Many people do not consider photography as “art” because it only takes a split second to take a photo. But there is a lot that goes into that split second. And even more that happens after the photo is taken. A photographer has to choose the subject, decide how to crop it, what angle to shoot from, what camera settings to use etc etc. There are actually hundreds of decisions that need to be made before the photo is taken, especially with the endless setting possibilities on the new digital cameras.
Then after the photo is taken, there are 1000s of decisions that can be made about how to modify the image using the infinite possibilities that are available in the new image software. Then there are decisions about how to frame the image. So the thought that photography is not an art form just because it is so easy, is just not true.
To me, one important point about art as photography is the concept of “subject.” A photographer can take a picture of a beautiful subject and that becomes the point of the art, a beautiful subject.
What I try to do is take a picture of something and do it in such a way that the photograph, not the subject becomes the Art. The photograph becomes the art not the its subject.
That is not to say I don’t take pictures of beautiful things, but more to the point; the photograph is “art” because of all the technical elements mentioned in the previous paragraph. This difference between the subject and the art sometimes gets a bit blurred, but that is the general idea.
To me what is important is not the subject of the art, but the effect the art work has on a viewer. The effect I am specifically after is an increased awareness in the viewer of this elusive thing called “Consciousness.” This is where I get into trouble when someone asks me, What does your photo mean?” Needless to say, this is very difficult to talk about … so I will just stop talking now.
