Is photography an art? Lots of people believe photography is a form of art, including myself. Many contemporary artists see art as an idea. The concept is more important than the work of art. Most people would believe that art is sketching, drawing, painting, or sculpture Recently, the Art world has described photography as a method that people can use to create works of art. Yet, not all photography is considered art depending on opinion. There are a variety of opinions when it comes to photography being an art. Finally, countless untrained people are now taking snapshots with smart phones and then editing them with apps like Instagram. Are these people artists? Are their photographs works of art? It all depends.
Many people who have studied art would argue the
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This implies that the art of photography is about making photographs—not taking snapshots. Photography as Art. The photographer can create art from any genre, still life, street photography, documentary, landscape, nude, portrait, using a particular style–point of view, choice of lens, type of lighting, color or black and white. In the 30s, Edward Weston began seeing landscapes creatively and captured it with his camera in black and white. Similarly, Ansel Adams often captured landscapes as abstracts in black and white. The Museum of Modern Art also began collecting photographs at this time. Throughout the 50s, many photographers began viewing the camera as a tool for creating art. For instance, Arnold Newman composed his subjects artistically within their working environment and then took celebrity portraits of them. One of his famous photographs captures Igor Stravinsky sitting at the far left of his piano. Robert Frank journeyed across the United states in an old car, capturing the ordinary, banal, prosaic of American life. In the 1960s, a myriad of photographers followed the footsteps of Robert Frank and began creating “snapshot aesthetics” with their
For Emerson, the reticent beauty of nature was the motivator. To him, photography should be recognized because its still-life beauty was able to persuade the public’s appreciation of the life and nourishment
Johnson, Brooks. Photography Speaks: 150 Photographers on their Art.” New York: Aperture Foundation Inc., 2004. Print.
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter. Alfred Stieglitz was very instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form (The Art Story). Unlike Doretha Lange, Alfred Stieglitz tried making photography an art. Alfred Stieglitz once said that photography was not just about the subject of the picture, but the manipulation
Photography is defined at the art or practice of taking and processing photographs. To understand photography is having insight or good judgment to know how to take the picture, but also edit it if need be. Does photography limit our understanding of the world? What some people haven’t realized is that photography is all around us, whether it is in the person’s mind to see it or not. While we see photography throughout our daily routine, people dismiss the small types of photography and focus on the bigger sceneries like other countries beautiful cities and landscapes. It’s true that in this day and age, most photographs we see have been altered in some way. When photographers use Photoshop to edit our photos, we use many different ways to make that image appealing to the eye. Although, photographers unless told to do so will not change an image into something totally absurd that takes away from being astatically pleasing. Images are a gateway to the insight of the rest of the world’s cultures landscapes, and architecture, and photography is the key aspect to it. Photography is a one way to see the world, but it is better if you go and travel around the world to see it. In order to see if photography actually limits our understanding, we have to first look at the positive side of photography.
The world has many photographers that anyone can look at. You can call me an amateur or say I don’t really understand the art but when I look at most of the pictures available, and I have looked at thousands lately, I don’t see anything different in the style of photography. I just see pictures. I see pictures of beautiful subjects and pictures of ugly subjects. I never really thought about the difference being the photographer instead of the subject, until I saw Elliott Erwitt.
"A photograph is not merely a substitute for a glance. It is a sharpened vision. It is the revelation of new and important facts." ("Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History."). Sid Grossman, a Photo League photographer expressed this sentiment, summarizing the role photography had on America in the 1940’s and 50’s. During this era, photojournalism climaxed, causing photographers to join the bandwagon or react against it. The question of whether photography can be art was settled a long time ago. Most major museums now have photography departments, and the photographs procure pretty hefty prices. The question of whether photojournalism or documentary photography can be art is now the question at hand. Art collectors are constantly looking to be surprised; today they are excited by images first seen in last week’s newspapers as photojournalism revels in the new status as art “du jour” or “reportage art”.
“Recently, photography has become almost as widely practiced an amusement as sex and dancing, which means that, like every mass art form, photography is not practiced by most people as an art. It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power” (Sontag 8). After reading this quote in my head multiple times, I started to realize that people use it for different purposes. When I took a photography class in college, it was under the category “art.” Which made me think of it as a form of art, when there are so many other ways to view photography. Sontag changed my opinion about photography after further interpreting her quote because to have a camera in our hand, being able to capture the world through our lens is to have a tool of
Photography is more than just a means for documentation. Photography is more than snap shots at a family reunion. A fine art photographer makes more choices than people realize. Point and click is not the solution for taking a photograph (John Szarkowski 9-12) . A fine art photographer may choose to freeze action or to blur it. The freezing or blurring of action is not just done at the push of a button, it takes knowledge and an understanding of how apertures and shutter speeds relate to each other under different circumstances with different types of film (Barbara London and John Upton 98). Art or not, photography is a creative process.
... believe makes photography an art, the individual photo may still be considered close to an ideal photograph in the sense that it is a causal relationship. However the medium as a whole is capable of much more than Scruton is willing to allow. I believe that the clear distinction lays in the fact that Scruton's argument that photography's causal relationship is equivalent to perceiving the object without the photograph. This is not true, because we have found distinctions where photographs and reality can never be the same. There is no doubt that you cannot see some of the intricacies of a fast moving object with the naked eye. This brings the eye new information. It may be a mechanical depiction of how the object actually looks, but it is a unique observation of it complete with its own aesthetic interest. Therefore we must say that photography may be art.
In Roger Scruton's essay, "Why Photography Is Not Art", an effort is made to question photography as a genuine art form. Roger spends much of his essay arguing that photography is merely a weak imitation of an object, rather than a carefully crafted depiction of a subject with its own aesthetic properties. Due to the rapid rise of photography all around the globe, his viewpoints are highly controversial. It is important for us to study both sides of the argument, because photography is so important in capturing world history. Photography is a rather new concept, yet its importance is paramount in seeing how others live. Photos allow us to see and capture a specific moment in time, just like a wide array of already accepted art forms. I find it truly interesting that Roger challenges photography as art. I am certainly not a photographer, but I never knew some people challenged photography's artistic merit. I will argue today that Roger Scruton is wrong in his belief that photography has merely a "casual and not intentional" relationship with its subject (Scruton, 89). In essence, photographs lack true depiction. I will also argue that the majority of photographs due indeed, have their own aesthetic properties. This is something Roger Scruton fails to recognize.
Now before we continue we might as well define art because how can we determine if something is art if we don’t know what it is? Merriam Webster defines art as “ noun; something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings”. Now that is a great professional definition, but perhaps too professional. Allow me to try and humanize that definition, art is something that one or more people put their hearts and minds in to, art is something that can make the beholder, or viewer, or player feel or think something. Whether they feel awe at the beauty of the landscape of a game like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,
Emily Galvin Photo history Essay November 4, 2015 There is a closely knitted relationship between rise of American modernism and photography classified as fine art. These two movements were conceived around the same time, and began to be introduced and intertwined within each other, into the web of ‘what is art’. While there was the rapid quest to push American Modernism throughout New York city, Alfred Stieglitz’s had a vision of pushing photography as a medium of expression.
Art Education is not always valued in school settings. Although some may see it as an unnecessary use of school funding, there are many who believe it is beneficial to students in more ways than one. There are many different studies that have been conducted to test the effects that art education has on school-aged children. Some studies have proven that art education can help students to improve in other academic areas. In a journal article from Ohio State University’s “Theory in Practice,” Karen A Hamblen states, “There are linkages between art learning and learning in other subjects areas and that art study can promote creative behaviors, critical thinking skills, and academic achievement.” It has also been found that the arts can teach children better self-regulatory strategies, and even foster more confidence and self-efficacy in school which relates to confidence in academics. Overall, art education in schools has been very beneficial and has proven to ignite creativity, confidence, critical thinking skills, and academic achievement in students.
As well as preserving images and feelings, photography is important because it can also be used simply to create eye-catching art. Different techniques can be used to manipulate images in creative ways and create a specific atmosphere. Colors can be enhanced and made brighter, lines can be blurred and specific objects can be made to stand out. So as well as capturing something accurately and allowing you to appreciate it, photography can also simply be expression, creativity and ideas that portray certain feelings to the viewer.
Unfortunately, photography’s inclusion as a division of fine art has been a topic of debate online. There are many reasons why others believe that it should not be categorized as fine art. Photographers were branded as mere machine operators and computer editors. Claims such as photography does not require skills, taking a great photo is a matter of luck, anybody can do it and it does not require critical thinking skills dominates the discussion.