Robinson employs chiaroscuro to contrast the somber hues of the parents' clothing with the white worn by the dying girl. Various elements - the closed book that rests abandoned on the mother's knee, the two women watching the dying girl intently as if she might speak, and the contrast between dark and light - create an emotional impact. To the right, an older sister, bends over the back of the chaise longue and in the center, the father stands with his back to the viewer, as he looks out the window, his dark shape outlined against the light. To the left, her mother, sits in profile, her gaze resigned. This composite print, combining five different negatives, focuses on an intimate scene of a very sick young woman, surrounded by three family members. This laid the foundations for later advances in color photography and other technical processes. The movement led to great innovation in the field of photography with a number of the photographers associated with it responsible for developing new techniques to further their artistic vision.Both of these matters are still contested today and they have been made ever more relevant in the last decades through the increasing use of Photoshop in advertising and on social media. Pictorialists were the first to present the case for photography to be classed as art and in doing so they initiated a discussion about the artistic value of photography as well as a debate about the social role of photographic manipulation.Movements that were particularly influential were Tonalism, Impressionism and, in some instances, Victorian genre painting. Pictorialism was closely linked to prevailing artistic movements, as the photographers took inspiration from popular art, adopting its styles and ideas to demonstrate parity between it and photography.Common themes within the style are the use of soft focus, color tinting, and visible manipulation such as composite images or the addition of brushstrokes. There is no straightforward definition of what a Pictorialist photograph is, but it is usually taken to mean an image that has been manipulated in some way to increase its artistic impact. Proponents used a range of darkroom techniques to produce images that allowed them to express their creativity, utilizing it to tell stories, replicate mythological or biblical scenes, and to produce dream-like landscapes. Although it can be traced back to these early ideas, the Pictorialist movement was at its most active between 18 and during its heyday it had an international reach with centers in England, France, and the USA. This began to change from the 1850s when advocates such as the English painter William John Newton suggested that photography could also be artistic. Photography was invented in the late 1830s and was initially considered to be a way in which to produce purely scientific and representational images. Through their creations, the movement strove to elevate photography to the same level as painting and have it recognized as such by galleries and other artistic institutions. Pictorialists took the medium of photography and reinvented it as an art form, placing beauty, tonality, and composition above creating an accurate visual record.
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