Photography: Art or Craft?

Jorge said:

That's just it, nobody does if you think about it. If you say "painting is an art" chances are most people will agree with you. Of course some might start to get too technical, dissect your sentence etc, but overall I think most will agree with you.

It is certainly not my intention with this question to "define" art, or photography in the context of art..etc, etc.

What took me by surprised and made me curious is that this opinion existed in the Large Format forum. Supposedly it is the pinnacle of photography, where the supposed photgraphers have the reputation of taking the most care when making a photograph and are supposedly the most ruthless when editing the images they plan to show. Yet, apparently they go to all this trouble and dont consider what they do an art.

Am I the only one who finds this strange? I never had any doubts that photography is an art. Of course it makes use of "tools" but to me the end result, a print, is an art object much like a painting or a sculpture when done with that end in mind.

SO I think you misunderstood my question, I dont want to "quantify" art or photgraphy as art, what I am really interested to know id how you
feel deep inside you about photography. There is no need to explain, qualify or make a disertation.

Ed, thank you for the courtesy of expanding on your answer. A moron at pn simply answered "who knows/who cares", the funny thing is that this bufoon calls himself a fine art photographer....lol....

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David A. Goldfarb said:

The furniture issue is actually more difficult than I'm making it out to be. There are many museums with furniture, clothing, etc., and architecture is in the same category.

The MOMA exhibits suggest that the industrial design is the art, and the manufacture of the furniture is the craft.

More generally, the thing that makes these kinds of things interesting is usually something beyond their functionality, such as design, surface, etc. On the other hand, some would say that the most interesting forms are those that follow function, so it may not be possible to separate form and function in a chair, building, or evening gown.

The "fine" (as opposed to "applied") art photograph, painting, sculpture, or musical or literary work, however, has no function other than to be itself. Of course few works are really that straightforward in their intentionality, or they wouldn't be interesting.

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Alan Edward Klein said:

Even a fine photograph that could be considered only art could have the function of filling up an empty-looking room or wall. Homeowners do this all the time with paintings and photographs and other tchotchkes.

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Alan Edward Klein said:

I think when you start a poll and ask people's opinions, you shouldn't call a person whose opinion you disagree with a "buffoon". You should show respect for their views.

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juan said:

I miss Jorge.

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radiant said:

Tri-X is not good non-prewashed in replenished XTOL on Jobo because I once tried it and didn't like it.

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Sirius Glass said:

Kodak and Jobo both agree that Tri-X with replenished XTOL processed in the Jobo processor should not be prewashed based on each's research and development.

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radiant said:

Can you refer to a book that is has not been printed in 20 years and costs few hundred bucks at ebay and is only shipped inside US?

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Jim Jones said:

Trying to distinguish between art and craftsmanship is futile: they are too interdependent. Art with inadequate craftsmanship fails to convey the artistic intentions of the artist to most viewers. Fine craftsmanship should produce a response in humans that goes beyond sterile perfection.

Perhaps we should put the argument of which is better, art or craftsmanship, until the next generation with million dollar computers and a few hundred dollars worth of materials can replicate a da Vinci painting that cannot be distinguished from the original by a human eye.

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Jim Jones said:

Trying to distinguish between art and craftsmanship is futile: they are too interdependent. Art with inadequate craftsmanship fails to convey the artistic intentions of the artist to most viewers. Fine craftsmanship should produce a response in humans that goes beyond sterile perfection.

Perhaps we should put the argument of which is better, art or craftsmanship, until the next generation with million dollar computers and a few hundred dollars worth of materials can replicate a da Vinci painting that cannot be distinguished from the original by a human eye.

Click to expand...