Activity #9: Write About it!! Camera Essay

To those who study art professionally, the camera represents a turning point in art history. From arts beginnings until the early 19th century, artists were kept busy with portraits of wealthy aristocracy and middle class and painting important events for commemoration. The creation of the camera in 1839 (Getlein, 211) freed painting and sculptures from practical tasks such as recording appearances and events and allowed for the exploration of abstract and nonrepresentational art (219). With this invention, the appearance of visual art morphed into what we enjoy today.

Along with the industrial revolution of the 19th century, modernism in art was one of the movements that resulted from the use of the camera. Modernism is a deliberate philosophical and practical estrangement or divergence from the past in the arts and literature taking form in any of various innovative movements and styles (Dictionary.com). One of these styles that emerged from the modernism movement was impressionism. Impressionism is a style of painting characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects (Dictionary.com). In opposition to the normal painting of the time, impressionists’ portrayed daily life especially that of the middle class, along with painting landscapes outdoors (Getlein, 584). One of the first impressionists of the time was Claude Monet who was interested in the effects of color and light on objects. He created design harmonies of shape, color, and light that would revolutionize the art world and inspire future artists.

Late in the 19th century, after further exploration and a need to break away from impressionism, some artists began the post-impressionism movement with expressionism. Expressionism is a movement of the late 19th early 20th century which claimed the right to distort visual appearances in order to express psychological or emotional states (Getlein, 583). Vincent Van Gogh was an intricate member of the post-impressionism movement who focused on color as an expressive tool.

The camera is responsible for the exploration and conceptualization of the concepts of art that we see today. Because of the camera, artists were able to focus on the art form itself; rather, the effects of colors and light on an object and many of the other design elements we observe in modern art instead of simple portraits and events. No doubt the camera has changed the appearance of visual art in an immeasurable way.