Final answer:
The development of photography influenced artists by creating a new perception of the medium, leading to avant-garde movements like Cubism, which Picasso used to revolutionize representation. Photography's association with technology and the potential for mechanical reproduction reshaped artistic paradigms in the 20th century.
Step-by-step explanation:
The development of photography at the start of the 20th century significantly influenced artists working in non-photographic media. As social and cultural landscapes rapidly changed due to industrialization, political revolution, and technological advancements, artists were inspired to reflect these transformations within their work. This led to diverse movements such as Cubism, Futurism, and Dadaism, which embraced the principles of simultaneity, speed, destruction, and reconstruction. Photography became increasingly appealing for its association with technology and the modernity of the era.
An artist who determined that this new process changed the representation of the observable world was Pablo Picasso. He, co-founder of Cubism, broke away from traditional perspectives in painting, inspired by the new visual possibilities photography suggested. As a result, Picasso's work, like 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,' revolutionized artistic representation by fracturing the three-dimensional world into a flat plane of intersecting perspectives.
Furthermore, the camera's ability to mechanically reproduce images fostered new art forms like photomontage and influenced avant-garde practices. This mechanical aspect of photography was seen as emblematic of the post-World War I era's desire for progress and a new vision, which was different from the earlier efforts to mimic the aesthetics of fine art. The embracing of these new mediums and techniques signified a shift in paradigms of vision and representation brought upon by photography's development.