Is Photography Art?

The Arguments for

In this document I will be making an argument for the topic” Is photography Art?” I hope that by the end of the arguments that I have put forward, this would have change people’s perceptions of photography.   

So is photography art? Let us define the word art; “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”.[Google’s definition]

So in relation to this definition, I could easily argue that photography is art. Let us break down the above definition into segments.

1. The expression or application of human creative skill. When one looks at a photographer like Andy Warhol, he could clearly tick all the boxes in this piece of statement. He expresses himself in the photos that he chooses and applies his creative skills. No could argue that this isn’t an artistic photograph, this is one picture, which has three different elements to it. This is one of the many photographs that Andy Warhol has applied his artistic touch to, which has easily established that photography is truly art.

2.  Imagination and typical in a visual form. It takes a lot of imagination to create great art, which cannot be denied. There are different stages in creating a great photograph; a lot of the time the photographer takes the picture then he plans the different things he could with the image. Andreas Gursky is one of the photographers that are causing quite a stir in the art industry. His work has been criticise for work not putting much work into any of his images but at the same time this picture was sold for a cool £2.7 million.  Clearly this image was seen as great piece of art why it has generate that kind of money.

1. Producing work to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Have we not seen a picture that captures our attention for one reason or the other? We don’t have the same needs, taste or desires so our perceptions towards life may vary in many ways.   In fact, the very mention of the word art, the first thing that pops into the head is a man sitting/standing with a paint brush and some paint on a board capturing what is presented before that individual.  But art covers a wide range of areas and such as abstract, moving and other forms.

Summary

In summary, there is no doubt that photography is art; I have presented enough evidence to back up the argument that photography is indeed art. The quote from Google has provides reason to say that photography is a form of art. This argument will go on for a long time to come as what a lot of people will always be looking for in art is someone with a paintbrush and canvas. The people who are against photography in art are, I’m going to have to be honest they are just have a one track mind.

Is Photography Art?

The Arguments against

“Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finish product”. [Edward Steichen] This statement is answering the question for me, the amount of work an artist puts in their work is for more than what a photographer put in the images.  When we assess what is term as art and what is been submitted as art now, it makes one wonder when was the rules changed?  There are some artist who strongly argues that photography will never be classed as art and for some strange reason I can understand. To compare a person who sits down for hours to create a masterpiece, and someone who on the stroke of luck might just capture an amazing picture is completely unfair.

Let us look deeper into the topic; lets really look at what is been presented as art. Here is a cucumber on a grey background, and one could ask where is the art in this? All I can see is just what it is, a vegetable on a background; any person with a camera could have taken this image. If an artist did this same image, whether by paint or some other method: without any shadow of a doubt this would be more appreciated.

With photography software more widely used now, we see where the argument “photography is art” can be more supporting. With the lies of Photoshop, anyone could take any image and make it into something like this picture. The truth of the matter is the image was already there, the person only add their touch by manipulate the picture to add their own personal touch to it. As with the cucumber type thing that was displayed earlier in the presentation is clear indication that the artist and his brush will be heading out the window soon. There are other exhibits that are been displayed in art galleries around the world, which would really add to the question that is photography art.

“It just looks stupid when a photograph is framed or backlit and displayed vertically in an exhibition, in the way paintings have traditionally been shown. A photograph in a gallery is a flat, soulless, superficial substitute for painting. Putting up massive prints is a waste of space, when the curators could provide iPads and let us scroll through a digital gallery that would easily be as beautiful and compelling as the expensive prints.”[Jonathan Jones, Guardian]. This is a comment form the Guardian newspaper in relation to a debate by two of its columnist debating the subject whether photography is art. The columnist has been handed with a lot of angry comments from readers to the newspaper.  This answers the question and put the argument to rest. “Photography is not Art”.

Summary

“Art is not what you see but what you make others see” [Degas]

To summarise what we have just discussed; as we’ve already looked at some key points in this argument against photography and art, it is clearly that it isn’t.  We have seen with the much software that is around these days people are creating some great images I must admit. But to say that it is art, well, that is where the debate is, for me that am just mimicry of art which cannot be compared with someone who sits and put time and effort into their work. I will close with this quote which will support this argument. “The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.”[Auguste Rodin]