The Reality of the Photographic Image

On Early Documentary Photography

Abstract

In our modern society, the existence of photographic image is taken for granted. This acceptance comes from its reality. As the medium of the realism, the photographic image transparently represents the social life. This reality is not, however, self-explanatory. Rather, it is a product of social and historical constructs. This paper demonstrates this through the analysis of the social and historical modes of reception for documentary photography in the late nineteenth century. Based on an examination of these modes, I describe some historical aspects of the “reality” seen in photographic images.