The term photorealism was coined by American author Louis K. Meisel in 1969. Also sometimes referred to as super-realism and hyper-realism, photorealism was an art movement which evolved in the 1970s from Pop art (an artistic genre from the 1960s which used familiar images like advertisements as its subjects). Photorealism was sometimes viewed as a counter response to the abstract and minimalist art movements associated with the same period. As photorealism gained momentum, the use of photographs was met with intense criticism, despite the fact that artists had been using visual devices to aid their work for many centuries.

The term photorealism was coined by American author Louis K. Meisel in 1969. Also sometimes referred to as super-realism and hyper-realism, photorealism was an art movement which evolved in the 1970s from Pop art (an artistic genre from the 1960s which used familiar images like advertisements as its subjects). Photorealism was sometimes viewed as a counter response to the abstract and minimalist art movements associated with the same period. As photorealism gained momentum, the use of photographs was met with intense criticism, despite the fact that artists had been using visual devices to aid their work for many centuries.