Franklin - “From Realism to Virtual Reality: Images of America’s Wars”

In Franklin’s “From Realism to Virtual Reality: Images of America’s Wars” he explains the development of war technology and the development of the expression of war through art. Franklin notes, “prior to the Civil War, visual images of America’s wars were, almost without exception, expressions of romanticism and nationalism.” “Literature,” Franklin explains, “was the only art form capable of projecting that action of warfare as temporal flow and movements.” As photo technology grew, as did the ability of art to capture the reality of warfare. I find it interesting how Franklin explains the way in which the same industrial processes and scientific knowledge used to advance war technology, is the “new means of perceiving its devastation.” Furthermore, Franklin explains how “earlier visual arts were now radically threatened by images of warfare introduced by photography.”  It’s interesting that he refers to photography as a “threat,.” I feel a common idea about photography is it acts as some sort of challenge to the more traditional mediums such as painting. I find this interesting because, while it seems painting and photography are often compared, this is somewhat of an unfair comparison since the two mediums are completely different.