Technology’s effect on Photography

Throughout recent history photography has been argued whether or not it is an art form by itself. Photography has been given the right to be called an art form but as of lately, it has been abusing its privilege with the new found use of technology. Technology has changed the way photography can be viewed which might sound like it is beneficial to the art, but it is certainly questionable. Barbara Savedoff’s article ‘Escaping Reality’ compares and contrasts paintings with photography which helps explain how technology is making photography an art form closer to that of painting. The new abilities to manipulate and edit photographs are diminishing the amount of veracity that they once had. To understand how digital photography is arguably hindering photography’s aesthetic value, Savedoff explains why it is such a unique art form in the first place. The techniques used to produce a famous photograph are artistic in their own nature. A proper angle at which the photographer shoots, the ability to snap a picture at the precise moment to capture a great shot, the framing used, etc. are all techniques that make photography worthy of being called an art form. There is also another reason photography is such a great phenomenon. Photography has a connection with reality because of its ability to capture reality on film. The image on film is a direct image of what has occurred in reality, unlike a painter who can paint an image of a scene that occurred but it will not have the same emotional effect as a photo. This is because in the photo we are actually seeing the event where as a painting depends on the artist’s imagination. No matter how the photograph is manipulated it still has the ability to document what actually exists giving it a leg up on other art forms. Obviously there are limitations of what a photo can capture