Browncoat
Senior Member
In light of a recent forum suggestion, here is a topic that we have touched on a few times in previous discussions. Our interpretations of how to define art, and our differences in technique as photographers. While we share the same medium of photography, our artistic visions can vary greatly. Some prefer raw, pure, unaltered imagery while others toil away in their digital darkrooms. What is the gap that separates us? Are you a photographer or an artist? How would you classify yourself?
There is overlap between the photographer and the artist. But I also would argue that there is, in fact, a difference. Such as between the architect and the sculptor, or the graphic designer and the painter. The goal of both is the same, but the journey is very different. When the camera is in your hand, are you checking lighting, settings, and looking for rules of composition? Is your eye drawn to contrasting colors, repetitions in patterns, or the uniqueness of a scene?
More than anything else: What catches your attention? What is it about that particular moment that makes you press the shutter button? You have been waiting for this moment, passing by many others in anticipation of it. So what is it about right now that makes it special? Yes, all situations are different. Crossing the finish line at the end of the big race. The perfect sunset. A baby's eyes opening for the first time. A rusty old tractor. These scenes are all very different, but there is something in all of them that makes you capture them on film. Because the odds are very high that if someone else were in your shoes at that exact moment...they would do something completely different.
pho tog ra pher - noun: a person who takes photographs, either as a profession or as a hobby.
art ist - noun: a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
For the sake of this discussion, we will also follow the World English Dictionary definition of art: the production, expression, or realm of (according to aesthetic principals) what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. Loosely translated, a famous French poet once said that art is the visual representation of that which can not be expressed with words. Regardless of what any of us personally consider to be art, the general premise is the same; that its purpose is to be sensually appealing, and to evoke emotion.art ist - noun: a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
There is overlap between the photographer and the artist. But I also would argue that there is, in fact, a difference. Such as between the architect and the sculptor, or the graphic designer and the painter. The goal of both is the same, but the journey is very different. When the camera is in your hand, are you checking lighting, settings, and looking for rules of composition? Is your eye drawn to contrasting colors, repetitions in patterns, or the uniqueness of a scene?
More than anything else: What catches your attention? What is it about that particular moment that makes you press the shutter button? You have been waiting for this moment, passing by many others in anticipation of it. So what is it about right now that makes it special? Yes, all situations are different. Crossing the finish line at the end of the big race. The perfect sunset. A baby's eyes opening for the first time. A rusty old tractor. These scenes are all very different, but there is something in all of them that makes you capture them on film. Because the odds are very high that if someone else were in your shoes at that exact moment...they would do something completely different.
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