Photography is an artistic medium that uses light, lenses, and photographic processes to capture and interpret images of the world. Since its emergence in the 19th century, photography has evolved from a documentary tool into a powerful form of artistic expression, capable of recording reality while also shaping perception, narrative, and atmosphere. Artists employ a range of techniques—composition, lighting, framing, and post-production—to transform everyday moments, landscapes, and portraits into compelling visual statements. Pioneering photographers such as Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Cindy Sherman demonstrated how the medium could move fluidly between documentary observation and conceptual exploration. In India, photographers like Raghubir Singh and Dayanita Singh have expanded the medium’s possibilities through vivid explorations of urban life, personal archives, and narrative image-making. 

Read—Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement by Whitney Chadwick