Are you an artist?

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People buy cameras, then call themselves artists, eventually may learn a few skills...almost nobody does anything of significance in the eyes of others beyond making "pretty pictures" which, by definition, are not "art." If what one does isn't significant beyond "pretty" in the eyes of others, the first thing we realize is that it's not "art".

In photography, "artist" means virtually nothing.

so then, ugly is art?
 
When I was in college they said "art" was the product of "artisan" which was from a Latin root that meant; by the hand of man.

So in effect everything is art, weather you like it or not. :):)

maybe someone should start a "Are you a good artist thread"
 
I agree with this, Stewart. Anything created with the intention of it being art, is art. It may or not be good, which is subjective anyway, but it is art.
 
A 'straight' photograph (which is to some extent an impossible thing, but you get the idea) of Richard's tree would not be art, but seeing the possibilities, thinking them through, and putting them into practice makes the photograph more than a plain accident. So is that one definition of art ?


Tell that to Paul Strand. The man who literally created the term "Straight Photography".

To quote Alfred Stieglitz,

"His work is rooted in the best tradition of photography. His vision is potential. His work is pure. It is direct. It does not rely upon tricks of process. In whatever he does there is applied intelligence. In the history of photography there are but few photographers who, from the point of view of expression, have really done much work of any importance. And by importance we mean work that has some relatively lasting quality, that element which gives all art its real significance... The work is brutally direct. Devoid of any flim-flams; devoid of trickery and any 'ism', devoid of any attempt to mystify an ignorant public...."
 
Surely, this is an example of art:

http://www.billynewmanphotography.com/


So, no one wants to dispute this photographer's work as art? He is a gentleman, yet he considers his work art and himself as an artist. Why wouldn't he? Why would anyone hesitate to call his work "art" if he produced the images with that in mind?

One example:


 
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So, no one wants to dispute this photographer's work as art? He is a gentleman, yet he considers his work art and himself as an artist. Why wouldn't he? Why would anyone hesitate to call his work "art" if he produced the images with that in mind?

How can anyone dispute that it is 'fine art photography' when no one knows what that term means? Take away the 'fine art' part and the photographs remain the same...to be judged on their content, not their label.
 
so then, ugly is art?


Ugly isn't necessarily "art", but "pretty" isn't either...and pretty is soooo much easier than anything else :) Sunsets, kittykats, female anatomy....

IMO photography at it's best is unrelated to art. It's quite fine as snapshots or street or trash or record of foreign travel etc...

And art does sometimes occur, but that's not important.

At it's BEST, photography is photography and doesn't flounce around as art.
 
Call it "art" if you like. But it's a fine photo so why reduce it to that?



So, no one wants to dispute this photographer's work as art? He is a gentleman, yet he considers his work art and himself as an artist. Why wouldn't he? Why would anyone hesitate to call his work "art" if he produced the images with that in mind?

One example:


 
Well, Richard....

Like I mentioned last night...

Pity, though, art is all around us and some only refer to it as "photography". It's kind of like limiting a beautiful piece of art on canvas as a "painting". But, worse, it's sad when someone does not have the confidence in their own work to recognize it as art.

Oh, well, I'm outta here. I learned a long time ago not to argue with a mindset.

Cheers,
 
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