Are you an artist?

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lawrence said:
I cannot think of any great photographer who has called himself/herself an 'artist'. Why should they -- surely it's enough to be a 'photographer'?
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But isn't a true photographer someone that is skilled in the ART of photography. They shouldn't have to call themselves artist. The people that admire their work will do it for them.

Mike D.
 
A very talented singer and writer who lived locally found it very hard to survive in Oz despite her recognition via numerous awards as a blues performer. She went to Ireland on holiday with her partner and was amazed at the encouragement the government and tax department offers all sorts of artists there instead of the constant obstacles she encounters here ... she thought seriously about moving there for a while!

This country has changed a lot luckily but there is still public perception that artists are just weird layabouts who expect their easy path through life to be paved by the taxpayers via grants and other such folly!
 
To be a Doctor, you have to be qualified, the same as an Electrician, Engineer, Nurse, Plumber, School Teacher, etc.
I can pick up a paint brush now & call myself an artist.
As a matter of fact, I don't have to pick up a paint brush.
Like Marke said a few posts ago, I can call myself an artist, simply for the way I express myself.
Actually, I don't even need to express myself, I can just exist.
Wow, I'm begining to sound like an artist!!
Anyway, that's my point - Photography & Art are of the few practices that allow one to charge more than a surgeon & talk more BS than a Real Estate Agent (who by the way, has to be qualified), without any formal training or qualification whatsoever.
 
Qualifications aside ... some of the artists I've encountered had an unmistakable gift that went beyond any formal academic training they may have received.
 
Keith said:
A very talented singer and writer who lived locally found it very hard to survive in Oz despite her recognition via numerous awards as a blues performer. She went to Ireland on holiday with her partner and was amazed at the encouragement the government and tax department offers all sorts of artists there instead of the constant obstacles she encounters here ... she thought seriously about moving there for a while!

This country has changed a lot luckily but there is still public perception that artists are just weird layabouts who expect their easy path through life to be paved by the taxpayers via grants and other such folly!
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I have heard Norway is very supporting of artists as well. I used to listen to some Norwegian rock bands and in interviews they stated the government would provide a living allowance for artists. They didn't mention how you go about getting this allowance.
 
benlees said:
I have heard Norway is very supporting of artists as well. I used to listen to some Norwegian rock bands and in interviews they stated the government would provide a living allowance for artists. They didn't mention how you go about getting this allowance.
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I think there was something similar in Ireland ... that and from memory she was telling me you don't pay tax under a fairly generous threshold as you're establishing yourself and your career!

Of course some individuals will always take advantage of these things as happens with every form of aid but that doesn't make it any less necessary if we want to keep our artists and our art viable economically.
 
artist?

i think an artist can produce art with a camera, a brush, a typewriter, stone and chisel and all sorts of other things.

i don't believe that calling oneself an artist is pretentious as there can be great artists and poor artists, great art and lousy art.

someone who dedicates time and energy to create something for themselves and others to admire can be considered an artist in my book.
 
I suppose the "A" word, for a lot of people, smacks of misplaced self-importance, Which is sort of funny, because most of the people I know and work with who call themselves artists are generally anything but self-absorbed. Egos, they've got, but more-or-less in check. I suppose it makes a bit of a difference that I actually like the work they do. And, if I didn't? I'd just consider their work mediocre or bad art. But it's still art.

And that's the nub of the matter to me. Calling myself an "artist" doesn't confer amazing powers of somethingorother. It doesn't mean my work is great, or even good. At best, it describes my dedicating myself to some sort of creative endeavor, to a greater extent than some others. No smug air of superiority over others. It does mean that I take my work seriously, while, to quote Elliott Erwitt (one of the few individuals I might regard as a hero), not taking myself too seriously.

I've said this before, but one of the vexing things about photography , from the beginning, is that it's the most mechanical of arts, short of cinema (don't get me started on that one; Jerry Bruckheimer is shooting something right around the corner from me as I type this). Superficially, it's less hands-on than older art forms, which is one place where I locate most tension on the issue. But the beauty of the medium is that one can take it almost anyplace you want to, from extremely hands-on to a Warholish hands-off aloofness (a bit easier to do, I suppose, with the advent of digital tools). People keep surprising me, for better and worse, with how they stretch the medium in ways I'd never thought of.

And, at the end of the day, there's the question of just what is "art," anyway? Good way to start another barroom brawl. (I'm game, so long as Fred has my back...)


- Barrett
 
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Why is a collection of opinions bizarre ... I thought that's what forums were for?
 
I'd actually like to know if you are a starving artist. Unfortunately, I've developed too much of a taste for uni, o-toro, baby lamb, etc to qualify.
 
My name is Travis, and I'm an artist.



If you are passionate about whatever it is you create, be it a photograph, a painting, a cake or a really good cappuccino. Your an artist.

If their is art in the creation then the creation is art.

Did I just say that?
 
I'm not an artist, but I will be next month...

I'm not an artist, but I will be next month...

Right now I'm out putting together frames, procuring mattes and trying to find a gallery. I haven't been an artist for at least a month while going through this process... Next month, after I have the show, I'll get back to being an artist. I feel like I'm an artist when I'm doing my art. Other times, I feel like I'm just playing one until I can get it together and get back to work.

But that's just me, and man, this conversation could go on for ever.

I'm a little down at the moment, because the market is terrible and there really isn't enough patrons to support the arts (photography or otherwise). I'm hanging tough and making inroads into my own work - but the days of doing this for a living are quickly starting to "sleep" again. I'll take a day job as I have many times before - and then I'll *really* not be an artist - and then I will be again :)

Best,
-D
 
Ben Blacket said:
To be a Doctor, you have to be qualified, the same as an Electrician, Engineer, Nurse, Plumber, School Teacher, etc.
I can pick up a paint brush now & call myself an artist.
As a matter of fact, I don't have to pick up a paint brush.
Like Marke said a few posts ago, I can call myself an artist, simply for the way I express myself.
Actually, I don't even need to express myself, I can just exist.
Wow, I'm begining to sound like an artist!!
Anyway, that's my point - Photography & Art are of the few practices that allow one to charge more than a surgeon & talk more BS than a Real Estate Agent (who by the way, has to be qualified), without any formal training or qualification whatsoever.
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Ben, I didn't mean to sound as ambiguous as that. We could easily say that everyone who is alive and breathing is an artist in a sense, as they are creating a story of a life in progress. But for the sake of the mere mortals, we should probably keep to more specific definition. :cool:

As far as qualifications required for the professions you mention, unfortunately those aren't even enough to guaranty that the person is still worthy of the title. But it is, of course, a good way to weed out the witch doctors. ;)
 
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