Multiple Modernities

From the end of the 1700s through the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution radically reshaped the world and the nature of social relations. Technical progress in modes of communication, in the form of the telegraph, rail and road networks, saw distances dwindle and the circulation of goods and people accelerate. Colonial expansion intensified as European powers expand their influence into Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. The advent of modernity marked the end of isolationist policies, a broadening of horizons and a deeper fascination for unknown cultures and peoples.

The invention of photography in 1839 created the exhilarating feeling of immediate contact with the outside world and helped to eliminate notions of distance and remoteness. The new medium also had a major impact on artistic development by liberating artists from established canons and allowing them to explore subjects and techniques through a contemporary lens.