ABSTRACT
The history of photography over the last 180 years traces the emergence of a practice that has revolutionised the understanding of visual communication. This chapter examines some of the theoretical standpoints that have determined how pictorial representation has been regarded and how it has come to play such a central role in Western culture. It examines issues of photographic realism and whether these accounted for the widespread influence of photography. The chapter considers whether the argument that the eye has a similar structure to the camera might account for the perceived realism of photographs. They look real because they are formed in a similar way to the way our eyes see the world. It explains the emergence of photography in the context of its historical, cultural and artistic setting. The chapter gives James Gibson's ecological approach to visual perception, which shared similar sensibilities to the emergence of Land Art and a reappraisal of the modernist agenda in the visual arts.
