The Image Regained

It was once boldly predicted that photography would displace painting altogether. Others argued that a photograph could never be art. In reality, both forms of expression have had a stimulating effect on each other during their long years of co-existence. Illustrated with works by outstanding photographers and painters, this book illustrates the intensity and the consequences of this exchange since the 1970s. More frequently than not, the encounter rocked the very understanding of the image. Whereas painting, under the influence of photography, is now finding its way back to the subject from its abstract and informal phase, photography in the eighties reclaimed for itself traditional painterly themes such as portraits and landscapes. This exhibition catalogue explores the crossing over of bounderies and perception of both disciplines.