IndexContext of DegasThe influence of photography on DegasConclusionPhotography takes an instant out of time, altering life while keeping it still. – Dorothea Lange (1895 – 1965). We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Meaning “drawing with light”, photography essentially combines two distinct sciences, optics – the passing of light rays to form an image inside a camera, and chemistry – to allow the image to be captured and permanently recorded on a light-sensitive surface. Invented in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), during the period of the industrial revolution, photography was generally accepted in society, however it was also criticized because people thought it was a threat to art, as some described it as ; “the mortal enemy of art”. Artists were concerned that photography might replace art because of the camera's “illusion of veracity.” After Niépce's death, Louis Daguerre produced the Daguerreotype in 1839 where the process was accurate and economical, becoming an immediate success for the company. Snapshot photography featured photographs that were not staged or posed and did not replicate professional photographic work. This type of photography first became possible in 1888, when George Eastman (1854-1932) introduced the first Kodak camera for $25, and people went from constantly standing still, for fear of blurring photos, to being able to capture lively daily movements like having 100 photos. storage and the ability to develop them and an updated camera meant that people were not afraid to use photography space. People were able to experiment with unconventional angles and ideas, whether it was the image of someone jumping in the air or someone riding a bicycle, as if after decades of rigidity in a studio, this invention influenced behavior and opinions of people towards photography. However, the ability to carry cameras around caused a controversy over whether your photo was taken without your permission while you were in public as a photo could be taken by surprise unlike before it was invented where people didn't they could move, you had to collaborate a lot and give your consent. Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was a photographer who experimented with phases of movement too rapid for the human eye to observe, creating new forms of scientific study, particularly with racehorses. The world became fascinated by the anatomy of horses and, when captured on the instant camera, how, at one point, there are no legs on the ground when they gallop, something never observed before. Long before photography was invented, in the 17th century, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) used the "camera obscura", in the form of a room with closed windows, with a small hole in a curtain as an aid to his painting. Light entered the room through the hole and projected an image onto a screen or opposite wall to form a never-before-seen optical image and allowed the artist to accurately produce a "photographic perspective" shown in paintings such as "Officer and Girl who laughs' (1655-1660) by Vermeer where the foreground of the man is visually larger than that of the girl, encouraging the idea of ​​the use of the 'camera obscura' influenced visual artists, where some rejected this new technology but others embraced it, including Edgar Degas (1834-1917)Edgar Degas was aFrench painter, engraver and sculptor and was part of the impressionist (1865 -1895) and realist (1848-1900) movement in the 19th century. In his early life, Degas was encouraged to pursue the arts, but not as a career. After receiving his baccalaureate degree in literature, he moved to Paris and was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1855, studying drawing with Louis Lamothe, an academic artist. In 1864, Degas met Édouard Manet (1832-1883) at the Louvre, where he was introduced to Impressionism (1872-1892) and his works were exhibited at the Paris Salon. This was the turning point for Degas's career in the art world and he drew inspiration from the cafes, shops and works of Paris and became famous for his careful observation, capturing the details of his surroundings. Artists who influenced Degas included the photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), whose photographs showed the movements of a racehorse and people. Japanese prints also influenced Degas, the bold, linear compositions and sense of flatness were different from Western art. Degas' approach to painting consisted of capturing images in strange positions and unusual angles, experimenting with different compositions, and showing a clear classical tendency in his art that differed from other Impressionist artists who preferred colors and textured pieces. Furthermore, Degas preferred to work with sketches and memory, but the other Impressionist artists preferred to paint “en plein air”. Degas' work was always well composed and showed the free style he possessed. Degas was introduced to the world of ballet, enthused by both his taste for classical beauty and his eye for realism, and, watching these performances, found a new way to draw and paint. Initially painting pictures from the audience's point of view, Degas wanted to see behind the scenes of the dancers in the practice studios, saying this; “Is this known in your world?” Queens are made of distance and greasepaint.' By going behind the scenes, Degas could actually discover more about the world of dancers. “Dance Class (1871)” shows a simplistic, linear ballroom with dancers, grouped together on the left of the painting, all depicted to display the innocence of the dancers, shown by the contrast of the white tutu with the dull brown colors of the walls of the ballroom which makes them stand out to the viewer. The natural light in the room seems to come from a window that would not be visible if the large mirror on the wall were not present. This complex idea of ​​reflections from the different mirrors in the painting offers the viewer a change of perspective, showing the backs of the dancers and a view that cannot be seen without them. The smaller mirror, in the center of the painting, modifies the linear room, creating more diverse shapes within the work. The focal point of the work is on the left of the painting, where there are many dancers behind a grand piano, all looking in the same direction, as if looking at the girl dancing in front of the entire painting. On the one hand, it does not show a photographic influence since Degas did not create an unusual perspective in which he could have included the entire height of the room, instead of focusing only on the dancers. The setting would have been shown more clearly if the viewpoint had been further away from the focal point and the full extent of the building had been shown in more detail. However, there is still evidence of a photographic influence as Degas clearly tried to depict even the smallest details of the painting, including the slightly ajar door on the right and the dancers throughout the room all moving individually, as they practiced their dance. facing the teacher sat slightly to the left of the piece, facing thegroup of dancers. The violin case at the bottom of the foreground helps bring the viewer back to the center of the painting after looking at the focal point on the left. The atmosphere of the painting could be described as quiet, with only the sounds of the violin played by the teacher, used as music to make the dancer in the foreground dance and the small sounds of the dancers' feet as they move in different directions while dancing and l The atmosphere could be quite intense, with the dancer in the foreground, concentrated on performing the dance routine correctly in front of her teacher, but at the same time it would be calm, with the violin helping the dancers become more relaxed in the ballroom. However, some of Degas' works, such as the "Portrait of Diego Martelli (1879)" painted before instant photography was widely spread, included photographic features, such as cropping, strange viewpoints, and a sense of reality, might therefore suggest that Degas's "Kodak eye" could have been used without the influence of photography. Degas wanted to produce pieces with the unexpected viewpoints, strange perspectives, and abrupt interruptions of forms that characterized his art. The influence of photography on DegasHowever, after focusing on different media such as photography, Degas saw it as "an image of magical instantaneity" and began to produce works that were unexpected and irregular in composition, similar to images that could be captured by camera. He believed that a photograph provided a new pair of eyes during a time when his vision was worsening, but he used it as a powerful tool to remember his loved ones when they died. Muybridge, like Degas, was a photographer interested in capturing movement, and in the 1880s he took hundreds of photographs, mostly of animals or humans, showing movements that could not be seen with the naked eye. This led Degas to use this technique to show movement, for example, the blurred legs and neck of a racehorse, an experience new to Degas and many other artists of the time. Degas once said; “Art is not what you see, but what you want others to see” and above all photography helped Degas capture the movement of bodies that the human eye could not capture on its own. By discovering Muybridge's many moving photographs with high shutter speeds, he was able to better study movements and gestures. Particularly in his paintings of ballerinas, Degas used photography when; “the figures are cut and positioned off-center. The lines of sight are high and oblique. Degas finally learned the importance and benefits of photography when he began to lose his sight as it provided him with a new pair of eyes and before the photograph was presented to him, he had not thought of cutting a figure to the edges or pushing the action of the placing the image in the corners and leaving the center empty and this new artistic medium gave Degas an advantage in producing more interesting and realistic work. “The Dance Foyer at the Opera (1872)” shows a traditional, large studio filled with dancers, to the point that they seem tiny compared to the splendid grandeur of the rehearsal room. Natural light floods the room from one direction. When the light hits the dancers, it illuminates their figures and the delicacy of their tutus. There is a mirror that could be depicted as another room behind, creating a sense of depth that intrigues the viewer to visualize the deeper meaning of the painting and also contrasts with the linear forms of the architecture. The focal point of the piece is off-center, slightly to the right, where there is a group of dancers grouped together, moving in angular, distorted movements. The girl on the left was chosen to dance in front of the rest of the dancers, however, the lightshines on the group on the right, who could show different views at that time and Degas is shown as the chosen person on the left trying to show everyone his opinions. This could be related to his art style and how he wants to show everyone how and what he sees. The chair in the foreground of the painting helps the painting take on a circular shape, engaging the viewer. This can also be added with the ballerina in the bottom right corner of the painting, pointing her legs towards the center and creating a more circled image and bringing the viewer back into the image, rather than a linear piece of the chair which was not there or the dancer was not positioned this way. The tiny details of the painting, such as the door on the left and the notice board at the back of the rehearsal room, show how Degas, who was also a photographer, wanted to portray photography that captures every single, small detail. The door on the left with the dancer behind it could be a door to Degas' past because the dancers mirror the same position. However, the lone person on the left is carrying out his idea in a casual and naturalistic way. The mood and atmosphere of the painting is silence with the muted sounds of the piano, which matches the color and atmosphere of the entire painting. The lighting is soft and the controlled movement of the dancers is an important factor in the work, and overall, the work gives the viewer a sense of relaxation, with soft, calm colors and a relaxing atmosphere. This painting is composed with a lot of care and intelligence but makes it look random, accidental and natural. It shows us that photography had an immense impact on the way Degas painted, whether it was the point of view or the effects of using negative space to create an image that had the similar characteristics of a photograph that was not set and using the sense of movement in an image to show the realistic vision Degas wanted to portray, photography helped boost his career, helping him produce a series of incredibly realistic pieces that no other Impressionist artist would produce. Besides Degas, there were many other artists who were influenced by photography when it was invented. Photography provided a new vision of science and art combined, so artists experimented with photography to promote their work. Cézanne used photography from magazine illustrations to paint flowers or even a self-portrait. He experimented with perspective and emphasized each individual object rather than the scene as a whole, making his work more captivating. His work was influenced by copying a photo unlike Degas, who tried to make pieces look like a photograph using movement, composition and a sense of realism. Thomas Le Clear (1818-1882), an American artist, used an early daguerreotype of the two children, kept in the family to produce this painting, exploiting the idea of ​​the tension between photography and painting arising from the children surrounded by portraits. The dog coming through the door may be a reference to photography's early problem of limiting only still subjects. Degas worked with a similar technique to Le Clear, using compositional ideas by cutting out parts of subjects to create a photographic idea within his paintings of dancers and racehorses. Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), a French painter and sculptor, also adopted photography when it was invented as another medium to capture aesthetic goals and to augment his documentation of real life. In his piece, Phryne before the Areopagus (1861), he shows a naked woman, based on a photograph by Nadar (1820-1910), showing a real image.