Is Photography Art?

     We humans make music – some of us think it is beautiful – but this is subjective, and some humans may not find it beautiful. Aliens may not find it beautiful. What then is beauty? It is an experience. To say something is beautiful is to say “I experience a feeling of beauty when I see or hear that “. There is probably even some kind of brain phenomena that could be measured when someone experiences a feeling of beauty. Can animals sense beauty as well? Perhaps in some way.

Ellen Terry

Julia Margaret Cameron

     Beauty also has a historical context, such as art history exemplifies. All art we experience is experienced in a frame of reference. To me, all art is understood against the backdrop of art history. Many abstract works made today may look like ones made in the 40’s but will not be worth as much money because it is not part of that historical event though they are appealing. 

     

                Art museums house pieces of art that are historical icons and relics. This is like a church of sorts.

                Is photography art? It has been considered so. Today we all have cameras in our pockets and are taking millions of pictures all the time. However, is it not the camera that is making the image? Surely drawing yourself portrait in front of the grand canyon is different than taking a selfie with your phone.  In the past photography was much harder and involved negatives, prints, chemicals, lighting…now your phone does it all. Suffice to say if you had a machine that could paint a painting for you of a view that you specify, I’m not sure anyone would be impressed with you, but they would be impressed by the machine. But is the point of art to impress people or to create something that impresses people? 

     The question is loaded: surely most people think today that what “what is art” is subjective. Many photographers would probably be insulted to have their art questioned. Suffice to say, photography is visually appealing but it is its own special form of art and cannot really be compared with other forms of art such as drawing, painting and sculpture. Photographs are in art museums.