This problem was solved by Dolph in 1946. He derives a method for obtaining weights for uniformly spaced linear arrays steered to broadside (=90 degrees). This is a popular weighting method because the sidelobe level can be specified, and the minimum possible null-null beamwidth is obtained.
Some differences is that: Photography can form a picture in seconds, where as a painting can take months to create. Also, photography is a cheaper, and also, you can make sooo many images of the same photo via the negatives. Paintings have only One, unless the artist is bothered to paint the exact same painiting! lol.
Straight photography doesn't mean you don't try to improve an image, in fact it's the rare image direct from a digital camera that doesn't need some tweaking. Straight photography has always been inferior to oil painting in its ability to hold a wall. Enlarge even the best 35mm negative or digital SLR RAW file to the width of a living room sofa and you don't have to stand very close to notice softness and lack of contrast.