pdeeh said:I see photographs as one medium for art - and it's the art bit that's difficult, whether one's medium is paint, stone, silver gelatine prints or indeed words.
And some people (the vast majority, perhaps) simply don't have the ability to make really good art, to develop a style and a vision of their own that is distinctive and outstanding. This isn't to denigrate all those people (hardly, I am one myself) but just to acknowledge that some are gifted and most are not.
I don't believe any old person can become Edward Weston (or Marc Chagall or Barbara Hepworth or Mantegna or whoever) just by dint of studying hard for 15 minutes every day before breakfast for a year (or 10000 hours or whatever the latest fad is) ... or, you might be able to, if you have "the gift" latent within you
Again, to emphasise, this is not to denigrate anyone: I do believe anyone can produce something "artistic", sometimes with guidance, sometimes spontaneously, the question for me is about doing so consistently.
Acquiring a technical skill is not the same thing as having an artistic ability.
I know plenty of local "professional" painters who are perfectly technically skilled at applying paint to canvas, rendering scenes accurately and with appropriate perspective and so on and so forth, but whose paintings are nevertheless just illustrations.
I don't understand what Asperger's syndrome has to do with this, by the way.
Nurture includes environment and practice. Nurturing will improve an ability, but one cannot exceed ones innate potential, IMO.
No matter how dedicated I became and no matter how much I practiced, my innate ability (potential) to sing prevents me from becoming a great singer. Certainly mt singing would improve (it couldn't get any worse) but I can never become a great, pleasing to listen to, singer.
I knew a young person who dedicated years and years to dancing. It was her life. She lived and breathed dance. When I saw her dance, it was painful to watch. She was robotic and stilted, with no fluidity or artistry in her movements. Her years and years of lessons had certainly taught her how to dance better than before she started, but she just didn't have what it took, no innate ability, to dance beautifully.
Dancing, drawing, singing, all artistic endeavors/abilities. Certainly different abilities.
How can you accept innate potential limits to some abilities, but argue against them for other abilities?
Lets take someone like Lionel Messi, who is probably one of the greatest football players on the planet. He obviously has a great innate ability through foresight, perfect balance and intuitive grasp of position to perform as he does. But these skills he has acquired through practice and endeavour.
But your position is that anyone could achieve his abilities and successes given the same practice and dedication. That's obviously not true, since tens of thousands of boys endeavor to achieve the same, but he stands out.
"Gift" or "talent" or "affinity" determines how far one can get in a particular discipline. The degree to which one possesses these usually places an upper bound or limit of sorts. Further, where creativity is involved, it is never enough to be gifted technically.
I have heard people quote 'I wish I could draw but I can't and that's why I do photography'. In my opinion the ability to draw, or paint, or sculpt is not a God given gift at birth, but one that can be acquired with practice, like many other techniques, such as bricklaying, plastering, photography, etc. What do other think?
I have heard people quote 'I wish I could draw but I can't and that's why I do photography'. In my opinion the ability to draw, or paint, or sculpt is not a God given gift at birth, but one that can be acquired with practice, like many other techniques, such as bricklaying, plastering, photography, etc. What do other think?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?