The invention of photography has forever changed the visual side of human existence by recording in its medium images of people, cultures, habits, foods, landscapes, and life aspects in all its colours and shapes. The beginnings of the photographic technique were troubling due to its magical power to depict people and things. Remote communities even considered the photographic device an evil tool to capture someone’s ”soul” and to possess the person. Artists felt threatened by the powers of photography to reproduce a still life and a portrait like no human ever could. Scientists promoted this innovative procedure and were exhilarated by its results. Merchants speculated about the business opportunity and helped to spread and improve the technique.
GET MORE FROM LEVEL
Shortly every respectable family owned a personal photograph and proudly exhibited the picture in their houses. New artistic movements emerged due to the invention of photography. If a photograph could capture so precisely a corner from reality, why should art try to overpass that perfection? Instead, art should trigger reflection and capture not a specific image but a vibe, an atmosphere, a sensation, and movement. Impressionism…
