Gustave Caillebotte was a French Impressionist, though he painted in a more realistic style than many other Impressionists. In common with his precursors Millet and Courbet Caillebotte tried to paint reality as it existed and as he saw it. Perhaps because of his close relationship with so many of his peers, his style and technique varies considerably among his works, as if "borrowing" and experimenting, but not really sticking to any one style. His work may have been strongly influenced by Japanese prints and the new technology of photography, though evidence of his actual use of photography is lacking. Cropping and "zooming-in", techniques which are also commonly found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely derive from his intense interest in perspective effects. A large number of his paintings also make use of a very high vantage point.