At first, the capability of creative interpretation inherent in painted
pictures was challenged by the objective realism of the photographic
image. Photography appeared to be unaffected by reality. Photographers
celebrated the banality of daily life. They had the urge to create an over-
all record of our world, to assemble an endless collection of pictures
into a kind of mega-memory.



The painted picture, the result of a long creative and additive pro-
cess, could suddenly be replaced by a fast optical, mechanical and
chemical process. The photographic image did not initially constitute a
direct threat to painting. Its format was restricted by what the lens could
cover, the images were black-and-white, and it was dependent on illu-
mination. But even those who recognized the danger that photography
posed to painting were fascinated by this new medium and the huge po-
tential that it represented.



The invention of photography was, after all,
the birth of a new language and as such it should, above all, make poss-
ible a new kind of visual communication. This language is not local-
ized, and the flood of photographic images knows no borders. Multiple
reproduction and dissemination of these pictures created a virtual real-
ity that has become part of our modern culture.