It doesn't make Vermeer any less of an artistic genius. He had to invent new or improve existing devices, set up the scene, not to mention execute the painting

It doesn't make Vermeer any less of an artistic genius. He had to invent new or improve existing devices, set up the scene, not to mention execute the painting itself. No one says photo-realistic painters are fakers or cheaters when they recreate photographs on the canvas. Working from a photo does a lot of the same work as a camera obscura; it flattens the perspective, defines the colors, etc.