THROBBS
I am Fauve
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2007
- Posts
- 19,413
I'm a bit late getting into this discussion but here goes. A photo can be manipulated before, during, and after the shoot to portray whatever the artist wishes. (I say artist, not photographer, because some noted toggers never touch a camera, leaving such trivia to menials.) A painter or sketcher or collage-maker adds material to their work to gain desired results. Photographers generally eliminate elements till only what they desire is visible, very much like sculptors.
A skilled togger portrays an aspect of the character of their subject, whether human or other animal, structure, rock, plant, land- or sky- or sea- or city-scape, etc. Every good photo is a portrait, a portrayal, a representation.
A photo can capture more than a single moment; c.f. multiple exposures. A photo can be rendered in 3D; c.f. hologram, stereopticon, and gum bichromate. Photos can reveal the unseen; c.f. infrared, X-ray, and endoscopy. Photography (literally writing with light) can be quite simple; see photography without a camera.
A 360-degree panorama has no outside-the-frame areas... except my recent panoramic dental X-ray. A mirror in the camera frame can reveal what's outside the frame, as can shadows and projections. Photos can be (mis)labeled to give true or false impressions of what's outside the frame. And frame lines can be added to direct or distract the viewer's attention.
A photographer can faithfully record reality or create their own reality. Wow.
Which is down a related, but different tangent, than the Subject as an "object".
Again, I argue that to be an Artist (in whatever medium), one must have a message AND a measure of technical skill. We are all capable of "self-expression".
If ANY self-expression is called "Art"... then.... pffft. I am Baryshnikov.
The neighbor kid is Mozart. Of course THAT is yet another "fork in the road"