Invented at the end of the 1830s, photography triggered a visual revolution. At the time, some feared that photography would replace painting altogether. It certainly did not but painting was not left untouched either.

In this lecture we will consider how photography participated in changing the face of painting in the second half of the 19th century. It introduced a new relationship between reality and its representation that influenced painters such as the Realists and the Impressionists. It also encouraged painters to explore new directions. Freed from having to record the external world, painters could focus on more intangible things (such as emotions) or on formal aspects (such as colour for its own sake).