Le Vapeur
12:00 AM |
| Gustave Le Gray, Le Vapeur, 1857 |
The debate over photography's legitimization continued, with notable artists and thinkers contributing to either side. Edgar Allen Poe praised photography's realism by claiming, "If we examine a work of ordinary art, by means of a powerful microscope, all traces of resemblance to nature will dissapear -- but the closest scrutiny of the photographic drawing discloses only a more accurate truth." In a time where painters strove to capture the world around them in the most realistic way possible, this was a high compliment.
Perhaps photography was for those unskilled in the art of painting, but one cannot dispute its inherent magic. These images were the first images ever taken. The photographer taking these images had no idea if they would survive the developing process. That makes each moment, preserved forever on paper, priceless. Painters could complain all they wanted about how easy photography was, but, at that time, a photograph could not be revisited, erased, or added to. That makes works like Le Vapeur captivating. The trailing wisps of the cloud of smoke and the small wake created by the two boats will never be able to be recreated again. The synthesis of all components of that moment will never exist in another form. The uniqueness of photography allows the viewer to be transported to another time and place and experience the fleeting moment exactly how the photographer did. That emotional experience makes photography art.
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