The Importance Of The Photographic Image

This paper focuses on the photographic image as a testament and document. The research draws upon mostly primary sources including interviews, published articles and books written by critical writers on photography. Examples that contribute the photographic image, as document and testament, will be introduced.

The photographic image emerged as an invention and innovation of the early nineteenth century. Right from the day of its invention in the 19th century, till the present day in the 21st century, photography has been hailed as a technologically great invention that changed the world. Though precursors have been identified by a number of theorists, an example would be the Camera Obscura in the eighteenth century. Since it’s creation, photography

It changed how we view our world as well as our perspective of events. Photography also unlocked the potential of the distance that news can travel as well as how we perceive and understand information. Susan Sontag observed that photographs changes and broaden our opinions of the importance and significance of what we

In the current day, the rapid progress in computer-based photographic production as well as the growing potential of digitalisation and digital editing has led to the mounting doubt of the authenticity of photographic images.

Therefore, in the present day, the photographic image is not considered as authentic and realistic as it used to be. However, it is proven that the photographic image had been a great importance and influence as document, evidence and testament, as argued by many critical writers, both past and present, on