Over the weekend I listened to an eloquent and famous photographer giving a great radio interview. The comments were intelligent and insightful about their childhood determination to be an artist and their successful commercial pursuit of same.
Then I visited their website for a big shock.
To me personally, their images which are so successful commercially are third rate, if that. If I had shot those images, I would have destroyed them as mistakes not worth showing to anyone. The only good thing that I can say about their images is that they are unusual - and so were marginally imaginative.
So, in today's art world, is all that it takes to be successful as an artist or photographer the ability to present something unusual -- even if that presentation shows little or no talent?.
Stephen
Then I visited their website for a big shock.
To me personally, their images which are so successful commercially are third rate, if that. If I had shot those images, I would have destroyed them as mistakes not worth showing to anyone. The only good thing that I can say about their images is that they are unusual - and so were marginally imaginative.
So, in today's art world, is all that it takes to be successful as an artist or photographer the ability to present something unusual -- even if that presentation shows little or no talent?.
Stephen
I would think that all one needs to be successful is to have someone else willing to pay for it. As far as talent, there is always someone who will champion a photographer and the next person will say it is utter garbage. This has happened since photography's inception. The internet has made it even worse.
YYV_146
Well-known
Maybe it's all just part a money laundering scheme...
FrankS
Registered User
"Something unusual" is fairly objective.
"Shows little or no talent" is fairly subjective.
Maybe the least subjective definition of art is whether or not money is exchanged for it as a work of art, either during or after the maker's lifetime. Anything else will sound elitist, requiring subjective judgement by "those in the know."
back alley
IMAGES
lots of 'art' talk lately...
FrankS
Registered User
An attempt to balance out the gear talk maybe?
back alley
IMAGES
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
Nothing new, Stephen. The "art world" prides itself in weeding through the noise and selecting "new" stuff. Just as long as the "new" stuff is something they've seen before and were told it was new.
Then the contrarians go for vintage (shots taken in the 70s or earlier). You just have to be in tune with what the self-dictated market wants, that's all. I'm perpetually out of tune with that particular frequency spectrum.
Then the contrarians go for vintage (shots taken in the 70s or earlier). You just have to be in tune with what the self-dictated market wants, that's all. I'm perpetually out of tune with that particular frequency spectrum.
kbg32
neo-romanticist
People always feel melancholy and nostalgic this time of year. Another year has gone by. Steps towards dreams fulfilled or not. One year closer to the end, or the beginning.
f16sunshine
Moderator
These are desperate times for originality.
As most clichés are true this one is well.... "there are very few original ideas left in this world".
"Unusual" may be as close to original as some artists will ever get.
(sorry that may all sound very cynical)
As most clichés are true this one is well.... "there are very few original ideas left in this world".
"Unusual" may be as close to original as some artists will ever get.
(sorry that may all sound very cynical)
FrankS
Registered User
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
Whose, the art world's or the cynics'?
Darshan
Well-known
Yes, "art" is thrown around very loosely these days.
Success in photography these days depends on how many "followers" you have - stupid enough to part with their money for a piece of "art".
Success in photography these days depends on how many "followers" you have - stupid enough to part with their money for a piece of "art".
FrankS
Registered User
The uncynical.
Sparrow
Veteran
... art is that which is curated
back alley
IMAGES
i curate my own walls...art?
FrankS
Registered User
I thought this was brilliantly simple, but then I thought of all the work done which is never selected, organized, and displayed.
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
It's all about who and where (the curating), n'est-ce pas?
daveleo
what?
"Art" is undefinable, and we'll certainly never have an agreement on what it is. But, that aside ......
I think that something becomes "Art" when someone pays more than $10,000 for it.
I think that something becomes "Art" when someone pays more than $10,000 for it.
gdmcclintock
Well-known
I'm a genius... In my own mind. I even taught my five-year-old to say, "Daddy's a f'k'n' genius!" So what if no one agrees with me.