I dont know which forum would be the most adequate for this post, so it will be here.
In another thread (Presentation & Marketing > Fine Art Photography???) I expressed my concerns about the fact that somebodys work will be considered art only if an influential critic says so. It came to my mind something I read in Mike Johnstons The Online Photographer blog. It happened in Flickr: a HC-B picture was anonymously posted for approval. It didnt past the test.
As a general comment, there were some people that realised who the author was, but the majority of critics dont. OK, not everybody could have such a huge photographic culture as to see and remember all the famous pictures or to recognise the author of a picture just by the style. So many of the people who posted in that thread didnt like the picture.
And that is the point. I always have thought that why should I like a piece of art just because a critic says I have to? Why should I accept the critics opinion? The critic could be a very educated person, with art degrees, experience or whatever but at the end of the day, if I dont like it, I dont like it and I may not consider it as art, although I can accept that it could have some craftsmanship merits (but sometimes, not even that).
Art, as well as society, is continuously evolving: what was crap yesterday, today it is beautiful and vice versa and anything would be considered, in a moment of History, as art. The Tate Gallery is having a yearly contest for new artist. There are several disciplines as paint, sculpture, etc. Some years ago, while the new Gallery wing was being built, an operator dumped his load of bricks on the grass and left for a new load. Meanwhile, the contest jury passed by the pile of bricks and, you guessed, it won that year sculpture first price. And like this one there are many examples. Is this art? Could we consider a natural beauty, lets say the Grand Canyon or the Northern Light or a sunset, as art?
Eventually, the HC-B picture didnt pass mainly for reasons as it is not sharp from front to back, it is blurred, I would use a faster shutter speed, autofocus didnt work and so on.
Cheers
In another thread (Presentation & Marketing > Fine Art Photography???) I expressed my concerns about the fact that somebodys work will be considered art only if an influential critic says so. It came to my mind something I read in Mike Johnstons The Online Photographer blog. It happened in Flickr: a HC-B picture was anonymously posted for approval. It didnt past the test.
As a general comment, there were some people that realised who the author was, but the majority of critics dont. OK, not everybody could have such a huge photographic culture as to see and remember all the famous pictures or to recognise the author of a picture just by the style. So many of the people who posted in that thread didnt like the picture.
And that is the point. I always have thought that why should I like a piece of art just because a critic says I have to? Why should I accept the critics opinion? The critic could be a very educated person, with art degrees, experience or whatever but at the end of the day, if I dont like it, I dont like it and I may not consider it as art, although I can accept that it could have some craftsmanship merits (but sometimes, not even that).
Art, as well as society, is continuously evolving: what was crap yesterday, today it is beautiful and vice versa and anything would be considered, in a moment of History, as art. The Tate Gallery is having a yearly contest for new artist. There are several disciplines as paint, sculpture, etc. Some years ago, while the new Gallery wing was being built, an operator dumped his load of bricks on the grass and left for a new load. Meanwhile, the contest jury passed by the pile of bricks and, you guessed, it won that year sculpture first price. And like this one there are many examples. Is this art? Could we consider a natural beauty, lets say the Grand Canyon or the Northern Light or a sunset, as art?
Eventually, the HC-B picture didnt pass mainly for reasons as it is not sharp from front to back, it is blurred, I would use a faster shutter speed, autofocus didnt work and so on.
Cheers
