When I do shows I frequently get people looking at my works and then asking if I’m the photographer.  My answer is, “Yes, I am.”   But this past weekend I got asked a different question – “Are you the artist?”  I think that’s the only time I’ve been asked that in over two years of doing shows.  I was deeply grateful and expressed my thanks for the implication behind her question.

I think there’s a tenuous relationship in many peoples’ minds between photography and art.  Why else would they ask, “Did you manipulate that photograph?”  My answer to this one is always, “Well yes, of course.”  How can a photographer also be an artist and NOT manipulate the photographs?

To me, art is two things – communication and interpretation.

Most artists have a need to express themselves, to say something through their art.  That’s very clear with the literary arts but it also applies to visual arts, music, dance, and so on.  And as an artist matures she or he develops a personal style, a voice.  Some artists develop a very strong, highly recognizable personal style.  And this tempers what is communicated through their art.

The other aspect of art is interpretation.  Creativity is the act of creating something totally new or treating something familiar in a new, enlightening and surprising way.  That is how the artist presents subjects in ways that provide new insights.  So the creative act is an act of interpretation.  Showing a subject in a new and refreshing light is an act of interpretation.  Helping the viewer to see things that might be missed is an act of interpretation.

So the artist photographer almost always will need to do something to a captured image to express a unique personal style and provide an interpretation that is interesting and new.  Call it adjustments, enhancements, post processing or manipulation, the result is a unique work of art, not mere documentation.

We’ll be at the Encinitas Street Faire this weekend.  Come on down.  The weather should be great and there’s good food to boot.  I’ll be in space 619.  That’s on Coast Highway 101 between E and F Street.  Print this post and bring it along to receive an additional 10% discount.  See you this weekend.

This afternoon I was honored to present “The Photographer as Artist” to about 55 members of the Newport Beach arts community.  The talk was hosted by the Newport Beach Arts Foundation.  The presentation was very well received.  Afterwards people made comments like,

“I expected to see a slide show but was pleasantly surprised to hear your analysis of art and photography.”

“You didn’t give the presentation I expected.  Instead you showed insight into the nature of art and how photography relates to it.”

“I understand better now how photography is an art.”

“Your talk was inspirational.”

I’ll be presenting the talk, “The Photographer as Artist” this Sunday, April 19, 2009 at the Newport Coast Community Center.  The talk is sponsored by the Newport Beach Art Foundation and will be from 1:30 to 3:30.  The presentation is multi-media and asks the question, “What does photography have in common with other art forms?”  We will be discussing and illustrating the three things all arts have in common and show how they relate to photography.  If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by.  The address is 6401 San Joaquin Hills Road, Newport Coast, CA 92657.  There is no cost but donations are accepted.  All proceeds go to the Newport Beach Art Foundation.  Doors open at 1:30.  See you there.

Announcing the Eastern Sierra Monsoon Photography Workshop for July 11-16, 2009.  The objective is to photograph some fantastic thunder clouds towering over the crest of the spectacular Sierra Nevada mountains.  And we’ll work in a couple of other things like ancient bristlecone pines, Mono Lake, the Owens River and much, much more.  It promises to be a fantastic workshop.  Click the link below for more information…

2009 Eastern Sierra Monsoon Photography Workshop

To see more of my work go to http://RalphNordstromPhotography.com

I attended a play recently that put Einstein and Picasso in conversation in a bistro in Paris.  The play is “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” by Steve Martin.  Besides being hilarious the conversation between these two towering forces in our society shows that the two of them, while seemingly at opposite ends of the human spectrum, are really doing exactly the same thing.  They just use a different language to express themselves.  Picasso uses lines that are free flowing and create visual images.  Einstein uses lines that are in the shape of letters and numbers that also create images but which are not so visual.

Well, I had to read more.  So I bought several books on the subject and am starting through the first one – “Art & Physics – Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light” by Leonard Shlain.  I must say, it is a fascinating read.  I’ve only made it through two chapters so far which takes us through the classical Greeks.  But already there’s a quotation I’d like to share with you.

“Art and physics… are an integrated duality:  they are simply two different but complementary facets of a single description of the world.  Integrating art and physics will kindle a more synthesized awareness which begins in wonder and ends with wisdom.

~Leonard Shlain