Is Photograpghy Art?

What is photography?  Many say it is taking a picture, capturing a moment in time or creating an image.  All of the images you see, whether made with a still camera, movie camera or even the images you see with your own eyes, are just reflections of light captured on a light sensitive surface.  Even the computer screen you are looking at right now is just a bunch of different lights cast in patterns that create shapes, but still just light. Photography is all of these things but at its most basic, photography is just the capturing of light. It is that simple… or is it?

Photography without light is black, or the absence of light. So what is it about photography that captures our imaginations?  Every time you take a photograph you are trying to capture the emotion of the moment whatever that emotion happens to be.  But how many times have you been disappointed because it didn’t have the same ‘mood’ or feeling as when you were there?

Somehow good photographers, professionals or not, seem to capture that special moment. They immortalize the feeling.  Yet all they are doing is recording light. How can they capture that moment so well when the average person can’t?

It’s because of how they see and perceive light. They have spent time studying how light reflects and how it interacts with objects; how shadows make a difference, how light can wash out color or how a different light can make things seem so vibrant and saturated. They have taken the time to learn to understand light.  If the photographer is truly good, they have also learned how light interacts with people and how it creates a mood within people.

Different photographers create different moods too. Some capture nature and all it’s subtly.  Some capture people and the depth of character within each individual. Some can bring the excitement of a sporting event to life with a single still image. Others still, can freeze a moment in time that will live in your mind forever.

All of these people are artists.  It’s funny though that most dictionaries define ‘Artist’ as “a person who paints or draws as a profession or hobby” (www.AskOxford.com). Why is that?  Why is it that after 150 years of modern photography and over 1500 years of the theory of photography (history of photography/camera obscura on www.wikipedia.com), it is still not defined as art?

I challenge anyone reading this to look at the galleries of Michelle Amarante (www.michelleamarante.com & michelleamarante.blogspot.com), Joe McNally (www.joemcnally.com & www.joemcnally.com/blog) or any talented photographer and tell me that isn’t art.

Until next time, Happy Shooting!