture to the number of funny things. Photography of that period did not have any documentary or informational content or freedom of lighting solutions ad findings. It had none of the features that theory today considers as defining for photography. Photography has following aspects, which show that it is some kind of art:

•        documentalism;

•        photojournalism;

•        selection of color, art style, figurative language, genre;

•        presence of talented photographer-artist;

•        availability of critics.

Looking at the photography from the artistic side, you need to stay on its documentary nature . Photography includes in itself figurative portrait of the contemporary and momentary press photos (the document) and photo reports. Of course, you cannot demand high art from service information shot. However, you cannot see only video information and photo document in every highly artistic work. Documentary , authenticity and reality are important in photography. We can make such decision thanks to one of photography essays. The cause of photography’s global influence on modern culture is in this root feature. Other values of photography, its features and its importance for culture in general crystallize in comparison of photography and individual arts. Documentalism is the quality, which first penetrated into the art culture with the appearance of photography.

Photojournalism has its roots with documentary, which is common feature of photographic art. However, this property is used differently, depending on the task. In those cases, when it comes to photo chronicle - fair, exhaustive, precise information about event – personality of author’s shot is not seen. It is entirely subordinated to the fact’s fixation and limiting reliability of its display. Another thing is photopublicism. Here, the photographer also has to do some business with facts of reality. However, their supply is fundamentally in author’s vision. They are painted by the personal assessment of the author.

Some aspects of photography as a form of art are manifested in the choice of color, artistic style, genre, visual language . Color is one of the most important components of contemporary photography. The aim of origination was in marking certain shape of objects through common photography. Color makes photo image to look more authentic. The art style is a particular problem in the theory and practice of photography. It is easily to see as the presence and absence of art style in photography. Naturalistic and documentally captured image will show all little things and details, which are included in the space of lens. Nevertheless, it will be unorganized chaos of vision. If you make a shot at the angle of the author’s vision and artistically, you can get a completely different work.

Art of photography requires a photographer-artist . He needs careful selectivity and special personal “vision”, which allows distinguishing worthy of attention from the outside, casual, part-time. Not every captured image becomes a work of art and obviously not every film gives good photocomposition. Just as an artist constantly makes sketches, photographer trains his eye and his photo vision of the world.

Criticism plays an important role in the development of photographical art, including the theoretical and critical thinking of photographers themselves . Criticism and theory under the condition of credibility and competence may stop amateurish disputes, which disturb and distract photographers and spectators. Taking into account the different aspects of photographical art, we can formulate its essence, try to define art of photography. Art of photography is the creation of visual image of documentary value, artistically expressive and reliably imprinted in the frozen image important moment of reality with the help of chemical and technical means. Art of photography is obviously hard work. You can read about this concept of work in essay on hard work .

To sum up in one of essays on photography, I want to say that question about whether photography is art or not, is hard to answer. It is similar to the meaning of humanity’s existence. Some people think that good photography, which is not made by you, is art. However, not every work, which you like, can be considered as art, and not every art must be loved. Good and evil are linked and should equally fill the art.

You should certainly use our services . We offer qualitative help in writing of your any assignment and grading any of them. Do be afraid to ask us for help.

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228 episodes

Join *Detlef Schlich* , a visionary visual artist and ritual designer, as he navigates the complex intersections of art, science, and human consciousness. Based in West Cork and celebrated for his essays on shamanism, art, and digital culture, Detlef uses his expertise in performance, photography, painting, sound, installations, and film to explore creative processes with a diverse array of guests. *ArTEEtude* now expands its exploration to include art history and the scientific disciplines that touch upon art, such as psychology and neuroscience, bringing a deeper understanding of how art impacts and reflects our cognitive functions. Episodes also delve into a wider range of musical expressions, connecting melodies to the creative spirit. Each week, we not only promote and explore groundbreaking works but also engage directly with our listeners through *Q&A sessions* , where curiosity leads the dialogue. We dissect philosophical quirks, celebrate the minute yet significant details of the artistic endeavor, and connect deeply with the rhythms that drive creativity. In an era dominated by brief digital interactions, *ArTEEtude* offers an intimate portal to the vast ocean of the creative mind, inviting listeners to a journey where art meets science, and questions find answers. Join us as we uncover the layers of creativity and thought that define and sustain the artistic community. ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ArTEEtude: Unveiling the Spectrum of Art and Mind. West Cork´s Art and Culture Podcast by Detlef Schlich‪.‬ Detlef Schlich

• 5.0 • 2 Ratings
• MAY 5, 2024

#ArTEEtude 228: Detlef Schlich explains the cultural significance and transformative power of ritual art across civilizations.

🎧 Dive into ArTEEtude Podcast Episode 228: Explore how ritual art shapes our cultural identity and personal expression. Link in bio! 🌐👆 #ArTEEtudePodcast🔥 Inspired by the incredible works of Detlef Schlich and the late Corina Thornton, this episode is a journey through time and art. #RitualArt #ArtHistoryFollow the links below to see some cherished moments with Corina.World Saving: Art - A Social Performance by Detlef Schlich and Friends 2012/13https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4nCQpskf2c&t=38sCamera: Owen Kelly, Alex Reissdorfer, Mick EileThe Magic Forest Keeper: Thomas WiegandtThe firestarter: Pim WijnmaalenThe colour thrower: Corina ThorntonThe drag queens: Suzanne, David and JensThe instinctor: Detlef SchlichDetlef Schlich & Corina Thornton in a visual essay about the human condition in times of transhumanism.The Last Human - Part 2 - Transcending Realityhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL8pa-wL27Y The Last Human - Part 3 - Mystical Engineershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQM9iJ85QcM ‘Transodin's Tragedy' is a Film installation/artistic performance, exploring the emerging phenomenon of transhumanism in our digital age. Transodin represents a mythical character and a contemporary manifestation of transhumanism. He embodies the symbiotic relationship between human experience and technology. Boundaries between human beings and technology are lost in the 21. Century. Transodin's journey invites you to explore this fatalistic relationship in which humans are losing their spirituality, this journey is a triptych, where Transodin bears witness to the birth of a Transhuman. Transodin – Detlef Schlich The first Transhuman - Corina Thornton Transodin´s Tragedy Part II - The Fall of Humanismhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnX9LZOwKnc Transodin´s Tragedy Part III - The Acceptance of Fatalismhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvdZqjkxjxE WEBSITE LINKS Detlef SchlichInstagram Detlef Schlich ArTEEtude I love West Cork Artists Facebook Detlef Schlich I love West Cork Artists Group ArTEEtude YouTube Channels visual Podcast ArTEEtude Cute Alien TV official Website ArTEEtude Detlef Schlich Det Design Tribal Loop Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations

• APR 28, 2024

#Arteetude 227: 🌟 "Shared Visions, Enduring Memories: My Creative Journey with Corina Thornton" 🌟

In this week's episode of "ArTEEtude," titled "Shared Visions, Enduring Memories: My Creative Journey with Corina Thornton," I open up about the irreplaceable loss of my dear friend and collaborator, Corina. We've shared countless moments where her vision and passion for art profoundly influenced not just the works we created but also enriched my personal life and perspective. R.I.P.Corina. Up to the Sky. Up into the Universe! Corina was not just a fellow artist; she was a beacon of inspiration in our community, always pushing the boundaries of creativity and companionship. I've poured my heart into this episode, sharing stories that I hold dear, and celebrating the legacy of a remarkable soul whose life was a testament to the transformative power of art. Follow the links below to see some cherished moments with Corina.World Saving: Art - A Social Performance by Detlef Schlich and Friends 2012/13https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4nCQpskf2c&t=38sCamera: Owen Kelly, Alex Reissdorfer, Mick EileThe Magic Forest Keeper: Thomas WiegandtThe firestarter: Pim WijnmaalenThe colour thrower: Corina ThorntonThe drag queens: Suzanne, David and JensThe instinctor: Detlef SchlichDetlef Schlich & Corina Thornton in a visual essay about the human condition in times of transhumanism.The Last Human - Part 2 - Transcending Realityhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL8pa-wL27Y The Last Human - Part 3 - Mystical Engineershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQM9iJ85QcM ‘Transodin's Tragedy' is a Film installation/artistic performance, exploring the emerging phenomenon of transhumanism in our digital age. Transodin represents a mythical character and a contemporary manifestation of transhumanism. He embodies the symbiotic relationship between human experience and technology. Boundaries between human beings and technology are lost in the 21. Century. Transodin's journey invites you to explore this fatalistic relationship in which humans are losing their spirituality, this journey is a triptych, where Transodin bears witness to the birth of a Transhuman. Transodin – Detlef Schlich The first Transhuman - Corina Thornton Transodin´s Tragedy Part II - The Fall of Humanismhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnX9LZOwKnc Transodin´s Tragedy Part III - The Acceptance of Fatalismhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvdZqjkxjxE WEBSITE LINKS Detlef SchlichInstagram Detlef Schlich ArTEEtude I love West Cork Artists Facebook Detlef Schlich I love West Cork Artists Group ArTEEtude YouTube Channels visual Podcast ArTEEtude Cute Alien TV official Website ArTEEtude Detlef Schlich Det Design Tribal Loop Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations

• APR 21, 2024

#Arteetude 226: Detlef Schlich explores how art offers a refuge and acts as a powerful conduit for expressing and processing our deepest emotions.

In this week’s episode of ArTEEtude, join Detlef Schlich as he delves into a deeply personal topic: finding solace in art during times of personal turmoil. Episode 226 explores how art offers a refuge and acts as a powerful conduit for expressing and processing our deepest emotions. From poignant stories to practical tips on engaging with art for emotional healing, this episode is a heart-to-heart on the transformative power of creativity. Tune in to reflect, heal, and connect through art. Link in bio! 🌐 #ArTEEtudePodcast #ArtHeals #CreativeJourney #PodcastLife🎨 Calling all artists and art lovers! Have you ever found comfort in creativity during challenging times? Share your stories and how art has been a sanctuary for you. Let’s inspire and support each other in our creative journeys! 🖌️👩‍🎨 #ArtCommunity #CreativeHealing #ArTEEtudeDetlef Schlich is a podcaster, visual artist, filmmaker, ritual designer, and media archaeologist based in West Cork. He is recognized for his seminal work, including a scholarly examination of the intersections between shamanism, art, and digital culture, as well as his acclaimed video installation, Transodin's Tragedy. He primarily works in performance, photography, painting, sound, installations, and film. In his work, he reflects on the human condition and uses the digital shaman's methodology as an alter ego to create artwork. His media archaeology is a conceptual and practical exercise in uncovering the unique aesthetic, cultural and political aspects of media in culture. WEBSITE LINKS Detlef SchlichInstagram Detlef Schlich ArTEEtude I love West Cork Artists Facebook Detlef Schlich I love West Cork Artists Group ArTEEtude YouTube Channels visual Podcast ArTEEtude Cute Alien TV official Website ArTEEtude Detlef Schlich Det Design Tribal Loop Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations

• APR 14, 2024

#Arteetude 225: Detlef Schlich continues engaging with Julia Melzer and delves deeper into Julia's experiences with sobriety, her vibrant life on tour, and the broader implications of punk rock as both a music genre and a cultural movement. At the end w

In episode 225 of the ArTEEtude podcast, Detlef Schlich continues engaging with Julia Melzer, building on the themes introduced in the previous episode. This instalment delves deeper into Julia's experiences with sobriety, her vibrant life on tour, and the broader implications of punk rock as both a music genre and a cultural movement. Julia shares anecdotes from her recent tours in England and Germany, highlighting the camaraderie and challenges of touring with her band, Erection, in their beloved band bus, VALVY. She reflects on the unique energy of performing sober on stage, emphasizing the heightened connection to music and the audience this brings. The discussion then shifts to the punk rock scene's evolution and its enduring spirit in England. Julia and Detlef explore punk's role in fostering social commentary and activism, particularly within the feminist movement. They discuss how punk influences contemporary culture, touching upon its impact on fashion, attitude, and art beyond music. Listeners are treated to insights into Julia's personal inspirations and the significance of punk rock in expressing social and political themes through her music. The episode closes with listener questions, offering Julia's perspectives on the differences between the punk scenes in Germany and England, the impact of punk on the younger generation, and the fusion of punk ethos with personal and musical identity. Linktree Julia Melzerhttps://linktr.ee/Erection.band?fbclid=IwAR1rLm9fJNJ7m18BGuKy7s6cdqzf70CtOB2uGOe5GYw7rtlLT1KZVbs_Gjw Julia MelzerFacebook https://www.facebook.com/julia.s.melzer Instagram https://www.instagram.com/erection_band Detlef Schlich is a podcaster, visual artist, filmmaker, ritual designer, and media archaeologist based in West Cork. He is recognized for his seminal work, including a scholarly examination of the intersections between shamanism, art, and digital culture, as well as his acclaimed video installation, Transodin's Tragedy. He primarily works in performance, photography, painting, sound, installations, and film. In his work, he reflects on the human condition and uses the digital shaman's methodology as an alter ego to create artwork. His media archaeology is a conceptual and practical exercise in uncovering the unique aesthetic, cultural and political aspects of media in culture. WEBSITE LINKS Detlef SchlichInstagram Detlef Schlich ArTEEtude I love West Cork Artists Facebook Detlef Schlich I love West Cork Artists Group ArTEEtude YouTube Channels visual Podcast ArTEEtude Cute Alien TV official Website ArTEEtude Detlef Schlich Det Design Tribal Loop Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations

• APR 7, 2024

#Arteetude 224: Detlef Schlich engages in a captivating conversation with the return guest, Julia Melzer, an energetic singer in the punk rock band, shares insights into her journey and her personal and creative growth. At the end we listen to a song by

In episode 224 of the ArTEEtude podcast, host Detlef Schlich engages in a captivating conversation with the return guest, Julia Melser. Julia, an energetic singer in the punk rock band called Erection, shares insights into her journey, reflecting on the fast pace of life, the impact of aging on perception of time, and her personal and creative growth. The discussion delves into Julia's experiences with ADHD, her remarkable achievement of over 660 days of sobriety, and the therapeutic nature of songwriting during emotional highs and lows. Her music, influenced by the '80s punk scene, serves as a medium for expressing darker themes and personal struggles, offering a form of self-therapy. Julia also discusses her involvement in education, working with immigrant children aged 13 to 15, helping them integrate and learn the German language. This role highlights her commitment to social issues and her desire to make a positive impact on the world. The episode touches on the challenges of staying sober in the punk scene, the transformative power of music, and the unique energy and connection Julia feels while performing without the influence of alcohol. The conversation concludes with plans for a follow-up episode to address listener questions and continue exploring Julia's multifaceted life and career. Linktree Julia Melzerhttps://linktr.ee/Erection.band?fbclid=IwAR1rLm9fJNJ7m18BGuKy7s6cdqzf70CtOB2uGOe5GYw7rtlLT1KZVbs_Gjw Julia MelzerFacebook https://www.facebook.com/julia.s.melzer Instagram https://www.instagram.com/erection_band Detlef Schlich is a podcaster, visual artist, filmmaker, ritual designer, and media archaeologist based in West Cork. He is recognized for his seminal work, including a scholarly examination of the intersections between shamanism, art, and digital culture, as well as his acclaimed video installation, Transodin's Tragedy. He primarily works in performance, photography, painting, sound, installations, and film. In his work, he reflects on the human condition and uses the digital shaman's methodology as an alter ego to create artwork. His media archaeology is a conceptual and practical exercise in uncovering the unique aesthetic, cultural and political aspects of media in culture.WEBSITE LINKS Detlef SchlichInstagram Detlef Schlich ArTEEtude I love West Cork Artists Facebook Detlef Schlich I love West Cork Artists Group ArTEEtude YouTube Channels visual Podcast ArTEEtude Cute Alien TV official Website ArTEEtude Detlef Schlich Det Design Tribal Loop Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations

• MAR 31, 2024

#Arteetude Episode 223: Detlef Schlich engages in a vibrant Q&A session, addressing listener questions on the transformative role of technology in art and creativity.

In the latest episode of 'ArTEEtude,' host Detlef Schlich engages in a vibrant Q&A session, addressing listener questions on the transformative role of technology in art and creativity. From the tactile charm of traditional mediums to the boundless possibilities of digital innovation, Episode 223 explores the intersections that are shaping the future of artistic expression. This discussion underscores the importance of dialogue in understanding the evolving landscape of art in the digital age. We invite professionals, artists, and thinkers to listen and contribute their insights. How do you see digital transformation influencing creativity in your field? Join us for Episode 223 of 'ArTEEtude' for a deep dive into these compelling themes. #ArTEEtude #DigitalTransformation #CreativeIndustries #ArtAndTechnology #ProfessionalDialogue #InnovationInArt Detlef Schlich is a podcaster, visual artist, filmmaker, ritual designer, and media archaeologist based in West Cork. He is recognized for his seminal work, including a scholarly examination of the intersections between shamanism, art, and digital culture, as well as his acclaimed video installation, Transodin's Tragedy. He primarily works in performance, photography, painting, sound, installations, and film. In his work, he reflects on the human condition and uses the digital shaman's methodology as an alter ego to create artwork. His media archaeology is a conceptual and practical exercise in uncovering the unique aesthetic, cultural and political aspects of media in culture. WEBSITE LINKS Detlef SchlichInstagram Detlef Schlich ArTEEtude I love West Cork Artists Facebook Detlef Schlich I love West Cork Artists Group ArTEEtude YouTube Channels visual Podcast ArTEEtude Cute Alien TV official Website ArTEEtude Detlef Schlich Det Design Tribal Loop Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations

• All rights reserved by Detlef Schlich ©2020

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Book review Ordinary Things Will Be Signs For Us Bustling around 1960s Los Angeles, a new publication explores the world of Corita Kent—also known as the ‘Pop Art Nun’—animating her unique approach to art education through a lesser known aspect of her work: photography. Photographs by Corita Kent Essay by Sophie Wright

“Everything is a source.” Tucked below a spattering of commanding signs—shouting “FULL,” “STOP,” “Take it easy”—is one of the first gems of wisdom to be found between the covers of Ordinary Things Will Be Signs For Us . The words are spoken by Corita Kent, an artist, designer and educator whose infinite curiosity for her surroundings and resourceful approach to creativity made her a much-loved figure in the Los Angeles community she was active in during the 1960s and beyond.

Also known as Sister Mary Corita, and later dubbed the ‘Pop Art Nun’ by the press for her bright and bold screen prints, Corita led the art department at Immaculate Heart College before leaving the order in 1968. Against the shifting social landscape of the 1960s, the college gained notoriety as a hub of radical education and progressive ideas under her care. Art was not relegated to the classroom; it was to be found in the gas stations, grocery stores and grimy streets, accessible to all. Rooted in the times she lived in, her approach was happily entangled with the visual language of consumer culture, her many exercises aimed at deconstructing it into something new that spoke loudly for love, justice and peace.

From the students who knew her to important figures of the Californian avant garde art scene to those who learnt to live and make by her playful rules through her art, Corita’s legacy shapes the hearts and minds of those who encounter it to this day. The spirit of her teachings is infectious, working like a germ of joy that spreads between people. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, you’re about to find out thanks to a new publication edited by three artists Julie Ault, Jason Fulford and Jordan Weitzman, with support from the Corita Art Center.

Ordinary Things Will Be Signs For Us animates Corita’s vision through a lesser-known facet of her work and life: photography. Between 1955 and 1968, the self-proclaimed collector racked up over 15,000 35mm slides which have recently been digitized for the first time.

For Olivian Cha, the center’s Curator and Collection Manager who contributes an essay to the book, the slides provide an intimate portal into Corita’s creative process. “There is a kind of freedom she has with her camera that is quite different from how she created and printed her serigraphs,” she says. “Photography allowed her to collect and record in abundance, with less emphasis on the final outcome or image. It was a tool for what she called ‘sorcery’—a way to see everything as a source to be reinterpreted and made into relationships and meaning.”

For Corita, photography was both a tool and a medium which means it takes on a shapeshifting role throughout the pictures in the collection. There are images used as source material for screen prints. There are photographs of students looking, learning, playing, providing important documentation of the activities of the IHC community and its events. There are portraits of LA art luminaries like Buckminster Fuller and Charles Eames that Corita invited to speak at the school. There are the photographic results of her class field trips, in which empty slide frames became “finders” used to invite people to look deeply at their surroundings.

The archive she amassed swells with a bounty of different, colorful things that defy straightforward classification. As Cha notes in the book’s essay, after the school closed and the collection was rehoused by the Arts Center in the late 90s, it was “organized according to subjects such as ‘dolls and puppets,’ ‘ideas for problems,’ ‘mad hat party,’ ‘people stamping,’ ‘photographs of sunflowers, ‘Walk in rain, etc. Where?,’ and ‘tomato, ‘hang on’—groupings likely inherited from Corita and the art department.”

For the LA launch of Corita Kent: Ordinary Things Will Be Signs For Us , Ault set herself the Corita-esque task of writing 25 things about the slide collection to share with the audience. “A brainstorm. An archeological dig. A messy chronicle. An image bouquet. A how-to-manual.” The list goes on, paying testimony to the many possibilities of the archive—as well as the challenges of paving a path through its eccentric topography.

These 15,000 images are an overwhelming ‘source’ in and of themselves; a treasure trove from which countless stories about Corita could be told. So which route does the book choose? It doesn’t! Instead, it invites us along for a ride full of digressions, opting to show rather than tell. A flow of bright images dance and sing through sixties Los Angeles, accompanied by snippets of Corita’s thoughts. Every now and then, an annotation diverts us to the index, replete with anecdotes and context on the who, what, where of some of the photos.

The beauty of this unruly guidebook through Corita’s world lies in its spirit of discovery which speaks both to its subject and the creative process of its makers. During the production of the book in 2022, Weitzman wrote in his notebook: “Feel so excited each time I open a new folder. Have the sense like there is all this gold, but still have no idea how this book will turn out. At very least hope it communicates the excitement of looking through everything, discovering this incredible world. So curious where it will go, how Jason and Julie will mold so many possibilities… There can be a thousand Coritas….”

As if the archive itself were an assignment, the trio got to work. “I think the three of us were all imagining Corita watching us, and we didn’t want to disappoint her! Julie, Jordan and I have all internalized a lot of Corita’s ideas and spirit, and we tried to channel it into the book,” Fulford adds. Together, these makers make good students. Though all masters of their crafts, in working collectively the editors opened themselves up to playing with the slide collection, letting go of whatever they individually had imagined the book to be and gradually infusing it with the main tenets of Corita’s approach to art.

“One thing that sticks out is how she talked about treating everything like an experiment,” says Weitzman. “I love how Corita aspired to be an amateur,” explains Fulford. “She said that the amateur doesn’t yet know what is not possible, so they jump into a situation with naive energy and big ideas.” Incorporating a beginner’s mind and a process of deep looking into their edit, three different sets of eyes achieved what one gaze could never.

Keeping a fresh eye and finding meaning amidst a mass of images were core objectives of many of Corita’s exercises—skills that wouldn’t go amiss in our own image-drenched era. Informed by the media landscape of Los Angeles, she encouraged a reframing of the chaos of the city into little bright and useful pieces. Nothing was deemed unworthy; a tin of tomatoes was as beautiful as a flower. Altars were erected out of cardboard, kites fashioned out of newsprint, ads repurposed as protest placards. Invitations to meditate on a Coke bottle for up to an hour helped students cultivate a devotion to the commonplace, reminding them that art was everywhere.

The power of valuing the ordinary, of seeing everything and anything as a potential artistic experience, can be felt throughout the collection’s images and the smiling, industrious faces of the people in them. When “everything is a source,” the everyday can be transfigured. Through the lens(es) of Corita and co, the urban sprawl of Los Angeles overflows with visual surprises and trash waiting to be discovered and reimagined as something else. Brimming with celebration, confetti, cookies, hearts, flowers and balloons, the pleasures of looking at the world and making things—especially collectively—trumped the importance of outcome.

This vibrates through the structure of the collection too, which places no singular value on any one set of eyes; we have no sense of who made each image and it doesn’t seem to matter. For the IHC, art seemed to be a social, collaborative event that fed back into the city that gave them so much. In one of the book’s quotes, Corita says: “We began to realize, along with everybody else, that what happened to the individual is largely what happens to the community; and if the individual is developed to her fullest extent, that can only be good for the other people that she’s working with or for.”

Introducing her students to worlds bigger than the four walls of the classroom, Corita encouraged them to connect with their own creativity but also with the struggles of the era they were living in. Flipping their source material on its head, they played hard to tickle the language of advertising out of its brash consumerist objectives, cropping and co-opting it to emit loving messages around the LA area.

In its own field trip around the slide collection, Ordinary Things Will Be Signs For Us brings to life the vibrant world contained within it, as well as introducing us to some philosophies and tools to navigate through Corita’s—and our own—world with our eyes wide open.

Corita Art Center

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The ceiling of the Altamira caves in Cantabria, Spain. Photo by Stephen Alvarez/Alvarez Photography

Why make art in the dark?

New research transports us back to the shadowy firelight of ancient caves, imagining the minds and feelings of the artist.

by Izzy Wisher   + BIO

Charcoal drawings of stags, elegantly rendered in fluid lines, emerge under my torchlight as we squeeze through a tiny hidden entrance to a small chamber deep within Las Chimeneas cave in northern Spain. The chamber has space for just a couple of people, and certainly not standing, so we crouch on the cave floor and stare in awe at the depictions. Despite their remarkable freshness, they were drawn nearly 18,000 years ago. We sit in silence for a moment, soaking in the deep history of the space and realising that our ancient ancestors must have sat in the same cramped position as us. ‘Why do you think they drew these stags here?’ Eduardo Palacio-Pérez, the conservator of the cave, asks me. ‘I really don’t think we’ll ever know for sure,’ I reply.

What we do know is that during the Upper Palaeolithic ( c 45,000-15,000 years ago), our distant ancestors ventured deep underground to make these images. In these unfamiliar environments, they produced a rich display – from unusual abstract forms to highly detailed renderings of animals – under the dim glow of firelight cast by their lamps. Naturalistic animal outlines, rows of finger-dotted marks and splatter marks preserving the shadows of ancient hands remain frozen in time within the caves, representing tens of thousands of years of people returning to the darkness to engage in art-making.

This curious, yet deeply creative, behaviour captures the imagination. Yet as Jean Clottes – a prominent Palaeolithic art researcher – succinctly put it, the key unanswered question for us all is: ‘Why did they draw in those caves?’

C ertainly, since the earliest discovery of cave art in 1868 at Altamira in Spain, thousands of academic researchers have used an arsenal of different approaches – from high-resolution 3D scanning to analogies with contemporary hunter-gatherer societies – to try to unlock the intentions of Ice Age artists. There has been no shortage of hypotheses, some more plausible than others. Since the fragmentary archaeological record cannot provide answers alone, these theories draw on ethnographic and psychological research, and suggestions have varied from the mythical and magical, the symbolic and linguistic, to the mundane.

One suggestion is that Ice Age artists were high-status shamans who performed mysterious rites in the dark. These spiritual individuals are thought to have induced trance-like states deep in the caves, either through rhythmic drumming or mind-altering drugs. Altered states of consciousness may have facilitated communicating with ancestors, experiencing otherworldly psychedelic imagery, or coaxing animals out from a spirit world beyond the rocky surfaces of deep cave environments. The shaman hypothesis draws on ethnographic accounts and has come under significant criticism both for inappropriately drawing parallels between peoples today and those who lived in the deep past, and for subsuming a huge breadth of cultural behaviours under one label: ‘shamanism’.

Flickering firelight, echoing acoustics and tactile interactions form visceral experiences for each artist

A different hypothesis is that abstract marks and ‘signs’ on cave walls were a proto-writing system or part of a widespread means of communication. These communication systems are posited to have had a plethora of different contexts of use, from marking the changing seasons to denoting group identities. On this view, caves were rich resources for understanding the surrounding environment, for recording which animals were where, when they would reproduce, and for developing awareness of the presence of other local populations of people in the area. As supporting evidence, some researchers have singled out the ethologically accurate details: the colouring of the horses depicted reflects the genetic diversity of Ice Age horses; the shaggy winter coats of animals are shown accurately; and even specific animal behaviour can be identified. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, these interpretations assume a kind of stasis to the cave art. Temporal dimensions of the art are collapsed into one system that is assumed to have persisted across thousands of years of changing climates and shifting population dynamics.

These kinds of evocative interpretations of cave art , situating it within rich cultural milieus, contrast with the view that Palaeolithic art was merely ‘art for art’s sake’. Here, the enigmatic images on cave walls are assumed to have been produced by bored hunters who spent time honing their artistic abilities to create aesthetically pleasing depictions. Abstract signs are explained neurologically as pleasing patterns: intersecting lines, for example, resonate within the visual system to stimulate aesthetic pleasure. This view casts Ice Age art-making as a practice that emerged from our ancestors’ neurology – the tendency for some shapes and patterns to be ‘pleasing’ – and held no deeper meaning to the societies that created the depictions.

More nuanced approaches to Ice Age art that, unlike the above hypotheses discussed so far, do not seek one explanation for the artist’s motivations have revealed the multisensory experiences that would have been the context in which Ice Age art was created. Flickering firelight, echoing acoustics, multigenerational engagements with artistic behaviours and tactile interactions with the rough limestone walls and smooth stalagmites coalesce to form unique, visceral experiences for each artist at a specific time in a specific place. While the actual motivations of our ancestors are locked in time, these more nuanced perspectives situate us in the deeply human experiences of the past. We can begin to understand why our ancestors may have been attracted to particular cave spaces and to the sorts of sensory experiences stimulated in these environments, particularly visual experiences.

C lose your eyes. Take a deep breath. You’re standing in a cave, tens of thousands of years ago. The damp, earthen smell mixes with the warm smoke from your firelit torch and saturates your nostrils. The muted silence is broken only by the subtle crackles of the fire and distant drips of water that echo around the space. You’re alone, but feel the presence of those who have stood in this place before you.

Open your eyes. The darkness is encompassing, and the warm glow of firelight desperately tries to illuminate the vast space around you. It is almost impossible to distinguish anything. As you gingerly move forward, feeling your way through the dark, the flickering light cast from your torch partially illuminates a peculiar formation on the cave wall.

Our vision can rarely be trusted. Far from faithfully reproducing an accurate image of the world around us, our visual system selectively focuses on important information in our environment. As you read the words in this article, your eyes are rapidly flicking between different letters, as your visual system is making educated guesses about what each of the words says. This means that lteters can appaer out of oredr, but you can still read them with relative ease. Your surroundings are not the focus of your attention right now, and your visual system is making a fundamental assumption that these surroundings will remain mostly static. In your peripheral vision, a significant amount of visual information can change without your knowledge; colours can shift, and objects themselves can completely change their form. Only movement appears to be readily detected by peripheral vision, presumably so as not to render us completely inert when danger approaches and our attention is focused elsewhere. Visual illusions play on exactly these processes, demonstrating how unfaithful our vision truly is in relaying an unbiased representation of our surroundings.

All of us have perceived twisting tree trunks in dim light as unusual creatures emerging from the darkness

The reason behind this selectivity in our visual attention is not some flaw in human evolution, but the opposite. By focusing attention and making educated guesses about missing information, we can rapidly process visual information and sharpen our gaze on only the most salient pieces of information in our visual sphere. This is intrinsically informed by our lived experience of the world. As elegantly framed by the neuropsychologist Chris Frith in his book Making Up the Mind (2007), what we perceive is ‘not the crude and ambiguous cues that impinge from the outside world onto [our] eyes and [our] ears and [our] fingers. [We] perceive something much richer – a picture that combines all these crude signals with a wealth of past experience.’

Our visual system is thus trained to become expert in certain kinds of visual information that are understood to be important to us. This visual expertise is defined as the ability to holistically process certain kinds of information, so that we identify the individual as rapidly as the group classification; for example, we can identify the identity of an individual person (‘Joolz’) as quickly as we identify that it is ‘a person’ standing in front of us. While it is often culturally determined what kinds of visual information we develop expertise in, we can also consciously develop this ability. Expert birdwatchers, for example, rapidly identify the specific species of bird as quickly as they identify that it is, indeed, a bird that they are looking at. This kind of expertise shapes how the visual system both focuses its attention and fills in the blanks when information is missing.

Pareidolia – a visual phenomenon of seeing meaningful forms in random patterns – seems to be a product of this way in which our visual system selectively focuses on certain visual information and makes assumptions when ‘completing’ the image. Pareidolia is a universal experience; all of us have looked at clouds and recognised faces and animals, or perceived gnarled, twisting tree trunks in dim light as unusual creatures emerging from the darkness. While we might think of these visual images as a mistake – we know there isn’t a large face looming down at us from the clouds – it seems to have emerged as an evolutionary advantage. By assuming that a fragmentary outline is, in fact, a predator hiding in foliage, we can react quickly and avoid a grisly death, even if said predator turns out to be an illusion caused by merely branches and leaves.

This evolutionary advantage is stimulated even further in compromised visual conditions, such as low light. Our visual system kicks into overdrive and uses what we know about the world, formed by our daily lived experience, to fill in missing information. For those of us living in highly populated, socially orientated societies, this means our experience of pareidolia often manifests as faces. We have been culturally trained to focus our visual attention primarily on facial intricacies, rapidly processing the similarities and differences in appearances, or even subtle cues that may indicate an emotional state. This lived experience of an oversaturation of facial information shapes our response to ambiguous visual information: we see faces everywhere.

If we imagine, however, that we lived in small groups within a sparsely populated landscape where our survival depended on the ability to identify, track and hunt animals, we might reasonably expect that our visual system would become attuned to certain animal forms instead. We would be visually trained to identify the partial outlines of animals hiding behind foliage or the distant, vague outlines of creatures far away in the landscape. We would even have an intimate knowledge of their behaviours, how they move through the landscape, the subtle cues of twitching ears or raised heads that indicate they might be alerted to our presence. Our Ice Age ancestors may have therefore experienced animal pareidolia to the same degree that we experience face pareidolia. Where we anthropomorphise and perceive faces, they would have zoomorphised and perceived animals.

‘I s that…?’ You begin to doubt your own eyes. A shadow flickers, drawing your attention to the movement. Cracks, fissures and undulating shapes of the cave wall start to blur in the darkness to form something familiar to your eyes. Under the firelight, it is difficult to distinguish it immediately. As it flickers in and out of view, you start to see horns formed by cracks, the subtle curvature of the wall as muscular features. A bison takes shape and emerges from the darkness.

How do these visual, sensory experiences relate to Ice Age cave art-making? This was the question that burned in my mind during my research. For some time, it has been known that the artists who created animal imagery in caves often utilised natural features, integrating cracks to represent the backs of animals or the varied topography to add a sense of three-dimensionality to their images. The first known cave-art discovery – the bison at Altamira – represents the use of undulating convexities and concavities to give dimension and form to the depictions of bison, which silently lay with their legs curled underneath their bodies on the low cave ceiling. So-called ‘masks’ from this cave and others in the region are further examples of using the natural forms of caves to produce depictions; these often take a formation that appears to be a zoomorphic head and add subtle details of the eyes and nostrils to complete the form. Similarly, subtle animal depictions emerge from natural shapes embedded in cave walls that are enhanced with a few details added by ochre-covered fingers. Thus, far from perceiving the cave wall as a blank canvas, it seems these innovative artists actively used cave features to shape and enrich their depictions.

These striking examples clearly indicate the role of pareidolia in the production of at least some cave-art depictions. The most robust theoretical discussions of the potential role of pareidolia in Ice Age art have been presented by Derek Hodgson. He suggests that the dark conditions of caves would have heightened visual responses, triggering pareidolia or more visceral visual responses such as hyper-images (think of that split second when you perceive a person standing in your room at night, before you realise it’s just your coat hanging on the back of the door). Although compelling, the inherent challenge with these interpretations is that they do not provide empirical evidence – beyond informal observations of the archaeological record – to scientifically test whether pareidolia was indeed informing the making of Ice Age art.

Some even saw the same animal in the same cracks and undulations of the cave wall as depicted by Ice Age people

I wanted to see if there was a way to empirically test whether cave environments do trigger certain visual psychological phenomena. How can we create immersive cave environments that stimulate ecologically valid responses, yet allow us to experimentally control conditions? Since bringing flaming torches into precious Ice Age cave-art sites was absolutely out of the question, virtual reality (VR) seemed to be the natural answer. By recreating the conditions in which Ice Age artists would have viewed cave walls, we could do something that has not been possible previously: see whether people today are visually drawn to the same areas of the cave walls used by ancient artists.

In a recent study published in Nature: Scientific Reports , we did exactly this. We built VR cave environments that integrated 3D models of the real cave walls from sites in northern Spain, and modified the 3D models to remove any traces of the Palaeolithic art. We modified the lighting conditions to replicate the darkness of caves, and gave participants a virtual torch that had the same properties as lighting technologies available to Ice Age artists, to illuminate their surroundings. We asked participants to view the cave walls, and gradually gave more focused questions about whether they would draw anything on the wall, where their drawings would be, and why. Using eye-tracking technology, we were also able to see where the participants were unconsciously focusing their visual attention during the experiment. We hypothesised that both the participants’ experiential responses and their unconscious eye movements would correspond to the same areas of the cave wall that Palaeolithic artists used.

‘What do you see?’ a distant voice echoes out. ‘This crack and the undulating shape of the wall… it looks like a bison, the shape of the cave wall almost completes the head and back of it,’ you reply, and stretch out your hand in the virtual space to trace the shape. Later you find out that this corresponded to the same area a Palaeolithic artist also depicted a bison, using the same natural features that drew your own visual attention.

Our results supported our hypothesis: it seems pareidolia may have played a role in the making of some of the cave-art images. Participants not only experienced pareidolia in response to the cave walls they viewed, but also had this experience in response to the same features that Ice Age artists utilised for their drawings. Some participants had potent responses, where they literally perceived certain animals as already existing on the cave wall in front of them. Others even saw the same animal in the same cracks and undulations of the cave wall as was depicted by Ice Age people – ie, they perceived a bison in the same place as a bison was drawn. Not all of the art had such a convincing relationship with pareidolia, however. In some cases, it seems that pareidolia may not have motivated the making of the art. This is supported by another study we conducted, where we suggest the degree to which pareidolia-informed cave art varied: it was part of a ‘conversation’ that occurred between the artist and the cave wall.

The deep meaning of seeing these animal forms in cave walls and ‘releasing’ them would have undoubtedly varied cross-culturally and temporally. In one instance, it may have been part of powerful rites in the dark, where elusive figures integrated this act within other cultural or cosmological rituals, witnessed by ancestral spirits and the community alike. In another, it may have been a more intimate, discreet engagement between just one individual and the cave wall; the soft whispers of fingers brushing pigment on stone to depict an animal of deep importance to them. The perspective of time may prevent us from ever distinguishing between the two, but the foundations of these actions may have been the phenomenon of pareidolia.

This has significant implications for understanding art-making – its emergence and experience – and not just within the Ice Age. The ability to draw something that exists in four dimensions (with time, expressed as the movement of an animal, representing the fourth dimension) is non-trivial; it requires the complex processing and abstraction of visual information. Pareidolia may have been the mechanism through which figurative representation emerged, scaffolding the ability to draw things two-dimensionally. By seeing hidden forms in cave walls, we learnt how forms can be represented. It may have started as adding subtle details to elucidate the form; a small smear of ochre here or there, and suddenly the animal emerges. As time passed, the potential of using pigment to produce animal representations developed, and gradually more detailed forms were produced on a greater variety of material substrates. It became engrained more and more within every culture and society on Earth, until one day a cave artist drew an animal on a smooth rock surface.

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