Is photography an art or just a medium?

[shaylou]

The title says it all. Please keep the discussion polite and respect others opinions. Just wanted to get some insight on the subject .

Personally I think it's an art. What's your opinion.

 

[W.Fovall]

I think its a way to meet really hot ladies...

 

[Scatterbrained]

I think it depends on the intent of the photographer. Of course, let me be the first to say that this horse has been thoroughly flogged here recently.

 

[EIngerson]

Shaylou, you're in college aren't you?

 

[Raj_55555]

I think its a way to meet really hot ladies...

Really? I must have been looking at the wrong direction.

 

[W.Fovall]

I think its a way to meet really hot ladies...

Really? I must have been looking at the wrong direction.

it helps to be in California, USA.. we manufacture hot women here...

 

[EIngerson]

I think its a way to meet really hot ladies...

Really? I must have been looking at the wrong direction.

it helps to be in California, USA.. we manufacture hot women here...

lol, Not a good idea. Come to Asia, they grow them naturally over here.

 

[photoguy99]

Yes. But photographers keep worrying about it.

You have to define art to make much headway on the discussion. That's not as hard as many people think, and dictionaries are not super helpful.

But yes, under any modern understanding of Art, photographs can indeed be Art.

 

[Braineack]

walmart is art.

 

[SCraig]

Why does it have to be one or the other? Can it not be both?

 

[sm4him]

All I know is that when I apply to ART shows, they ask me list what MEDIUM I work in, and I answer Photography.
So, I'd say it's a medium, within the broader umbrella of Art.

The real debate is whether ALL photography IS Art or not, and that's a question we will *never* all land on one side of with our answers. In my opinion, it all depends on what your own personal objectives are when you take a photo. For instance, the other day, I took a cellphone picture of a new, OLD camera simply to document it. No attempt to be creative or imaginative with it, no real attention to lighting or anything else, just point and click. THAT was not art. But much of what I produce, photographically speaking, IS Art.
It might be ineffective, "bad" Art, but it's Art.

 

[EIngerson]

walmart is art.

Yes, it's the art of Walms.

 

[Overread]

First lets define Art before we decide what does and doesn't count as Art

 

[photoguy99]

The question as posed isn't whether photography is a medium. Of course it is. The question is whether it is merely a medium.

The answer, not quite as obviously, but almost, is no. It is not just a medium.

Any definition of Art you choose, which is sophisticated enough to distinguish Art from artisanship or craft, will make it clear.

 

[Braineack]

so a xerox machine is not an artist?