Abstract
Since its inception, photography has caused an upheaval in the art world akin to that caused by the printing press on the dissemination of written material. Although the printing press was initially conceived primarily for the purpose of facilitating the reproduction of bibles and manuscripts, its impact in the dissemination of ideas across social classes and borders was not foreseen, and neither were the unexpected consequences photography brought to the arts and society at large. We now see things differently because of photography. Just photography alone has changed our understanding of modern history, with a single picture sometimes conveying more information about an event than volumes of text. Another significant effect was the end of individual photographic works. Before photography, pictures were part of the structure they were depicting, giving context to their significance. It didn't matter where the picture was placed; there was only ever one image.
