Painting Is Not Dead

            In the past, art forms of all types were respected in the highest regards. However, in our modern day high-tech society, we are consumed by the media and the ease of fast paced imagery. Photography, digital photography, and the endless array of digital media forms seem to tell the world that older forms of art such as painting are obsolete and unworthy of substantial recognition. It has often been said, "A picture is worth a thousand words," which I would have to disagree with. In my mind, art forms such as painting are worth more than a photograph, and can have more meaning than,"a thousand words." .
             Photography may be a more effective and reasonably inexpensive alternative to drawing or painting, but more thought and feeling goes into a painting than a photograph. Photography is relatively simple in comparison to painting, which is a much more complex task. With photography, the composition is already completely arranged, and with a painting the objective is much more open to interpretation by the artist. The artist has the ability to capture more emotion, understanding, and significance in an event and apply this fiery drive to his paintbrush when creating his own masterpiece. .
             When dealing with reality, I think a photograph may represent an actual physical recollection of a person or object, but a painting created from scratch adds the reality of perception to the table. Reality is always open to different observations and interpretations. Artists during the Realism period concentrated on the real world as they saw. They chose to construct their pieces of work with normal, everyday activities, therefore making it all the more real. One painter during this time period was Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. In his piece titled, "Ville d"Avray," he chose to capture a woman in a forest-like setting. In John Barrington's book called, " Realism Towards Impressionism," the author states that Corot worked very quickly so that he could capture the "underlying rhythm of nature" to make his landscapes reveal the magic moment of truth (39).