What is the value of Art school?

did you get an art degree?

  • AA degree

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • BA degree

    Votes: 13 61.9%
  • MA degree

    Votes: 8 38.1%

  • Total voters
    21

removed account4

Subscriber
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
29,832
Format
Hybrid
No titanium white ? That is the usual tell... people make a lovely in the style of with paint
That sadly didn’t exist. ....
 

DREW WILEY

Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2011
Messages
14,228
Format
8x10 Format
Great artists used only lead white pigment; but it never turns up on their canvases because they ate it first.
 

KenS

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
941
Location
Lethbridge, S. Alberta ,
Format
Multi Format
It seems to me that Community Colleges tend to be more like trade schools...teaching technique and practical aspects, geared more to careers in commercial photography and commercial art, less about fine art.

Pieter,
After many years as a "Pro' (with Board certification as a 'specialist') and 60+ years under the dark-cloth I 'answered my PhD-type daughter's "Challenge" to go and 'do' my BFA at the nearby university (as a means of staying out of the rocking chair and 'away from day-time television' where I found that 'meaning' and 'context' of one's image was more important than 'how well' it was made (think 'craftsmanship'). Digital manipulation became more important than 'control' of the hardware by which the image was 'recorded'. (It always 'helped' to vocalize your admiration of the professor's 'art-works')

It was almost enough for me to 'walk away' without 'seeing it through to the end'

Ken
(without the 13 'letters' I am 'allowed' to put after my name)
 

Pieter12

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
7,736
Location
Magrathean's computer
Format
Super8
There are slews of well-made, and quite boring, images. The challenge is to make one with meaning and context.
 

DonJ

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
Messages
306
Location
Maryland
Format
Medium Format

if you’re going to keep reminding us about the 13 letters, you may as well use them. False modesty is the worst kind.
 

KenS

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
941
Location
Lethbridge, S. Alberta ,
Format
Multi Format
if you’re going to keep reminding us about the 13 letters, you may as well use them. False modesty is the worst kind.

O Ye wha are sae guid yersel, sae pius and sae holy, ye've naught ta dea but mark and tell yer neighbour's fa'ts and follies'

(R.Burns in his address to the unca guid)

Ken
 
  • DonJ
  • Deleted
  • Reason: No reason

jtk

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,943
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Format
35mm
Elements that enable the viewer to better understand or interpret the action or subject of the photograph.

We differ: Context is the intellectual, emotional, and physical situation in which the "subject" exists or is placed...not merely intentional "elements that enable the viewer" ... I don't make photographs for the viewer.

When I built environments for elaborate food photographs the "context" wasn't what I was building, the context was financial (money) and interpersonal (the client and art director etc) and the era in which we were working. Most of the time I admired the art director and was always eager to help him/her achieve the image we were attempting to create together. The environment in the image (table settings, rising steam etc) was only a small part of the context. The fact that highly skilled people were working together at that time in our lives was the most important part of the context.

I was working with my food stylist on a portfolio photo for her. We learned that John Lennon had been killed. I played mandolin for a while. The food stylist was weeping. Her history included funny stuff, like her ridiculous family's annual exploding cakes. We assembled crystal and china and silverware and sponges and all sorts of kitchen fluids and made a bizarre portfolio photo that brought business for both of us. That's context.
 
  • BradS
  • Deleted
  • Reason: Nope. That’s only seven letters

removed account4

Subscriber
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
29,832
Format
Hybrid
I might be way off in my own private Idaho but I always believed the only context needed for “art “ is its context within the “discourse” viewers only bring their own experiences and contextualize in a personal way. I might be wrong to say this jtk but the context you described might be “hidden” to those who weren’t involved. Like the context of things I am currently making have to do with post colonialism, exploitation and the spirit world ( as well as the difficulties faced making glass images, making self made photo emulsions, not using a darkroom &c ) but that’s hidden from viewer unless i make it the context of the images. To most people who look at the images all they see are what their experiences tell them.

Artz weird stuff...
Hope you and yours are safe
 

jtk

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,943
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Format
35mm

I enjoy your perspective. Two sides of same coin? Hidden (germinal) Vs blatant (label at gallery).

Weird stuff is better than not-weird.

I want to see (or read) more about "post colonialism, exploitation and the spirit world".

As to the plague... Got it, apparently passed thru it (no sleep for days). Coughing like mine might quickly suffocate somebody with COPD.
 

Pieter12

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
7,736
Location
Magrathean's computer
Format
Super8
It is true that the context in which the photo is made is not always apparent, nor relevant. I believe this subject came up as part of a discussion of art, not commercial photography. Most don't give a rat's ass about the context of a food shot, certainly not the behind-the-scenes context. And when there is apparent context in commercial shots it's generally heavy-handed. However, a war or crisis photo, for example, certainly takes on more meaning to the viewer when there is some apparent context. Sometimes context comes from a series or body of work, the way the photos tell a story or illustrate some aspect of the subject. Sally Mann's family photos, for example.

“We look at the world and see what we have learned to believe is there...”
--Aaron Siskind
 

jtk

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,943
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Format
35mm

I don't think it's useful or logical to impose distinction between "art" and "commercial" partially because so many self-identified "art" photographers so obviously yearn for commercial success (and are bitter about failure...eg due to digital photography), and because so many commercial photographers (I've known many) are recognized in galleries as "artists" and wouldn't be recognized as "commercial" unless that was mentioned in bios.

Are Sally Mann's family photos (those we've all seen in publication) necessarily more "art" than "commerce"? Many are aware of the mass signature production that Salvador Dali did, on "originals" he'd never actually done.

As well, casual use of "meaning" tells me that someone is not looking at a photo. Aaron Siskind, as a famous case (whose work I love), eventually photographed against meaning.
 

Pieter12

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
7,736
Location
Magrathean's computer
Format
Super8
OK. Traditionally, commercial photography is defined as being made for a client, for a fee. In-house photography also qualifies as commercial. Art photography is made for the photographer's own use, most hope to be able to exhibit, sell or publish a book of their photographs. The fact that money is being made by either classification does not make it all "commercial." Many photographers who are known for their art photography have done commercial assignments, some commercial photographers produce a bit of art. There is cross-over, mostly in the photojournalism/documentary field and in the fashion world, but even then there is discussion whether fashion photos should be considered "art."
 

Vaughn

Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
10,190
Location
Humboldt Co.
Format
Large Format
...Art photography is made for the photographer's own use, most hope to be able to exhibit, sell or publish a book of their photographs....
...or perhaps made as mental floss or as a way to explore one's connection with light. Art is amazing adaptable to an artist's aims.

There was a change in the Art Department of my university -- at one time, training artists was its major goal...then sending the best off to grad schools. There was a graphic design program that was more job orientated. Created in the early 50's and run by professors who were practicing artists themselves, many were war vets...Masters of Art was the terminal degree. I took my first photo class there in 1977 or early 78, graduated in 81 (not in art), volunteered in the darkroom until 1991 when I became the paid Darkroom Tech. Got transferred out after a couple of decades or so to make way for digital. But somewhere in there, as the old guard retired or died in the yoke, the art historians moved in...and having piled it higher and deeper than anyone else, took control of the place. For better or worse is a judgement call I suppose.
 

btaylor

Subscriber
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
2,262
Location
Los Angeles
Format
Large Format
Art historians, art critics, yea the horse hockey can get pretty deep! There is always the tension between the artists and those that write about it. Decades ago my wife and I made a video- we kinda ambushed an art critic friend of ours- it was a satire on “My Dinner With Andre.”
Critics think they are smarter than the artists, artists think “all you can do is write about it”.
 

jtk

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,943
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Format
35mm

I think the distinction is entirely useless. The photographers who make cheap catalog photographs and even wedding and travel snaps are artists and the photographers who deny they want to make money are no more valid as artists.
 

removed account4

Subscriber
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
29,832
Format
Hybrid
As to the plague... Got it, apparently passed thru it (no sleep for days). Coughing like mine might quickly suffocate somebody with COPD.
yikes !
its ALL a commercial endeavor ( except when its not ) ... and these days with instagram et al.. not only is it about getting paid ( cause after all nike and other big names won't hire you without 100,000 followers ) its about making bank, being noticed / "fame", and regarding the interns who search and scrape work of people who don't have 100,000 followers its about getting the work for 100$ instead of 10,000$ ... even if it is a snapshot if a KFC Bucket from a vacation
 
Last edited:

mohmad khatab

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2012
Messages
1,228
Location
Egypt
Format
35mm
I have been a photographer for twenty years, without a degree.
I am 45 years old
If I had the chance to get an Academic Photography Education Grant I would be one of the happiest people in the world.
It does not matter if a document called (Certificate) is obtained.
The important thing is to quench my scientific thirst.
 
OP
OP

BradS

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
8,124
Location
Soulsbyville, California
Format
35mm


Big cats in my back yard....
 

Vaughn

Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
10,190
Location
Humboldt Co.
Format
Large Format
Normally no claw marks with mountain lions. Big dog?
 
OP
OP

BradS

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
8,124
Location
Soulsbyville, California
Format
35mm
Normally no claw marks with mountain lions. Big dog?

Hmmm...damn. I was thinking bobcat. But could be a really big dog. I've seen the bobcat back there but that was probably five years ago. He was lounging in the shade of one of my old oak trees.

Maybe big dog. Darn.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…