Painterly skill shows how gifted mankind can be. It is in itself an expression of our humanity; there is something of the artist in it as well as the subject.

Photography shows how far mankind has come. A far cry from painting on cave walls with a stick and animal blood, humans have created a machine that captures life as it happens. Furthermore, vast amounts of digital software - as well as traditional darkroom techniques - have been developed to add further artistic flair to the images they capture.

Professional Photographers still have to work hard to develop the skill to produce emotion and to convey a meaning in their works. Photography is is as much of an art as painting.

We are not awe inspired by photography in the same way we are by the Mona Lisa or the Sistine chapel

One person's preference does not stand for everyone else on the planet.

Many people prefer photography to paintings, or like them similarly, or like neither.

Paintings can tell us more about our nature as human beings than the literal visual world shown in photographs

Hyper-realistic paintings aim to reproduce life as accurately as possible.

Movements such as Pictorialism, in the area of photography, aimed to bring it firmly into the category of 'art'. A wide variety of techniques were employed, from extensive use of filters to etching prints with fine needles, in order to make the resultant images resemble sumptuous oil paintings.

A photograph can be taken in an instant - a painting can take years to finish. A lucky, candid shot can reveal more about a person's inner self than they even realised themselves, whereas a posed portrait will simply show the angle they want the world to see.

Photographic technology shows how ingenious mankind can be...

Painting is much cheaper - compare the prices of wash-tint plus paper with a photo camera plus accessories. Professional painting equipment is also cheaper than high-tech cameras. Without electricity (e.g. in the middle of the jungle), photography is not accessible. Analogue photography also requires photo labs. Everyone is able to paint - its quality differs from person to person but the case is similar with photography.

Photography is more accessible than painting – cheaper, quicker, and able to be made by all.

Entry-level photography equipment is cheap - and even today, most people have cameras on their cell phones or other mobile devices.

With modern digital cameras, it's easy to share images - Paintings, on the other hand, are usually one work, and cannot be easily shared, like photos can with their digitalization. Granted, people can "paint" on their computers in art programs, but in terms of accessability, paint programs and photo programs are either one and the same, or equally costly. Most people, however, make do without a photo manipulation program.

Photography is a segment reality from a certain aspect via determined access - i.e., how a photographer sees the world and how her machine is able to represent it. In question of truth it does not differ essentially from painting.

Photography is truth – it shows us what was really there at a specific time

More people can capture a recognisable image using a camera than by creating a painting. Therefore, photographs can reflect the ideas and opinions of many more demographics than painting. Consequently, it is true to say that photography is better at representing mankind as a whole.