Photography As Art: Part 1_Entry 2_Week 17

“There are three fundamental components of what we call art. First, is the artist; second, is the medium; and third, is the art work. All three, clearly, are interrelated” (Beckman, 1).      

 

When people first hear the word “art”, they involuntarily think of the stereotypical artist wearing a beret hat holding a paint brush in one hand and a painting palette covered in vibrant colors in the other. If the word “photography” is mentioned, the general public will have an image in their minds similar to that of either a camera or photos. Do they, however, think of the significance behind those two words? Do people ever wonder how or could “art” and “photography” possibly relate? Could a photographer also be considered an “artist”?

Photographer Edward Weston said, "Photography as a creative expression - or what you will - must be 'seeing' plus: seeing alone would mean factual recording - the illustrator of catalogues does that. The 'plus' is the basis of all arguments on 'what is art'" (Beckman, 1). Beckman, author of the web article, “Photography as Art”, argues that “what the artist brings to the audience is her response to the subject and not the subject itself.” Both photography and art are not simple displays of the world, but rather are communicating a message (Beckman, 1).

According to The New Webster’s Library of Practical Information, the term “art” simply means “the use of the imagination to make things of aesthetic significance”. Photography is “the art or process of producing photographs”, and an artist is “a person who uses deliberate skill in making things of beauty” (Webster’s Dictionary, 22, 301). Is it possible to be an artist who creates art with the simple stroke of a brush and a click of a camera button? Photography and art conjointly require imagination, creativity, and the skill to create a commonplace object into a thing of beauty.

Works Cited

Beckman, Tad. “Photography as Art.” HMC. Harvey Mudd College, 24   Nov. 2004. Web. 26 Sep. 2012.

Olsen, Chuck. “American Photography- A Century of Images: Art.”    KNPB. Kodak, CPB, PBS, National Endowment for the Arts,    The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the   George Gun    Foundation. Web. 26 Sep. 2012.

Orvell, Miles. American Photography. Oxford: Oxford University     Press, 2003. Print.

The New Webster’s Library of Practical Information. New York: Lexicon Publications, Inc., 1990. Print.

Thripp, Richard. “10 Reasons Why Photography Sucks and Isn’t an    Art Form.” Thripp Photography. Richard Thripp, 20 June   2008. Web. 26 Sep. 2012.