OR WHY WE KNOW A LOT LESS ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, CINEMA, AND ADVERTISING THAT WE THINK WE DO.
"Film is such a great medium with so much possibility. None of the guys
whose work I love have even scratched the surface" - William Friedkin
The world of art, from its ancient roots to contemporary digital platforms, has always been a reflection of change and adaptation. The youth of photography, film, and advertising—as compared to centuries-old traditions like painting—illustrates how quickly new art forms grow and evolve. Yet even as conventions in these younger mediums become ingrained, they remain fluid, susceptible to the influences of asymmetry, chaos, and nonlinear storytelling. Through the ideas of Nassim Taleb’s asymmetry, Ilya Prigogine’s dissipative structures, and Douglas Rushkoff’s post-narrativity, we see how art’s evolution remains inherently flexible and transformative.
Like the introduction of linear perspective in painting, which radically altered the field of art by challenging flat, symbolic renderings, these modern media are shaped by technological and cultural forces that destabilize conventions and invite fresh interpretations. In the same way that perspective redefined painting, photography, film, and advertising are still building their identities, constantly reshaped by new influences and far from any fixed “final form.”
The Long Evolution of Painting and the Breakthrough of Perspective
For thousands of years, painting was the primary medium for recording and interpreting the world, yet it wasn’t until the 15th century that a radical shift occurred: the introduction of linear perspective and the vanishing point. Artists in ancient Egypt, Greece, and the medieval world had approached spatial representation in relatively flat, symbolic ways, focusing on narrative and iconography rather than realistic depth. Then, during the Italian Renaissance, artists like Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti introduced mathematical perspective, allowing painters to create realistic, three-dimensional spaces on a flat surface.
This change didn’t just alter the aesthetics of painting; it fundamentally changed how people saw the world. It made realism an ideal and altered the entire trajectory of Western art. The shift to perspective took centuries to unfold, with artists developing and experimenting until it became a staple technique. Painting, which had existed as a representational form for millennia, was redefined.
Photography: A Swift Evolution
Photography emerged in the early 19th century, essentially bypassing the centuries of gradual development that painting had undergone. Within a few decades, what started as a scientific experiment became an art form in its own right. Early photographers like Louis Daguerre and Henry Fox Talbot were captivated by the camera’s ability to capture reality, similar to how Renaissance painters used perspective to achieve lifelike images.
However, within the relatively short timespan of photography’s development, artists began to push beyond simple representation. Photographers like Julia Margaret Cameron, Ansel Adams, and Alfred Stieglitz expanded the medium’s creative potential, transforming it from a documentary tool to a vehicle for expression, abstraction, and narrative. Unlike painting, which evolved slowly, photography embraced multiple roles—documentary, artistic, and commercial—within just a few decades.
Today, many photographic conventions—like the “rule of thirds” or the use of dramatic lighting—are seen as essential to the medium, yet they are far from definitive or unchangeable. Just as Renaissance artists challenged their predecessors, photographers today continue to break conventions, exploring new forms through digital manipulation, AI, and unconventional lenses.
Film: The Art of Motion and the Establishment of Narrative Conventions
The moving image is even younger than photography. From the first motion pictures in the late 19th century to the Hollywood studio system and the auteur-driven films of today, the film industry has grown at a lightning pace. Early film pioneers like Georges Méliès and the Lumière Brothers experimented with the medium, exploring its potential to create new worlds, illusions, and immersive experiences.
By the 1920s, the language of film—montage, continuity editing, and narrative structure—began to solidify. These conventions created a blueprint for modern filmmaking that, while enormously influential, is only about a century old. Directors like Sergei Eisenstein, D.W. Griffith, and later Alfred Hitchcock helped to define film’s narrative and technical framework, establishing the “grammar” of cinema that we often take for granted.
Yet, much like the painters of the Renaissance, filmmakers today constantly question and test these established norms. The rise of digital effects, nonlinear storytelling, and interactive films challenges traditional cinematic conventions, showing us that the language of film is still evolving. Much like perspective in painting, film’s language is an innovation that will be redefined over time.
Advertising: The Art of Persuasion and Its Evolving Conventions
Advertising’s purpose—to sell products and ideas—dates back to ancient civilizations, but its modern form only began to take shape in the early 20th century. The rise of mass media, from print to radio to television, helped advertising grow into a powerful force. Visual techniques borrowed from photography and film were adapted to make products desirable and relatable to wide audiences. Advertising developed its own set of conventions: the product close-up, the use of celebrity endorsements, and the famous “problem-solution” structure.
Yet, as new technologies and distribution methods emerge, so do new advertising approaches. Social media, digital ads, and immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality are breaking traditional molds. What’s more, younger generations are reshaping the values of advertising, demanding authenticity, social responsibility, and innovation.
Learning from Art History: Conventions Are Meant to Be Broken
Taleb’s asymmetry, Prigogine’s dissipative structures, and Rushkoff’s post-narrativity converge around a common theme: modern art forms are in constant flux, continually challenged and reshaped by disruptive forces. Just as linear perspective in painting once redefined how people understood depth and realism, these theoretical frameworks reveal that today’s conventions in photography, film, and advertising are similarly impermanent. Emerging technologies create asymmetrical, chaotic shifts that continually challenge existing structures and enable new artistic approaches.
Digital platforms especially amplify this cycle, accelerating change in each medium. Photography, film, and advertising have all been influenced by mobile technology, AI, and streaming, each a catalyst for reconfiguration. Just as perspective once introduced new rules for painting, these technologies rewrite the conventions of each medium, expanding and diversifying creative possibilities in ways that defy linear progression.
Conclusion: Embracing a Future of Fluid Conventions
The development of linear perspective serves as a historical reminder of how art’s most foundational conventions are rarely final; instead, they are stepping stones in a longer process of reinvention. Photography, film, and advertising, though still young compared to painting, show similar fluidity. Taleb’s asymmetry reveals how even small innovations can ripple through entire fields; Prigogine’s dissipative structures highlight how chaos fosters creative adaptation; and Rushkoff’s post-narrativity shows how fragmentation can become a powerful storytelling tool.
Ultimately, the youth of these mediums, coupled with a history of continual change, suggests that their current “rules” and conventions are merely temporary. Like the painters of the Renaissance who saw perspective as a way to create new dimensions, today’s artists, filmmakers, and advertisers are pioneering new forms and tools. These shifts remind us that art, regardless of the medium, will always evolve in response to the world around it, embracing the fluidity that has characterized creative expression throughout history.
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