I'm going to suggest a wording change.
What if the question was "Can you make new art by creating a photograph that includes existing art"?
I'm going to say the answer is yes, no, maybe sometimes, I don't know. I do have a couple photos that, it's been said to me "communicate on different levels" though.
The dog was shot in Santa Fe in 1990. It's The original ektachrome was really too contrasty for my taste so I made an interneg and c-print. this is a scan of the interneg.
What does it say? Maybe if you want to ask about "what is art?" consider "Let sleeping dogs lie"?
The sculpture was shot in Paris at the Rodin Museum on 35mm color neg in 1997. It was later scanned (leaf 45, I think) and the crowds cloned out. So, "Life imitating Art?"