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Is a photographer an artist?


When I was in undergrad and grad school I would get a kick out of seeing someone sign up for a gut course [back then student speak for a easy class] to discover that that they had committed themselves to a lot of work just to survive the class.
 
A better question might be, does the artist use photography?
 
I don't believe photography is an "art", but a craft.
 
benjiboy said:
I don't believe photography is an "art", but a craft.
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It depends on the photographer. As not all painting is art , neither is all photography. But it can be. And there is plenty of craftiness photography being done, and some might even be considered art.
 
Only if the photographer wants to be an artist.
 
If the viewer thinks it's art because it affects them emotionally or spiritually, then it's art. It has nothing to do with the maker of it.
 
I'm not sure anyone with a decent measure of humility should claim to be an artist. As to whether the photog is an artist if the print was made by someone else ... My rule for including someone's name in the author list for a scientific paper was whether that person had made a significant creative contribution. Similarly if a photograph is considered to be worthy of the description 'art', and the printer made a significant creative input (rather than simply following instructions), then I would say that both parties genuinely shared in the creation.
 
darr said:
What if your job description and your tax id labels you as such?
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Haha! Fair question. I suppose you might ask the same about 'musician' or 'scientist', except that if someone employs you as a musician or a scientist, they presumably feel you deserve the description. Would you say that most artists are self-appointed? There was a thread a little while back about 'fine art photography' which raises the same issues.
 
benjiboy said:
I don't believe photography is an "art", but a craft.
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Photography is an art form with a high degree of craft involved. Whether someone produces art with it is entirely up to them. And whether someone produces art with a minimal degree or high degree of craft is also up to them (and to a certain extent their audience to judge after the fact). While many would agree that Henri Cartier-Bresson was a great photographic artist, few would accuse him of being a craftsman as he left 99% of the craft of photography up to his lab and the technicians who worked there. On an opposite extreme, Ansel Adams exercised total control over the craft of his process.
 
I'm amazed that so many think that to be considered an artist is some sort of honorific. To rework a quote from Jacques Seguela, "don't tell my mother I'm an artist, she thinks I'm a piano player in a brothel."
 
Pieter12 said:
I'm amazed that so many think that to be considered an artist is some sort of honorific. To rework a quote from Jacques Seguela, "don't tell my mother I'm an artist, she thinks I'm a piano player in a brothel."
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Pieter12 said:
I'm amazed that so many think that to be considered an artist is some sort of honorific. To rework a quote from Jacques Seguela, "don't tell my mother I'm an artist, she thinks I'm a piano player in a brothel."
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AWESOME.................100% AWESOME...!!!!
I am in your debt.
 
Alan Edward Klein said:
If the viewer thinks it's art because it affects them emotionally or spiritually, then it's art. It has nothing to do with the maker of it.
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emotionally and spiritually and nothing to do with the maker ???

WHAT ?

the onlything that separates "art' from anything else is it was the INTENT of the maker to make it.
it can be a banana taped to a wall or something that when purchased was shredded, or a bronzed turd.
ART serves no purpose other than to be ART.

The history of the museum goes hand in hand with the invention of "art"



YES YES.
BTW
you rock!
 
darr said:
What if your job description and your tax id labels you as such?
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You can call yourself whatever you want on your tax return. The IRS doesn't care as long as they get the money.
 

Artist isn't very descriptive. People want to know if you're an actor, dancer, photographer, videographer, painter, sculptor, architect, singer, musician, actor, etc. Maybe after you're dead and famous you can be referred to as an artist.
 
Alan Edward Klein said:
If the viewer thinks it's art because it affects them emotionally or spiritually, then it's art. It has nothing to do with the maker of it.
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'Maker' is a very powerful word.
It is the maker that challenges the viewer to see (and possibly be emotionally or spiritually moved). It is all about the maker...


This is what the IRS officially sees me as (copied from the Schedule C instructions)...

711510 Independent artists, writers, & performers
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Perhaps the question the thread asks should be slightly rephrased: Can a photographer be an artist? Then the answer is “yes” ...but not all photographers are artists. Just as not every draftsman is an artist. Also, how high or low the bar for determining what defines an artist.
As above replies exhibit, there is no agreeable answer. Instead, when taking a photograph just do the best you can with equipment and intent, while drawing on all of your intellectual and creative background and resources, with no concern about consciously producing a “work of art.” One can try too hard to be an artist and stifle the result.
 
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