From Paintings to Photography: How Painters Have Shaped the Art of Photography

Before photography, painting was the primary way to portray people, moments, and the world. For centuries, painters served both as artists and documentarians — tasked with capturing reality, telling stories, and sometimes elevating the mundane into something transcendent. When the camera arrived, it didn’t just replace that role — it reshaped it. But what remained was a shared foundation: an eye for light, emotion, and composition. And it’s in that overlap that photography still carries the DNA of painting.

The Shared Language of Light and Form

Painters have long studied the mechanics of light — its source, direction, softness, warmth, and emotional tone. They knew that the quality of light could shift the entire mood of a portrait or landscape. This is something photographers continue to chase.

Before a photographer clicks the shutter, they make decisions not unlike a painter: Where is the light coming from? What does this color convey? How can I frame this to tell more than just what’s visible? The fundamentals of balance, contrast, shape, and texture — all deeply rooted in classical painting — still guide photographic composition today.

Santa Maria Rezzonico - Como - Italy - 2017

The Shift: From Brush to Lens

As photography developed in the 19th century, many artists trained in painting began to explore this new medium. Some resisted it; others embraced it. The camera, for a while, was viewed with skepticism — a mechanical tool, lacking the soul of hand-rendered art. But that perception changed quickly as photographers proved that this new instrument could be just as expressive, emotional, and artistic.

Many early photographers were painters first. People like Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Saul Leiter brought painterly instincts into their photography — from how they saw light to how they composed an image. Leiter, for example, painted alongside his photographic career and often composed his color street photography with a blurred, abstract beauty that echoed Impressionism.

Their transitions revealed an essential truth: the eye remains the same, even if the tool changes.

Saul Leiter

Emile Claus: A Deeply Personal Influence

While many painters have inspired generations of artists, Emile Claus holds a uniquely personal place in my creative journey. His work didn’t just influence my perspective on photography in an abstract or academic sense — it shaped me directly, through family, memory, and a slow unfolding of awareness.

Several original works by Claus hung on the walls of my grandparents’ home, passed down through our family. His portrait was displayed among family photographs, and as a child, I saw his paintings as just another part of the furniture — familiar, quiet, and overlooked. I didn’t know then that those sunlit scenes, rendered in soft brushstrokes and vivid detail, would one day become central to how I see the world.

Emile Claus - Self portrait - 1874

The shift happened gradually, but definitively, when I began studying photography in art school. Suddenly, the qualities I was learning to observe through the lens — light, atmosphere, emotion — were staring back at me from those very same canvases I’d grown up with. Then, during a visit to the MSK Museum in Ghent with my grandmother, I saw Claus’s paintings not in the quiet intimacy of a home, but in the context of great art. And that’s when it truly clicked.

Claus, known as the “Prince of Luminism” in Belgium, captured light in a way that felt photographic — even timeless. His work balanced precision with poetry, and it wasn’t until I studied his compositions more closely that I understood how deeply his vision had already been influencing mine. Not by intention at first, but by subconscious exposure. His treatment of light — nuanced, emotional, and immersive — showed me what was possible through observation and patience.

Through Claus, painting became a meaningful influence on my photography. His legacy — part of my family's history — gave me a deeper appreciation for the connection between these two mediums. It was never just about technique; it was about how to see, how to feel, and how to translate both through light.

Emile Claus - De Vlasoogst - 1883

Why Painting Still Matters to Photography Today

Even in a digital age, painting continues to inform and elevate photography. Here’s how:

• The Art of Observation
  Painters are trained to see deeply. They study proportion, movement, emotion, and light in slow detail. Photographers who adopt this mindset — slowing down and truly observing — tend to create more meaningful, layered work.

• Composition & Color Theory
  Painters have long worked with the principles of color harmony, contrast, and spatial tension. These same principles apply when framing a photo. Understanding color from a painter’s perspective opens new dimensions in photographic storytelling.

• Mood & Intention
  Where painters once used brushstroke, photographers use exposure, focus, and light. But the intention is the same: to provoke a feeling, to draw attention to something deeper than just the subject.

Final Thoughts

Painting didn’t vanish with the invention of the camera. It evolved — and in many ways, it lives on within photography. The two art forms aren’t separate; they’re part of the same lineage of visual storytelling. One shaped the eye. The other refined the tool.

For me, photography is not only about freezing time — it’s about honoring the legacy of those who taught us how to see. Painters like Emile Claus shaped the way I work, even before I understood their influence. Their focus on light, on nuance, on emotion — it all lives on in the images I make today.

Dorien - Studio Session - 2024

What artists — photographers or painters — have influenced how you see the world?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, or feel free to connect with me on Instagram. (click instagram icon below)