BLOG #3

Blog #3:
       Before the invention of the Daguerreotype, the first publicly available photography process, 1839 by Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre people were only familiar with seeing images through the medium of painting. At the end of the 19th century, photography became a worldwide phenomenon. Everyone wanted a piece of it. At first photography was merely a way to capture a moment in time taking painting to another level. People would have their photo taken because they could finally get a more realistic image of what they looked like. This realistic representation, which had previously been reserved only for people who could afford to commission a painting, was now available to many more people. Photography was also used as a big aid to painters as it allowed them an unlimited amount of time to study complex environments that they could not recreate in their studios.  
            Many artists recognized photography as an invaluable aid to help them complete their paintings. Many Naturalist artists such as Peter Henry Emerson, Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, and Jules-Alexis Muenier took photographs and then used them as a major source for their artwork. The Exhibition: Illusions of Reality: Naturalist painting, photography and cinema in Amsterdam, Holland at the Van Gogh Museum displayed many of these artists. In the exhibition twelve of Muenier’s photographs were exhibited next to one of his finished paintings and the result was that he remained faithful to his photographic studies. The paintings of this time period attempted to not only to paint realistically, but also to create images that reflected the new industrialized world. Naturalist painters wanted to capture the lives of ordinary people at a time of great cultural transformation.
            With the invention of the camera also came the fear of what that would mean for painters. Some artists like Muenier used photography as a tool to develop their artwork while others felt that this was a time for freedom within painting. Painting was no longer the best way to produce realistic images of the world. Painters began to come up with ideas for paintings that a camera couldn’t achieve. With the new medium of photography painting was changed forever. An example of this change was impressionism. These painters including Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and Claude Monte, explored emotions, light, and color. Due to the invention of the camera there was not the same demand for painters to create realistic images and actually pushed them to develop styles beyond realism in the age of the camera.
            The historical influence of photography on painting is undeniable; it both promoted further studies in naturalist painting and helped spur the movement of impressionism. Artists today continue to be divided in the use of photography in their art, but photography is so infused in our culture it is often seen as another tool in an artist’s toolbox.  




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