Portraiture has been around as long as people wanted they're family and relatives to remember them. It started as paintings when people had to sit in front of a painter for hours not moving so that they would get a painting which the next generations could admire. Portraiture has moved on when cameras were invented. People that wanted photos no longer needed to sit still for hours but it would take just a few minutes to take a photo. This allowed more people to have their faces to be imprinted in history because it was cheaper to have photos taken than having a painting made for you. this allowed people who were not as wealthy as noble people to have memories from their days.
There was also a shift of power from the person in front of the camera to the person behind the camera. At first the person in front of the camera said how the portraits should look and how the photographer should take the photo. Diane Arbas was one of the first photographers to show that the photographer knows more than the person in front of the camera. She was given an assignment to follow a family throughout Christmas and she took some photos when the family did not know they were being photographed. After Christmas the family were very pleased with the photos. Thatshowed the family and many other people that the person in front of the camera is capable of seeing more and adding texture and composition better than the person behind it.
War photography has influenced many societies including ours by showing the facts and images that would shock and embed in our memories about how horrific and terrible war can be. One of the most controversial photos that was taken was taken by Eddie Adams showing the execution of a handcuffed Vietcong soldier. This raised a lot of attention and a lot of anger from America because America has teamed up with the South Vietnamese to fight against the North Vietnamese. After seeing the South Vietnamese General shoot a handcuffed prisoner America began to think if they were supporting the right side. This photo was the turning point in Americas opinion about the war. The photos that usually are the most influencial are the ones taken accidentally. 
Robert Capa was another photographer who showed the gruesomeness and unforgiveness of war by photographing a dying soldier by being at the right place at the right time. This image also helped many people to understand that war can happen anywhere and at any time. It helped people to understand that war should be avoided. Some photographs were censored to protect people from seeing images like this. Photogrpahy was the only way to show people back home what war was like and what the soldiers went through everyday.