Is photography an art or just a medium?

[robbins.photo]

Is marble an art or just a medium? Is paint an art or just a medium? What was the question?

I think the question was, "How much does the elevator operator weigh?"

 

[Braineack]

I'm pretty sure it was: In what way does the author's use of the prison symbolize the protagonist's struggle, and how does this relate to our discussion of the uses of irony?

 

[photoguy99]

And the beat goes on.

 

[Rick58]

Listen up...and I'm only go to say this one more time.

If there was no judgment involved and one photo was as good as the next...photography would not be an art.

But whenever judgment is involved, there is also 'art' involved. This could be 'technical art' or' artistic art' but in either case talent or art is injected into the equation.

Sorry I got distracted after "Listen up"

 

[robbins.photo]

And the beat goes on.

Well as much as I'd love to don a black turtleneck and a beret, grab my bongos and head out to the local all-night coffee house where we could all sit on pillows and discuss the metaphysical ramifications of a photographer taking a picture of an artist who was painting another artist who was painting a landscape as viewed through a mirror, truth is I had other plans. Which is a shame really because I just so love it when somebody at one of these things starts talking about Schrodinger's cat, because for whatever reason at one of these things somebody always start's talking about Schrodinger's cat.

 

[Designer]

Where is the OP?

 

[photoguy99]

robbins, it probably wasn't a secret before that you're anti-intellectual, and it certainly isn't NOW.

I rather hope the OP comes back too. Braineack contributed some interesting remarks which I think could be helpful.

 

[robbins.photo]

robbins, it probably wasn't a secret before that you're anti-intellectual, and it certainly isn't NOW.

Nope.. don't think that was a secret. Pretty sure most folks were well aware. I mean I even went to all the trouble to buy T-Shirts just in case.

 

[runnah]

Simple question.

Photography, the action of using a machine to make an image, is a medium. What it produces in the right hands, is art.

 

[photoguy99]

The thing is, this isn't a trivial issue. If you have internet access, the odds are excellent that you live in a country that spends money acquiring and funding art. Your money is being spent on Art with a capital A.

Why? Ostensibly because Art is something that is inherent in humans, that it betters and enbiggens us, that it is an inherently Good Thing that ought to be Funded to some degree. Whatever Art is, it seems to change over time, so we can't just just write down a 17 page chunk of some legal code that defines it, and then we fund That but not Anything Else. Since it evolves, someone needs to try to keep up. Which means these conversations have to continue. How are we going to notice when Photography stops being Art, if we're not occasionally asking the question?

Since it's your money being spent, you at least have a right to have a position on it, and arguably you ought to have a position on it. If you have a camera, you're at least slightly connected to the issues at hand, and perhaps might find yourself more inclined to a position.

By all means, dismiss it as a stupid conversation had by stupid eggheaded stupid people, but you're dismissing a conversation that actually matters to society, to us as people, and which is, perhaps a few steps removed, about spending your tax monies.

 

[JacaRanda]

It is a medium art. There!

 

[unpopular]

it really depends. photography by most working professionals is certainly a medium. it's neither rare nor well done.

 

[runnah]

By all means, dismiss it as a stupid conversation had by stupid eggheaded stupid people, but you're dismissing a conversation that actually matters to society, to us as people, and which is, perhaps a few steps removed, about spending your tax monies.

The good thing is that most, if not all, social problems are resolved on internet forums.

 

[runnah]

This whole conversation is redundant and needless.

You are!

 

[unpopular]

^^ yeah. I already addressed that issue. look again.