The Origin and Development of Photography - Essay Example

Art, the process of arranging elements aiming to appeal the senses or human emotions play an important role in the development of humanity. Art is the mode to express innovative ideas related to different spheres of human activities. Different mediums of art include sculptures, paintings, ceramics, photography, and other materials. Paintings originated before the invention of photography. The development of photography medium affected the painting medium, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. The commission of portraits dropped drastically during this time. Painters were afraid photography would replace their paintings altogether. Instead photography gave painters a new tool to use in their paintings. Painters started painting photographs. Without the invention of photography, painters would not have explored new subjects. In the end, photography impacted the painting medium negatively and positively. Art has been influenced by many themes, such as Baroque, Rocco, Classical, and so forth. Around the time photography became a staple, painting was influenced by Romanticism. Romanticism promoted Realism, which was the expression of immediate visual experience in painting. The arrival of photography unveiled a new era in painting, which deeply influenced painters in the 19th century and the 20th century. Many disagreed with the impact of this influence. Michael R. Peres criticizes that “It may seem out of place to call the last quarter of the 19th century the modern era of photography” (Peres 33). The last quarter of 19th century cannot be considered as the modern era of photography, but the age which was full of technological innovation which influenced the 19th and 20th century paintings. One of the negative impacts photography had on paintings was photos began replacing portraits. Painters like Paul Delaroche (French), feared that photography may replace painting when concerning portraits. (Delaroche) Like with his painting above of Henriette Sontag, the German opera singer, Delaroche received commissions for painting portraits. Many artists live on portrait commissions. Leonardo DaVinci took commissions for portraits. During this second Florentine period, Leonardo painted several portraits, but the only one that survives is the famous Mona Lisa (1503-06, Louvre). One of the most celebrated portraits ever painted, it is also known as La Gioconda, after the presumed name of the womans husband. Leonardo seems to have had a special affection for the picture, for he took it with him on all of his subsequent travels. (Kren and Marx) With the less time consuming photography and cheaper process, Delaroche felt that painters like him would become obsolete. Other than portrait painting, another negative impact on photography over painting is the transformation of historical painting. In the initial stages, the scope of photography over historical painting was limited, because historical painting primarily accommodated historical, biblical, or mythological themes. An example would be Michelangelo. In 1508, back in Rome, he began his most important work, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican for Julius, who, as usual, was impatient to see it finished. Dissatisfied with the normal working methods and with the abilities of the assistants he had engaged, Michelangelo determined to execute the whole of this vast work virtually alone. Working under appalling difficulties (amusingly described in one of his own poems), most of the time leaning backwards and never able to get far enough away from the ceiling to be able to see what he was doing, he completed the first half (the part nearer to the door) in 1510. The whole enormous undertaking was completed in 1512, Michelangelo being by then so practised that he was able to execute the second half more rapidly and freely…From this moment, too, dates the idea of the artist as in some sense a superhuman being, set apart from ordinary men, and for the first time it was possible to use the phrase il divino Michelangelo without seeming merely blasphemous. (Kern and Marx) Master painters had created epic historical and biblical scenes. But gradually photography replaced the prominence of painting in historical paintings, because photography was considered as the reproduction of the real image with historical value. The photograph Boulevard du Temple by Louis Daguerre is one of the best examples of the development of photography in 19th Century. (Daguerre) The visible element in this photograph is an extended view of a street with ample clarity. Battle scenes, city development (as seen above), and other historical events could now be documented in photographs. The need for historical painting as a sole means of documenting history was no longer necessary. On the other hand, photography also had a positive impact on paintings. The effect of photography over painting as technological medium of reproducing images is immense. Besides, the photographic reproductions of world renowned paintings helped the painters to reconsider the value of painting in business. The photographic reproduction of paintings in private collections attracted the public to museums. The process of preserving the images and permanently using film was invented in the latter half of 19th century. It deeply influenced the development of photography in early 20th century and its influence on arts. It is interesting to point out that famous painters did not consider photography as threat to the painting medium, but expected that photography will be helpful for the promotion of painting. For instance, painters considered photography as a reference media to correct facial expression, effect of light and movement in painting. Some painters even began to paint photographs. Photorealism became the name of photograph inspired paintings. Even today, paintings inspired by photos exist. An example is given below. This painting is There Are No Words by Denis Peterson. (Peterson) The painting above looks like a photo but is really a 16x20 acrylic and oil on canvas painting. A photo helped Peterson capture the moment and immortalize it in the form of a painting. Photos allow painters to paint from a visual source instead of memory. One positive aspect of photography’s influence on paintings is photos allow painters to capture the moment. Photography as mentioned above influenced a new painting technique called photorealism. In photorealism is defined as “Style of painting, printmaking and sculpture that originated in the USA in the mid-1960s, involving the precise reproduction of a photograph in paint or the mimicking of real objects in sculpture” (Moor and Moor). Although used during the 19th and 20th century, photorealism became big in the 1960’s. The photograph influenced photorealism in paintings, but photorealism has deeper roots. Moor and Moor explain: Photorealism has a long line of historical predecessors stretching from veristic Surrealism and 19th-century academic painting back to 17th-century Dutch painting and further to the works of Jan van Eyck. Culturally closer are pictures painted in a trompe l’oeil manner by American artists such as James Peale, John F. Peto, William Michael Harnett and later by the American Precisionists such as Charles Sheeler. The desire to document history through pictures drove artists like Jan van Eyck. Photorealism painters have the same desire. Thus paintings and photography influenced photorealism. At first the point of photorealism was to capture the moment, but in the 1960’s photorealism was influenced by pop art. Social messages began to be seen in photorealistic paintings. An example would be Peterson’s paintings of poverty in Africa. (Peterson) The social message being shown by these paintings helped shed light on various problems around the world. Photorealism allowed artists to go into dangerous parts of the world, take pictures, and then paint their paintings. If only painting, artists would not have had access to these dangerous parts of the world. The photograph allowed artists to come and go with ease without having to take months or years in a war zone. The origin of photography in 19th Century and its development in 20th Century makes clear that photography negatively and positively influenced paintings. In the initial stage, photography in 19th Century, painters feared the manipulative power of photography over history painting, portraits, and other forms of paintings. But the development of painting in the 20th century helped the painters to inculcate innovation in painting. Photorealism became popular. The need of a photo to complete a photorealistic painting has truly intertwined photos and paintings. Despite the fear that the photo would make paintings obsolete, time has proven otherwise. Paintings are still appreciated today, as they were in the past. So, the origin and development of photography in 19th and 20th centuries influenced painting immensely both positively and negatively. Works cited Daguerre, Louis. Boulevard du Temple. 22 Nov. 2009 http://signy389.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/800px-boulevard_du_temple.jpg Delaroche, Paul. Henriette Sontag. 22 Nov. 2009 http://ritratti.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/henriette-sontag/ Kren, Emil and Daniel Marx. “Leonardo DaVinci.” “Michelangelo.” 2009. Web Gallery of Art. 22 Nov. 2009 http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/m/michelan/biograph.html Moor, Angela H. and Ian L. “Moor. Photorealism.” 2009. MoMA. Peres, Michael R. The Focal encyclopedia of photography: digital imaging, theory and applications history and science. China: Focal Press, 2007. Peterson, Denis. There Are No Words. 22 Nov. 2009 http://www.denispeterson.com/photorealism.html Read More