Photography's Impact on Fine Art and Graphic Design

Much debate has insued as to whether photography is an accual art form. This debate my continue next few centuries. But there is no doubt that photography has made a major contibution to the fine art, illustration, and graphic design worlds repectively. With the coming of the digital age, it will continue its influence through the next century.

The earliest know camera was invented in the 4th century B.C. The Camera Obscure was a simple box with either a hole or a lens in it. It simple took the images in front of the camera and projected in onto the back of the box. One of the drawback to this devise was that it project the image inverted from the original. It was beleived that artist in used the Camera Obscure to trace images onto their canvas. This enable the artist to make crisp, clear lines in their artwork. This would account for the sudden clearity in painting during the Renaissance period. In fact their is some evidence that my indicate that fine artist set up Camera Obscures where images could be projected on wall size canvas'. Artist continued to us this concept even in more modern times with the use of the opac project. The early cameras had a prolong influeance on the fine art world and help to advance it forward.

Since the invention of emulsion film, the art of illustration made big technological advancements. For the first time books could untilize the photograph to show far away places to those that didn't have the means to travel. It took events such as the U.S. Civil War and World War I and illustrate the horrors of war in ways art could not. It was a means to accuratly record history such as ther first heavier-than-air powered flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903.

For graphic designers the photograph enable them to incorporate real people, places, and events into their artwork. Photographs were used in poster designs to attract more people to events. It also enabled the photo of merchandise to be used as a marketing tool in catalogs and flyier. Some of the early catalog used a combination of illustrations and crude photo to sell anything from washing machines to dresses. This practice is in wide use today as a modern merchandising tool.

The picture is not just a way to remember loved ones, events, trips, and a host of other things, it is a way of life. Its impact on the everyday lives of people from the 4th century into the 21st is staggering. Today there are more cameras in the hands of the everyday Joe. The impact on the art world is even more mind boggling. It is a powerful weapon enabling the user to touch the lives of people all of the world. Newspapers, television, poster, books, and ads all have a huge tools to sell an idea, to remember an event, to bring the world closer together. An the art of photography made this possible thanks to a simple box with a hole in the front.

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