Using what you've read and discovered so far, answer the question, "What makes a photograph art?" To answer this question, you'll need to work out a definition of art or find some kind of criteria from which to make a judgment. Feel free to refer to specific photos and, if they are online, add an address so we can look at them too.
If several of you have links or address and they won't work on the blog, I'll create a discussion for this topic in D2L.
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28 comments:
"What makes a photograph art?"
Well, for starters, I think we need to know what art is. According to Britannica Online, art is "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others." Based on this definition, I will procede to answer the above question.
When examining a photograph, I think it would be necessary to look it over and see if indeed skill and imagination was used in the making of the piece. Further, the piece would need to be aesthetically pleasing (beautiful, pleasing to sight, etc.). Once these two simple criteria are met, it is my opinion that a photograph can validly be labeled a "piece of art."
I did find some criteria online that pertained to the judging of art in which both of my criteria were included. They also went a bit more in-depth and included in their criteria the aspects of meaning, uniqueness, and fulfilled intent. Though I believe these aspects may be important, I do not believe they should necessarily determine whether or not a piece is actually a piece of art. After all, the artist's intent may well have been fulfilled in his/her eyes, but to the average viewer... it is sorely lacking. What then? Is it the viewer's opinion that matters or does not the artist's say carry any weight?
In conclusion, I believe that it is necessary that a photograph demonstrate skill/creativity, and that it be all-around pleasing and beautiful. (Of course, in regards to beauty, one can't go too overboard. After all, many of Pablo Picasso's pieces (including the one that I posted on the discussion board)were not so aesthetically pleasing, but the creativity was certainly evident.)
The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary refers to art as "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects."
In that sense, I'd have to say that a photograph can be referred to as art, due to the fact that skill and creativity is clearly visible in certain photographs. I don't think that every photo can be considered art, though. A person may get lucky by snapping a random photo and it actually turning out nice, but clearly great skill and precision went into the photos created by Alfred Stieglitz.
His photo, SPRING SHOWERS, NEW YORK (1900) shows how he utilized the camera in such a way to keep the objects of importance in focus, the way the natural eye would see them, letting the lesser important objects fade away into the background. In my mind, that's a work of art.
To see the picture, you can go to http://www.artsmia.org/get-the-picture/stieglitz/frame05.html
glWell according to www.arthistory.sbc.edu art has changed and I think we can all agree on that in some matter! Things like pottery and statues were hard to come by when art was first introduced.
First of all art is a bold word so we’re looking at maybe some pretty bold answers I mean with art there is so much to explain!
I found an amazing picture, I am a horse lover so of course this one is about horses it is by Susan George. It is partially black and white. The perspective is from the front of a horses herd. They are running toward us. In the picture I see freedom and spirit. There are two horses in one on each side that has a small dash of brown on them to bring out the horses “out of the picture” so to say. I can almost picture myself there watch the horses run by and listening to their hooves as the ground shakes from them running over it!
This next one comes from www.josephkaynephoto.com it is a landscape photo. Starting at the top are dark clouds that maybe storm clouds they are sitting over a mountain and the sun is trying to shine through the space between the mountain and the cloud. There is a plain area in front of the mountains and a river that comes to the front of the photo with yellow tulips maybe on each side of the river. It is definitely a dream get away for me!
While this are to nice examples I think it doesn’t matter what others think that are is but what you can find truly beautiful in any place that you go to. Anything you think is art and is truly beautiful and you stand by what you say good for you!
in response to audpod
great descrption of the photos they sound so great i need to check them out anyway great job!!!
in response to audpod
I like the way you described the photo by Alfred Steiglitz. Very good. I also definitely agree with your definition of what makes a photograph "art." Good post and description!
Just wondering... what would you say about an AMAZING photograph that happened to be randomly, accidently shot. Would the fact that it wasn't pre-meditated affect whether or not it is considered "art?" I can't imagine it would. After all, the only person that needs to know that it wasn't planned is the photographer himself. I may very well look as if a lot of creativity HAD gone into it!
In response to zachary,
There are those photos that make a person wide-eyed in amazement to how beautiful it is, only to find out that the photographer got lucky. I highly dout that the same person could take many more photos with the same luck. If so, they probably have a skill they never really knew about.
I see your point on how the amazingly lucky shot would still be considered art, and I agree. If it looks aesthetically appealing to the eye, it is art.
My post may have been misleading in a sense. I meant to write that there are some people who get lucky, while not even trying or having any idea about photography, and they make a beautiful piece of art. Not every single photo can be considered art, though. If you were to take a peek though my digitial camera, and see pictures with people's heads accidetnly cut off, etc., they aren't anywhere near pieces of art.
Art is any field using the skills or techniques of art. According to dictionary.com
According to my definition a skill or technique is an art. Photograph takes skills and a special technique like lighting and what your focus point is. A friend of mine uses photograph for an art. She goes outside and takes pictures of flowers outside to make cards. She zooms so she can get the flower as the whole picture and then she will put it on her computer to print it. She takes pictures in different lighting to get different looks. She does it year around. She takes amazing pictures. Then she makes cards out of them and sends them to people for special occasions. I would have to say this is an art because she has a focus and then makes it into a card.
If you think of photographers that take professional pictures even though if is just a picture of you posing it is an art because they are trying to catch in unique poses and get your best side out which can be very difficult and challenging.
natalie b
you make the picture sound like they brought it to life. Awesome job with the description
From what I have learned, there are about as many definitions of art as there are artists. I did get into photography about 15 years ago when I was in the military, and learned a little about framing and composing a photograph. I experimented with different shutter speeds, aperture settings, and lenses and saw the difference each one could make. I liked photographing wild life and rivers the best, but I also photographed many airplanes both flying and static. In all this I learned there is a difference between just shooting film, and capturing a great shot. Lighting, movement, focus, where the main object is in the photo all are apart of what I would consider creating art with a camera. I think a snap shot can be art, but probably not without some experience. You have to be able to see the picture before you take it and once you can do that, all you have to do is wait for the picture and snap! This weeks reading challenged some of my thinking on what constitutes photographic art, and learning some of the history and progression of photographic art was eye opening.
Dan
****Picture posted on discussion board as attachment. **** My daughter took this picture of herself. She then went to a program and manipulated the colors and came up with this picture as a final outcome. It has shadows, texture and amazing light. She titled it “Scary” This particular child has a passion for taking pictures. She has a beautiful black and white picture that she took through blades of grass but I couldn’t find it to attach. So, do I think it is art? Absolutely! Why? 1. Rachel considers herself an artist. She sings, acts, paints and takes pictures. These are all expressions of who she is on the inside. 2. She created it to be art. It is not just a simple snapshot but it has been manipulated for effect. Do I appreciate this particular type of art? Before this class, no, but now, when I look at the picture, I am mesmerized by it. I find it fascinating. I think it is more haunting than scary. I have not looked at this picture since before this class began. Now I think I may have to have it printed and framed. (Growth has happened here! LOL) I love the light differences in her hair. How the picture only shows one half of her face and is therefore concentrated on one half of the viewing filed. I hope that makes sense. I was looking at the balance of the photo and thinking that regular family pictures are usually centered. This is not centered, and the half and half effect is amazing.
in response to Dan
Hey Dan. I really liked your post. I have also experimented with photography a bit as well. Not nearly as much as you, however! I do have a friend, though, that is crazy into black and white photographs. He is amazing in what he "sees" in objects, situations, etc. It's really neat how you can set up an awesome picture with something so out of the ordinary that a normal person wouldn't even think of it. I mean... I'm really creative, but even I haven't seen some of what he's seen! Anyway... good post!
I believe I have said it before in a previous blog but to me, art, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. The book constantly re-visits the point that to be art, the piece must have some kind of subject matter or meaning. To the CEO of a major soda company, a picture of a pop can, framed on a desk next to his wife and children, could be art as it represents the work he has put towards climbing the carbonated ladder. To those of us who pay his wages, it’s an advertisement. Actually, I’m feeling a little thirsty right now. A picture hanging on the wall in my grandparents’ computer room, an aerial shot of the farm my mother and her sibling grew up on, is art. The matter behind the picture is the blood, sweat, and tears (pardon the cliché) that my mother’s family endured while working the land and tending the livestock. I imagine it is also a picture of the one place their family was whole, before my aunt passed away. I suppose I feel the picture is also art as I have many memories of visiting the home and spending the night before my grandparents moved to Alexandria. Like I stated above, a picture needs subject matter to be art, but I truly believe the matter is formed by the viewer. The artist may have their own feelings and I feel that when the strength of those feelings can be seen through the work, then it becomes famous. What makes it art is how it makes people feel.
To me Art is all in the eyes of the beholder. There may be many different definitions of art, but after many chapters of discussing all the things that are considered art, I believe that as long as there was a process and thought that went into the photograph that was taken it is art. My parents are photographers and they mainly take pictures of weddings, families, children and animals. Many of there more “abstract” pictures I consider art. I believe that different angles, unique shots, and candid pictures are a few ways in which a photograph becomes art.
IN response to zachary:
Great definition of art. And I love your two main criteria for photography falling into the 'art' category!
A definition of art would be thought of as human creativity: skill, acquired by study and practice; any craft and its priniciples, make things that have beauty. Photography is the art or process of producing something more permanent and visual images that are from chemically prepared surfaces. With those types of denfinitions you have to admit that a person who can capture that in a picture can be considered to have some artistry which is an ability to have artistic quality when working with imagination. The saying "The beauty is often in the eyes of the beholder." Maybe is sometimes the only way we can understand some of the art photography that we see. The documentary photographing in this chapter are very senitmental and have historical meaning also. The photography has also come a long way from Polariod SX-70 camera's that were once the hot item in my parent's day. I really thought getting the picture right away was such a great concept so when the digital came I felt like it was sorta, kinda like the polariod? Not really but the concept I had liked about getting the picture right away had it's come back. The judgement on how the criteria for photography can be judged? I feel a little out of my league when we talk judging ones' work however I had a son who went to college in Graphic Design and I learned from his studies a lot more about colors, cut and good and bad color. There is more to the naked eye than anyone without some interest in the field could say offically. I do have certain tastes of what I like and I have come into contact with it in a different light since I took this class, it has been most interesting.
In response to dan: Your thoughts on this chapter seemed interesting because you sound like you have some background on photography and I felt I could relate to the struggle of thought with this chapter. It was very good to stretch the mind and it's seems in life there is always another view point to something if we listen long enough. I maybe talking about myself here but I enjoyed your thoughts also. I like the advise about seeing the picture before you shot it, it only makes since however often thats not the sequence we use with the hurry up and take the picture.
I truly feel that art can be anything. For instance on “Forest Gump” when he wipes his face on a t-shirt because it is covered in mud and people start making copies of that shirt. The shirt becomes famous and all he did was clean his face with it. Any photograph can be art I feel. I can take a picture of my dog and frame it and put it on the wall and it is art. Sure there are those people who take photographs as a profession and they may turn out better then a joe shmoe who took a picture. My cousin has a picture that he took of his dog in the brown tones and it looks like a professional picture or like he bought it somewhere, it is art. I know that some people may have more of an eye for these great photograph moments, but I do really feel that anyone can make a photograph art just by capturing the right moment. So again I feel that anything can be art it just depends who is looking at it.
What I have learned and read about art is that there are so many ways to display “art”. Photography is another expression of what an artist or photographer is trying to relay to others. Although, what a person sees my be different than what the artist intended, it still makes one stop and think about what is being seen.
As I read this chapter, I thought about a lot of famous photos that I have seen, including the ones in the book. Many of them could be considered art, when you know the reason for the photo or what the photographer is trying to get across to the viewer. What about snap shots that are taken at the spur of the moment? Are they considered art?
I was browsing the internet and found the famous picture of the Flag Raising on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal. The story behind this photo is that the first flag that was raised was too small. The small flag was replaced by the large flag and that is when the photo was taken. The photographer was following the men so he could get the shot of the larger flag going up. While they reached the top the photographer put his camera down to pile rocks to stand on for a better vantage point, in doing so he nearly missed the shot. The men started raising the flag, realizing he was about to miss the shot he swung his camera around and took the shot without using the view finder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima
I think that this photographer had a lot of experience and wanted to get the “best” shot! He did exactly that, with his experience and expertise he was able to capture the moment even if he was not ready, I think this considers it art. The intent was to find the right moment, taking all things into consideration, this photo is historical art.
in response to Zachary
I agree with your comment " I believe that it is necessary that a photograph demonstrate skill/creativity,". Skill and creativity are main points in what art is. As I said in my post, the viewer and the artist may have different ideas about the photo, but if it creates thought,interest and imagination then I think that the goal has been reached.
in response to zachary:
You made some very good points and I agree that a photograph have the same qualities that you mentioned. My favorite kind of photographs are the old black and white pictures because I look back at some my grandmother has an they look almost flawless in them and they really capture their emotions in the photgraph, it's in their eyes I think digital camera regardless their convience take some of that away. The old photos look so beautiful that they could almost be a painting.
When I think of photographs the term art normally would never cross my mind. Although the more I read in the chapter, the more a photograph reminded me off a painting. Odd comparison I’m sure but they are both capturing something, whether it is a scene, person or object. I was looking through old photographs the other day trying to get an idea more or less of the qualities that it would take to qualify a photo as art. I came to the conclusion that a photograph first must be appealing to the viewer. But, it also has to be able to stand out amongst other photographs. As I was rummaging through old photos I came across a box that was given to me from my grandfather who since then had passed away. It was filled with old war pictures and military photos from World War II and the Gulf War. It had beautiful photos of different cities and countries he had been to through his tours during the wars. The photos somehow remained timeless through the decades that had passed, and the emotions that were captured within each photo seemed to almost transcend out of the photo and into myself. Then there were photos of local things and I wasn’t sure why they were even included in the box until I questioned my grandmother as to what significance they held. Then she informed me that my grandfather had taken photos of how life was during the depression era. I was mesmerized after I learned that and was craving a second look and the photos. They too after I learned their meaning held great weight with me. I couldn’t understand how I missed that the first glance, but there was one photo that stuck out to me, it was a local grocer sitting outside his not so up to date store, with such a worn look on his face and sadness in his eyes. I think photographs catch more than a painting and are art because of their ability to capture truth and reality at its best. The old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words, which is true but they also never lie.
Mckenzieb: I also love the old black and white photographs. There's something about them that makes them so appealing. Even some fo the old sepia toned pictures are cool. What's more, is that it takes a decent amount of skill to make them good because you have to be pretty good with judging light, etc. inorder for your pic to turn out.
I was so happy to see photography as a topic. I consider myself a photographer, as this was almost a career choice for me. I have taken so many art classes and photography classes; and I find that I am a great artist when it comes to photography. I still roll my own film, develop it and spend hours in the darkroom until I have a beautiful masterpiece. Art according to dictionary.com art is the quality production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or more then ordinary significance.
So what makes photography art; in my personal opinion I believe it comes from the most random shots. Candid is what we called them in the class. I find that when the photographer is not trying hard, art finds him/her. I personally love portraits and while reading the textbook the portrait “Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange was my favorite, even when I searched “portraits” online. The way the light hits her face you can see her emotions. While most portraits focus on one subject I believe that all the children add to the emotions of the picture. The way that you can not see their faces says something. You can see and almost feel the hardship of this family. My other favorite photographer is Anne Geddes. I know that it is kind of corny, but I absolutely love her work. I am very near graduation and I find myself a children’s nurse now, I love them even more. Her work consists of taking pictures of babies. She dresses them up in all types of outfits, or places them in all sorts of objects, but it is art. I favorite is hanging in my room, and it is of two babies, one black and one white sleeping in a nest. It is so beautiful.
In response to Vanessa Knutson…..
“Forest Gump” is one of my all time favorite movies and I never seen art in that scene until you said it now, you are so correct on that fact. You are also very correct on that anyone can make a photograph art. You do not need to know that mechanics to make art. My mother has pictures that she takes of us girls hanging on the fridge at home, and to her that is art. It is something that she loves, appreciates, and finds beautiful enough to hang it up. It is art.
Art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist.
I think that photographs are the best kind of art as you do capture the fulfillment of what you want. I was looking to find a photo that i could write about but it was so hard. I visited the website http://www.pixiport.com/Gallery-E53.htm and all there pictures are wonderful there is so much capture to it that it was reall hard to pick on. There was one that was neat was a picture that was of an ear and water was being thrown at it so you saw the individual beads of water. It was definately a wonderful photo taken
in response to heidi
That was an awesome picture and yes a little scary as i saw it before i read your blog. Your daughter definately has some talent. best of luck to her with all of that.
I agree with a lot of people when they say art is in the eye of the beholder. I have read definitions of art, and points to look for that make a picture art, and i dont agree that its art only if it has certain elemts to it. If you enjoy looking at it, then its art. I think that art is everywhere and is in everything that surrounds us. If someone doesnt like a picture they are looking at, they go about and find what they dont like about it and set those as grounds to what makes a picture art or not.. wow i'm not really sure if what i just said makes sense or not, but i cant find the right words to what i'm trying to say.. Any way, I think that any picture taken is art
Art: "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the productioin of aesthetic objects, (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)."
What make photography art?
When taking photos the photographer is conscious and uses their creative imagination skills to produce an image. Photography in the form of art is unquie in it's own form. I take pictures in my spare time. I enjoy getting a creative photo. The reason it is art to me is because I used my skills to take the picture while adding my own creative twist. I really enjoy photography. It's relaxing and allows me to express myself. I've noticed my mood or the way my day is going is usually influenced in my photography. This is what art is. The creative use of the imagination and displayed in a form that can be shown to others.
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