I have heard the critics say many times that photography is NOT art and I seriously can not comprehend what they mean. I’ve seen some pretty bad photos, some of them in an art gallery hanging next to a painting of dogs playing poker. Matter of fact, I have even produced some pretty bad photos, paintings and drawings myself, but they are ALL art.
I’m not here to tell you what is good or bad art, because you know it when you see it. Art is subjective. An artist interprets what they see and through different mediums they are able to convey an emotion in order to elicit a response to their work. That response may not always be what the artist was hoping for, but it is a response none the less. That is what makes it art.
Photography is not simply pointing the camera at something and pushing the button (although, to a 5 year old with a camera, it might just be the pushing the button). The photographer has planned the shot, waited for the light to be just right, adjusted the aperture to produce the exact depth of field, set the shutter speed to capture that one fleeting moment in time. It is the same way an artist applies paints to the palette, sketches a composition on the canvas, smudges the charcoal to create a shadow and depth. It is all art. Whether or not it is good or bad art? Well, that is up to the observer.
For me, photography is a quick escape for my creative mind. When life starts to get busy and it is hard for me to have studio time, I can get creative with my camera. I do not consider myself a professional photographer, but I use photography as an outlet that helps me charge up my batteries to illustrate or paint. So don’t let anyone tell you that photography is not art. If it inspires……….it is art, no matter the tools used.
