What does Emerson think is the real artistic charm of photography?

Emerson believes that photography is an independent art category, on an equal footing with other arts. The real artistic charm of photography does not lie in the artificial imitation effect, but should go to nature and reflect the beautiful image existing in nature. Emerson's point of view caused a controversy because it violated the traditional artistic concept at that time. Finally, influenced by the "theory of the limitation of the tonal range of photosensitive materials" studied by two scientists at that time, Emerson sadly declared that "photography is a limited art" and gave up his own point of view and wrote a book "The Death of Naturalistic Photography". Although Emerson gave up the idea of naturalistic photography, he was the first person to challenge the old painting photography and the first pioneer to study photography aesthetics according to the documentary characteristics of photography. Emerson's position in the history of photography can not be ignored.