Photography in the Practice of Contemporary Painting. A Pedagogical Perspective

Abstract

Photography in the Practice of Contemporary Painting. A Pedagogical Perspective. Photography is a technological medium that suffers continuous evolution. From its earliest developments to the various types of recent printing, the photographic image has become an avatar of the world. Since images are irreversibly intertwined with human activity, their usage becomes an increasingly frequent practice in the area of traditional creative techniques. This article discusses some examples of this usage in the context of contemporary painting studios in higher education. Photography is accessed by young students and the foray into photographic documentation is now an inevitable tool. The way students use it as an intermediary can be disruptive to their learning process, as long as the role of photography in painting practice is not fully comprehended. There are different ways of integrating photography into the practice of contemporary painting. The present article addresses conceptual aspects, presents several particular situations and launches some perspectives for better understanding these practices. Photography is a tool, not an end, but what happens when these terms juxtapose or are taken for granted? What kind of painting results out of the practical process “contaminated” by photography? However, if technology is properly and timely integrated in the practice of painting, one can no longer talk about a “contamination”, but rather about a conscious process able to generate quality painting.