Final answer:
Before digital photography, artists made prints in a darkroom using photographic plates and later film. Photography transitioned from simply documenting details to being recognized as a fine art through the efforts of photographers like Stieglitz and Steichen.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before the invention of digital photography, visual artists working with photographic film made prints in a darkroom. This process involved using various chemicals to develop and fix the image onto photographic paper. Artists would capture images using photographic plates prior to the invention of film, which required time-consuming setups with heavy equipment and sensitive materials. The transition to dry glass plates and then to film, as developed by George Eastman, significantly reduced the labor involved in photography.
Photography was initially seen as a convenient medium for reproducing artworks for publication and capturing exact details but struggled for recognition as a fine art. However, after photography and art were displayed alongside each other at Paris's Universal Exposition of 1859, efforts increased to elevate photography as an art form in its own right. Photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen were instrumental in this movement, with Stieglitz introducing photography into museum collections and verifying its status as a fine art.
The art of photography has since evolved and is now recognized as a valuable and legitimate form of artistic expression, with works selling for substantial sums and artists continuing to push the boundaries of what the medium can achieve.