Introduction
Walt Whitman in his works rejected the distinction between beautiful and ugly as he sought to have a world that was united in perception.
His resistance stemmed from the fact that in the early decades of photography, photographs were meant to idealize images and for a picture to be considered beautiful, its subject had to be something beautiful.
However, over time and with photography being received as an independent form of art, interest shifted to the less-glorified and casual elements of American life.
Beauty in photographs was no longer primarily linked to the subject, but to the quality of the work. This essay seeks to show that photography has changed our understanding of beauty.
Photography and beauty
Human beings have for a long time documented their history and the elements of their surroundings through the use of images. Early humans used crude tools to sketch images of things that were of interest to them on walls and later on stretched skin.
Later, with the development of proper media, the preservation of memories shifted to canvas and paper. Most artists of the time ensured that the images they painted were of things or people considered beautiful.
In the 19th century, cameras were invented, bringing with them a new method of image recording. Because of the initial limited availability of photographic material, the resources were used sparingly.
Photographs were only taken after careful preparation, and when the subjects were humans, they ensured that they were clad in their best attire.
During the first decade of photography, the phrase ‘beautiful photography’ described things like good looking women, sunrises, cute babies and attractive environments. By the start of the 20th century, more cameras were produced and photography was being viewed as an art form.
Schools were started to teach on the basics of good photography with graduates from such schools moving on to make a name for themselves by coming up with unique photographs.
Things like picture composition, lighting and contrast became the benchmarks by which the beauty of photographs was determined.
By a proper combination of different techniques, photographers could turn the night-time image of lights emerging from a desolate African slum into something that people would buy to hang in their houses.
Photography as an art form has since undergone perfection and with the development of new exhibition platforms the artistic-photographs are being exhibited to bigger audiences than before.
Most people have come to the realization that beauty can be seen in every situation, depending on the context that the viewer chooses to receive it.
Because of this change in perception, which can fundamentally be said to have been occasioned by the changing face of photography, a person can walk past a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk, and instead of seeing his pain and suffering, ends up appreciating the peace and tranquility he is experiencing in his own small world.
The same is the case when a person views the image of slum-children with mucus dripping from their noses, grinning in a manner indicating that there poverty is the least of their concerns.
Such images have changed the way people appreciate beauty in society, allowing them to view unpleasant situations in different light.
Conclusion
This essay had set out to explain how photography has led to a change in the way we perceive beauty. It has been shown that the development of photography into an art-form has helped individuals appreciate things traditionally considered ugly in positive light.