ABSTRACT
T HE history of photography over the last 160 years traces the emergence ofa practice that has revolutionised our understanding of visualcommunication. We can therefore propose that, in contrast to theconventional approach of describing the invention and development of themedium, we should study the medium’s growth in social, cultural and psychological significance to offer an understanding of the photographic phenomenon. But in order to do this it becomes necessary to provide both the historical background and philosophical rationale for photographic representation. This can help us to understand some of the reasons and influences that might explain how the medium has attained such significance in contemporary society. Above all, photography can be seen as a product of its time, reflecting the intellectual climate of its origins, as well as operating as an instrument of social change. Nonetheless, perhaps the most basic and fundamental question that needs to be addressed is: why is it that photographs seem to appear so realistic? And is it this assumed realism that accounts for its widespread influence? Is the answer of a purely mechanical nature, arising from quite plausible demonstrations that the camera works in a similar way to the eye and thus provides the same sort of information we obtain in everyday perception? Or is it because we have been brought up in a culture that has developed a particular set of interpretative conventions and strategies that enable its members to perceive photographic codes as realistic images?
