Vision and Direction - More than just a Snapshot.

[Mike Buckley]

I think internally that is the question - have I created Art or just a shot.

The premise of that question doesn't work for me. That's because I think of really fabulous photos that aren't art and other really fabulous photos that are art; one type is not better than the other in my mind, just different. In my mind, it's not that when we produce art we have achieved the pinnacle of success.

[DanK]

The premise of that question doesn't work for me. That's because I think of really fabulous photos that aren't art and other really fabulous photos that are art; one type is not better than the other in my mind, just different. In my mind, it's not that when we produce art we have achieved the pinnacle of success.

Personally, I find the question of whether a photograph is "art" to be unhelpful. What's "art?" Some years ago, my wife and I dropped our membership in a local museum of modern art because so many of their exhibits were uninteresting and often ugly as well. They are "art" because some people who are big in the "art" world say they are "art," and collectors obligingly pay top dollar to buy the stuff and make their houses uglier with it.

Many years ago, Saturday Night Live had an ongoing skit about this, called "Bad Conceptual Art." For something more modern, take a look at this.

So, I just don't find it a particularly helpful question to ask. I find it more useful instead to ask myself questions like "is it interesting?" and "is it aesthetically pleasing [to me]?"

[Manfred M]

+1 to both Mike and Dan's comments!

When I go to the Oxford online dictionary, I find the following definition of 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".

That is a fairly broad (and almost useless) definition as just about anything man-made that evokes an emotion seems to be up for consideration as art. It's good to know that pile of pebbles that my goldfish (actually a koi) is rearranging in the bottom of the fish tank cannot be considered to be art.

Should I consider the simple beauty of an I-beam that holds up the my house as art? Most people probably would not, but when I look at the same size of I-beam cut into shorter pieces and set into a concrete base, that has somehow transformed into a work of art. Go figure...