2.7.3. Photorealism's Objective Gaze

Predominantly active from the 1960s to the 1970s, Photorealism focused on creating paintings that possessed the visual qualities of photographs.

Photorealism is an art movement that emerged between the 1960s and 1970s. Its primary goal was to create visual art that closely resembled photographs. Artists in this movement aimed to depict subjects in a detailed and realistic manner, sparking a debate on the nature of representation in art.

Imagine taking a photo of a busy city street filled with cars, buildings, and people. Now, think of an artist who takes that photo and spends weeks or months trying to recreate it exactly on a canvas. The result would be a painting that looks almost indistinguishable from the photograph, capturing every detail and nuance.

Artists frequently projected photographic images onto their canvases, then meticulously rendered them, attending to the subtle distortions and characteristics inherent in the photographic medium itself.

In Photorealism, artists often began by projecting a photograph onto their canvas to trace the outline of the images. After this, they meticulously filled in the details, colors, and textures using paint. This process required careful observation and skill to replicate not just the shapes but also the shadows, reflections, and colors found in the photograph, paying attention to the unique qualities of the photographic image.

Think of it like coloring in a coloring book. First, you might lightly outline the drawing with a pencil. Then, using a variety of colors, you fill in each section, trying to match the colors just right. In Photorealism, artists do something similar, but instead of a simple coloring book, they're working on a large canvas with paint, creating an image that looks just like a photo.

This movement explored the very nature of representation and how photographic vision shapes our understanding of reality, often depicting urban landscapes, vehicles, and mundane scenes with an objective and detached exactitude.

Photorealism raises questions about how we perceive reality and representation in art. By choosing to depict everyday scenes, such as urban environments or still-life arrangements, artists demonstrated the power of photographs to shape our perception of the world. This objective, or detached manner of rendering scenes emphasizes how photographic technology influences art and our understanding of the real.

Consider walking through a busy city and taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells around you. If you took a photograph of that busy street and then looked at it weeks later, you'd notice details that you might have missed in the moment. Photorealist art does something similar; it captures the fleeting moments of everyday life, allowing viewers to appreciate the beauty in ordinary scenes, as if they were witnessing them through a camera lens.

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