Art verses Photography

jnanian said:

but did you get "vision" ?

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I understood Timothy Leary a bit better if that counts.

yep that counts .. (the closest thing to a smily face that is upside down and spinning on his head )

BADGER.BRAD said:

O.k I seem to take some good photos of things/places/people I like (generally) and really enjoy doing it and looking at the results but as soon as I try and get artie with my photos they end up trash. Do you think much like other art you have to have an artistic bent even before you start to make good artistic photos. For me capturing a memory is the most important bit but I do like looking at artistic photos much like I like looking at paintings . Do you consider yourself an artist or a capturer of memories/history.

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Same here. My attempts at being artsy tend to not be great. On the other hand, unless an artsy photo is truly exceptional it won't have staying power, i.e. in a hundred years nobody will care. On the other hand, captured memories and histories might be treasured by the family for more than a century. I am in the process of scanning some of the photos and negatives made by my wife's grandfather. Some of them are almost a century old.

alanrockwood said:

Same here. My attempts at being artsy tend to not be great. On the other hand, unless an artsy photo is truly exceptional it won't have staying power, i.e. in a hundred years nobody will care. On the other hand, captured memories and histories might be treasured by the family for more than a century. I am in the process of scanning some of the photos and negatives made by my wife's grandfather. Some of them are almost a century old.

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I think the arty failures are perhaps the best memories. People can look through and think where was Alan's head at when he made this.

Often the best art and photography is the result of great self-promotion, ego and contacts not ability.

BADGER.BRAD said:

O.k I seem to take some good photos of things/places/people I like (generally) and really enjoy doing it and looking at the results but as soon as I try and get artie with my photos they end up trash. Do you think much like other art you have to have an artistic bent even before you start to make good artistic photos. For me capturing a memory is the most important bit but I do like looking at artistic photos much like I like looking at paintings . Do you consider yourself an artist or a capturer of memories/history.

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Your question Always Begs the eternal question.....What is (the definition of) Art.?
Anything done well is AN art...but does that make IT Art.?
The traditional arts are Very Low Tech....painting, sculpting, acting, drawing, dancing, etc etc.
Ever notice that people call themselves a.....Graphic Artist.? Why is that...because of all the Tools/Technology involved.?
There is A LOT of technology/Chemistry/Equipment involved with photography. Ever seen an Ansel Adams negative that was printed without much manipulation in the darkroom.?
Many of those prints would hardly be noticed as the "Original".
Is EVERYBODY that owns a camera a Photographer.?......of course not.
And not Every Photographer is an "Artist".
I really do not have any artistic ability. My photography, at this point (if it even qualifies as "Photography") is Very blue-collar. I like Buildings, Trains, Train Yards, Concert Stages and back-stage, Construction projects and sites, Etc etc etc.
Calling somebody an "Artist" is always a subjective thing.
I lived in San Francisco for almost 20 years. The museums and aquariums and zoo were fee until.....circa 1970. After that they were free on One Wednesday a month. Thank God for that, because 90% of the stuff (IMHO) at The Museum Of Modern "Art"....is garbage and i would hate to have to pay more than A Dollar to see it.
Not sure what all that mess i wrote up there ^^^^^^^^^ means exactly, but......
.......I care more about being a decent Photographer than i do about being any kind of an "Artist".
There. I Said It

BADGER.BRAD said:

O.k I seem to take some good photos of things/places/people I like (generally) and really enjoy doing it and looking at the results but as soon as I try and get artie with my photos they end up trash. Do you think much like other art you have to have an artistic bent even before you start to make good artistic photos. For me capturing a memory is the most important bit but I do like looking at artistic photos much like I like looking at paintings . Do you consider yourself an artist or a capturer of memories/history.

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If, as you say, you make good (hopefully interesting) photos of things/places/people, you may, already, be making "art" but neither you nor anyone else will realize it until possibly after you are gone. If you are lucky, even before. The Louisiana photographer, Fonville Wynan, (deceased) once said: " I took pictures (of Louisiana scenes, people, places) as a teenager because I thought it was fun and of things, people and places that interested me and now people tell me it is art". I have some of his books and, to me, many of his photographs ARE "art". I also don't believe that A. Adams, and Weston did their early photography because they believed they were shooting "art". All of that came later. So take heart,. Take photographs of subjects that appeal to you on the deepest level and most probably the question of whether it is art will take care of itself............Regards!