Sunday, September 20, 2009
THE ROLE OF ART AS A REPOSITORY FOR COLLECTIVE MEMORY
Prior to the invention of photography, art was a way of recording important events and people usually in a painterly manner. Even before the use of modern written language, cave art depicted hunts in Lascaux France. The French Revolution inspired many paintings of battles, heroes, important leaders, and icons that symbolized the historic event. But after the invention of the photograph in 1839 the need for depicting such historical events did not have to be fulfilled in a long drawn out manner. Photographs could capture soldiers, royalty, and events the way they were at that very moment. Painting pictures meant seeing the event how the artist chose to depict it according to composition and color scheme, but a photograph had the ability to capture the moment in a more literal sense. Even though both pieces are seen through the artist’s eyes, photography gives the audience a sense of realism that cannot be distorted.
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