The art and practice of capturing images through light, originating in [[France]] in the 1820s–1830s with the inventions of [[Nicéphore Niépce]] and [[Louis Daguerre]], and further developed by [[William Henry Fox Talbot]] in [[England]]. It evolved from a technical novelty into a recognized fine art form, with key figures including [[Alfred Stieglitz]]—whose [[Equivalent - Alfred Stieglitz (1925)|Equivalent]] series elevated photography to pure abstraction—[[Dorothea Lange]], and [[Ansel Adams]], whose [[Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico - Ansel Adams (1941)|Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico]] remains one of the medium's most iconic images. Photography profoundly influenced painting—both challenging [[Realism]]'s purpose and inspiring movements like [[Impressionism]] and [[Precisionism]] to explore what the camera could and could not capture.