Photograph: is it art?
I used to think it wasn't because
you're just capturing a moment. You're not creating a fantasy world or
physically replicating something (as in drawing or painting from real life).
But there's more to photography than just pointing and shooting. There's the
exposure levels, the angle, and at the end, the editing.
A good photographer takes into
account the same things that a painter does: lighting, composition, form,
value, colour, texture, and so forth. A good photograph is more than a
representation of an object: it is interesting, it says something about the
subject, it invites inquiry, and it has beauty.
Not everyone has an eye for
photography. Many people walk through life and don't notice the small things
that say big things.. They wouldn't think to go at it at this angle to get the
most meaning out of the picture. For example; you could see a bent nail sticking
out of the floor and not care that it's there. Or maybe it is a problem, so you
point and shoot to show it to the carpenter to get it fixed.
Then there's the daring factor. Are you brave
enough to go out there and get that great shot? Or are you too timid to walk
out there, so you stay in the back and just get what comes by.. That boldness
is an art.
Anything that helps you express what
is inside you can be considered art. There are a lot of photographers who spend
just as much time on a photo as a painter does on a painting.
Some times Photography is a
complicated art form. Sure, anyone can take a picture and call themselves a
photographer. It's no different then someone painting a picture and calling
themselves a painter.
It takes more then lucks to get a
good picture. Sure some photos are the right place at the same time, but
conceptual and macro, and other posed types of photography take skill to
achieve. Even if it is being in the right place and the right time, you can't
just snap the photo and call it a masterpiece. It's a matter of getting the
right settings in order to produce something beautiful. You can't just turn on
a camera and expect to take a masterpiece, just as you can't expect to buy some
paint and a canvas and paint like Van Gogh.
perhaps not the snap shots that parents take of their
kids, or that tourists snap of things that will be sentimental to them and only
them (although a few may be lucky to have the elements of a good photograph),
but photography (if done correctly) can be one of the most meaningful and
powerful forms of art there is.
In a way, photography is a more
personal form of paper art (I don’t know if that's the correct term, but art
that you draw) it takes the world’s natural beauty and turns it into something
breathtaking for all to see.
You can't just take a picture, and
call it photography. you have to see and feel the image which is being
photographed. it has to mean something to you.
I think art is a form of expression. just like
music is art. i love both, and consider both to be art.
So consider this, For photography to have its place
in the world of Art, it must have within it that quality of having been
achieved by the hand of a competent Artist, along with the hand of a
technically competent photographer. Many technical photographers do magnificent
work in the way of recording what the world has, but only Artist-photographers
can do work that can hold its place in Art salons and Collections.
I say It depends on who's behind the camera...if a
true artist composes the picture, then it will be art and you'll know it. Some
photography is not art. Any form of expressing yourself is an art. Photography
is not always art, but there is art in photography.
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