2021-07-17
Thoughts on Stuart Franklin’s book, The Documentary Impulse
Photography vs Painting
Stuart Franklin believes that there isn’t much difference between photography and painting. The need to capture an event, i.e. to transfer an image onto a flat surface, is common to both disciplines. What he seems to overlook is how that need is triggered by the respective crafts.
A painter draws from imagination and memory — unless the painting is based on a staged act — whereas the photographer captures the reality as is, at once.