The Camera’s Impact on 19th Century Art

The Camera’s Impact on 19
th
Century Art

The invention of the camera in the 19th century changed the ways of the arts, breaking the rules of traditional arts and creating new branches of arts. Artists feared that photography would rob painting of its raison d’être, which helped art go forward (Nemnom, 2021). The camera’s ability to capture reality with such precision forced painters to try and abstract and feel, and take the camera’s point of view as a new perspective, resulting in movements like Impressionism.

Artists like Claude Monet were very influenced by photography and were very much an impressionist artist. Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872), reflects the fleeting moments of light and color as a camera does to freeze time. There was also a quality of spontaneity, of movement, inspired by the types of movement and acts implied by the photographic techniques. Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson states, “Photography is the simultaneous recognition in a fraction of a second of the significance of an event.” Impressionists found this idea of capturing the ‘decisive moment’ to ring true, as they wanted to capture the transient effect of light and atmosphere (Patey, 2022).

The camera also changed the subject of art (Smith et al., 2019). With no longer any realistic representation to adhere to, artists began to let go of form and perspective, breeding the way for modern art. Therefore, the camera did not replace art but opened new doors for art and its possibilities.

References

Nemnom, C. (2021). 
Losing Sight to Gain Vision: The Eye in European Surrealist Painting
 (Doctoral dissertation, Concordia University).
https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/988992/

Patey, D. L. S. (2022). Photography in the virtual (Master’s thesis).
https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/96267

Smith, M. L., Smith, L. N., & Hansen, M. F. (2021). The quiet revolution in machine vision-a state-of-the-art survey paper, including historical review, perspectives, and future directions. 
Computers in Industry
, 
130
, 103472.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166361521000798

The Camera’s Impact on 19th Century Art

Option 1: In the 19th century, the camera was a revolutionary invention, and many artists were concerned about the effect that photographs would have on the art world.

Did the invention of the camera change the arts? Why or why not?

Choose an artistic movement that you believe was influenced by the camera and discuss how the movement was affected.

Include at least one example of an artist and artwork in your response.

Include a statement from a current photographer or critic to support your points.

Option 2: In the 21st century, the smartphone camera changed the way we use and view photography. In addition, apps and social media have changed the way we share photography.

How has the invention of the smartphone camera changed photography?

How have apps and social media changed the way we share photos? Are they positive and/or negative changes? Explain.

Include a statement from a current photographer or critic to support your points The Camera’s Impact on 19th Century Art