But is it art?

One thing that I enjoy about doing art shows is the communication with people who view my work. Generally, I am flattered by the lovely comments from folks who stop by and look at the images.

One idea that I encounter fairly regularly is the notion that somehow photography and art are two different things. Of course, this is a dialogue that has been going on since the first photographs were made in the early 1800's!

In the 20th century, leading lights such as Stieglitz promoted photography as a unique and whole art form, and by the 30's, there was a general consensus in the art world (i.e. academia and major public galleries) that photography deserved a place among more traditional art forms. I cannot imagine that someone could look at an Edward Weston nude, or an Ansel Adams landscape and fail to see the artistic merit.

The idea persists in some circles, though, that photography is at best a poor relation to the traditional art forms.

I suspect that this has to do with two realities. First, it is possible for almost anyone who is not blind to pick up a camera (especially a digital point and shoot) and create an image. Whether that image has any artistic value is another matter altogether, of course.

The second, related issue is the notion of craft. Traditional artistic media require some learning and skill to create the final work (although looking at some work that is exhibited, one might want to debate that - with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Fine art photography, as distinguished from snapshots or purely documentary work, is ultimately about the final print. That print must be visually appealing, and reflect the photographer's intent in capturing the image. Adams wrote about the importance of "previsualization" to photography. What he meant was that the successful image is the result of a photographer looking at a scene, and imagining what the final print would look like. The ability to do so is the result of learning the craft of photography.

We need to acknowledge that all photography is an abstraction - a two-dimensional representation of a four dimensional world (with time as the fourth dimension).

The final print that a photographer exhibits represents the culmination of a process, which includes perception of a scene/composition, choice of camera, medium (film type, digital settings), camera and lens set up, exposure, processing choices, image manipulation (darkroom or digital) and final output and presentation.

The photographer exerts artistic control at all of these points.

Contrary to some opinions, the fine art photograph represents a considerable amount of "craft", analogous to the traditional artist's choices of composition, medium, tools, and development of the ability to manifest their artistic intent.

So, is photography art? Yes and no. The family snaps of the dog or cottage sunset are straight and literal records devoid of expressive intent or craft. A fine art print that incorporates the photographer's creative process from perception to print is arguably a work of art.