Tate Britain Exhibition, Painting with Light, Art and Photography worksheet

1. PAINTING WITH LIGHT
ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE PRE-RAPHAELITES TO THE MODERN AGE
Art Students:
How have the artists captured light? Divide a page in your book into
4 and accurately document the colour, intensity and tone of light
that clearly depicts a time of day or mood. Don’t forget to make a
note of the artist, title and date and describe the time or mood.
How does a portrait alter our interpretation of an individual. Is more
revealed when the style is expressive or when there is an accurate
representation? Create a careful study of an image (painting or
photograph) that gives a sense of the individual.
The invention of photography in 1839 contributed to a period of change for the visual arts in Britain. The
development of new materials and techniques influenced painters and photographers who shared ambitions and ideas.
Their conversations were at the heart of artistic innovations in the Victorian and Edwardian ages.
Photography Students:
As the emerging Aesthetic Movement became more interested in
creating imaginative effects than recording specific details,
suddenly, photographers strove to capture the ambience of painters
such as Whistler, rather than the other way around.
How have the photographers manipulated light to create a
particular mood? What process have they used? Does this
contribute to the atmosphere? Compare three images. Don’t forget
to make a note of the photographer, title and date of the work.
There are several female photographers included in the exhibition,
such as Clementina Hawarden, Margaret Cameron and Zaida Ben-
Yusuf. How does their work differ from their male contemporaries?
Compare two photographers: one male; one female.

2. “…a photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image); an
interpretation of the real; it is also a trace, something directly stencilled off
the real, like a footprint or a death mask…” Susan Sontag, ‘On
Photography’
With a painting or a sculpture, no matter how lifelike, we still see the touch
of the artist. In a photograph, we see the touch of the subject. The
photographer’s hand seems more distant than the painters, though their
eye seems closer.
Do you agree? Does the ‘real-ness’ of a photograph make it more
expressive than painting or sculpture? Discuss this concept with your
Photography or Art partner over a pair of images in the exhibition.
[Evidence- thumbnail drawings of the pieces discussed annotated with
both sides of the argument.]
Art AND Photography students
Find an example and discuss a photograph
that has influenced an artwork or vice
versa. For example, ‘Disruption Portrait’ by
David Octavius Hill or the portraits by
Rossetti and Cameron. What is the
relationship between the two disciplines in
the work you have chosen? Document your
conclusions.