I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role of the photographer as artist. I don’t think there’s doubt in anyone’s mind that photography can be a sublime art form.
But not all photography is art and not all photographers are artists. Just about everyone has a camera these days. In fact it seems you can’t buy a cell phone without one. Virtually everyone is taking pictures but not very many photographers are trying to produce art.
The purpose of most photography is to preserve the memories of special events or times in our lives. Countless snapshots are taken when friends and families gather together. Portrait photographers preserve the way we were at points in our lives. Photojournalists and documentary photographers record the events of the world around us. Fine art photographers enrich our lives with works of art that we hang in our galleries and homes.
This series will explore the world of art and artists from the perspective of other disciplines to see what we can learn from them.
What is Art?
At the center of this discussion is the nature of art itself. Let’s set aside the question of whether photography is art. I’m sure if you are reading this you agree with me that it most definitely is. But I’d like to take on the broader question, “What is art?”
So to avoid this academic and philosophical quagmire lets approach it in a simple minded way by asking the question, “What words come to mind that describe art and artists?” I’ll propose a few. You probably have others.
Creativity: I think we generally think of art as being a creative endeavor and artists as persons who are endowed with the ability to be creative, to produce something that is in some way unique, a surprise if you will.
Aesthetics: There’s some notion that art is generally thought to possess aesthetic qualities (whatever they are). Art appeals to our aesthetic senses. Let’s just leave it at that.
Talent: Artists have special abilities besides creativity, probably present from birth, that help make them effective as artists. When we hear a young child play the piano very well we wonder at the child’s talent.
Skill: The great artists hone their talent and creativity to an extreme. They work incessantly to develop the highly refined skills necessary to excel at their art. They devote their lives to growing, to increasing their skills to better express themselves (which leads to one more word that describes art and artists).
Communication: Artists have something to say. Art says something. The message may be very intangible, visceral, even inscrutable, but none the less the message is there. We know that when we experience a work of art and say, “I don’t get it.” The assumption is that there is something to ‘get’ from a work of art.
An Interesting Question
Now here’s something to think about if you haven’t already. When you experience a work of art, does it say more about the subject or the artist? I don’t want to discuss this question just now but will definitely come back to it.
An Approach to Studying the Art of Photography
There is a lot of discussion about what photographers can and cannot do. Because cameras are generally believed to capture reality (see What Constitutes a Fine Art Photograph?), photographers are often held to a ‘reality standard’, even fine art photographers. I often get asked at shows and street fairs if the colors in my photographs are real or if I use filters. The viewing public accepts that paintings are abstractions and interpretations but they seem to want photographs to be real.
The discussion is vigorous and perpetuated by photographers of the highest caliber when they say, “These photographs are unaltered.”
But there is a lot we can understand about photography if we look at other art forms and that’s exactly what we’ll do in the articles to come. We’ll look at painters, authors, composers, performers, sculptors, dancers, playwrights, actors and more and examine their art and what they do to become artists. We will find some striking commonalities across all art forms that can be applied to photography if we so choose.
My other artistic background is in classical music which I’ll draw on for most of the examples.
We will find that it is useful to think in terms of a Tripod of Artistry – three legs upon which all arts and artists stand.
Read about leg one – Expressive Spectrum.
Read about leg two – coming soon.
Read about leg three – coming soon.
Read about what’s sitting on top of the Tripod of Artistry – coming soon.
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