Time to Talk About It...

Thanks for the compliment. I don't consider most of my stuff as art. There are only a few images I have that I consider as art. Most are just nice pictures.

Art only matters if that's the direction you want to go into. If photography is just a hobby or pastime you enjoy, then just enjoy it. No one says you must become an artist.

However, I believe we are all artists looking for our voice. And when we find it, it lets us become our true selves.

Dali put it this way...

"I enjoy becoming more Dali."

What he means is that he no longer has to please others or gets molded by people he meets or by his surroundings. He's searching for (and finding) his true being. That's the ultimate pleasure of any artist -- to become what every cell in your body wants to become. It's a process that liberates us.

It's what Scott Kelby was talking about in his article about being more serious. He wants to put a voice into his work. Make it personal. But instead, he's making too much $$$ and easily gets sidetracked.

Are you there yet, Mr. Kelby?

MLKstudios wrote: What did you think of Saul Leiter's work? Is it just snapshots, or something more?

Good heavens, does ANYBODY think his stuff was just snaphots??? Impressive work, though urban goth is not my bag.

lost Kelly

I love his work. They were some of the first color photographs to be taken seriously as art.

Many people have ridden the train, but few have diverted it like he did. There were new compositions and new forms for critics to deal with. While still connected to Duchamp, he put a spin on things.

Everybody posting their photos on Facebook etc. is the computer age version of watching bad home movies! LOL I think with everything, it's a novelty at first; people are still fascinated w/being able to post their photos online to show them to their friends and family. Eventually the novelty wears off and people move on to something else, and we're left w/the best out of whatever the latest technology brings us. I think in time people will get tired of looking at everybody's lousy pictures and will move on to something else. Most things seem to run their course.

Snapshots can be good or bad; a photo being a snapshot doesn't necessarily mean it's not art. Leiter's work is a slice of life but has interesting perspectives and looks at the world in a unique way. That's what I think takes it to the next level as art. I know I've been out taking pictures and people look at me, look up etc. - they can't figure out what I'm taking a picture of! That's the difference I think for photographers as artists, I know I see things differently than the average person. They don't see what I'm photographing because I see something there that they aren't even seeing. I see the design, the pattern, the colors, etc. in what might be a common object.

MLKstudios wrote: Do you think in our modern world, where everyone has a camera (or phone cam) and the results can be posted so quickly make for more interesting photos, or does it have a detrimental affect on the art of photography?

I think the more detrimental affect on the art of photography would have to be photoshop. Not for me personally because I tend to go for the full pull in most cases there. There will always be those that snap and post and def the cam phones make it easy to do that. Documenting the everyday things has its place and even the ones that get more artsy with their cam phone pictures, there is a place for that too.
Someone asked me the other day who my favorite photographer is. I said me before I even thought about it. Then I thought yes it is me. Do I admire others work YES. Do I strive to improve YES. But at the end of the day all I have is ME.
So in answer to your question. It doesn't really change anything for me because I will always see merit in my own 'Art' , as do others that use their cam phone or any other device for self expression.

A new example of dada and Duchamp's influence on modern art (aka post-modernism):

www.getaddictedto.com/5-million-dollars-1-terabyte-sculpture/

You see how it relates to Fountain, and "found art"? Also, do you see how it makes us think about our world?

Since it is holding $5 million in stolen "art", does that give the piece a value of $5 mil? Or because it is stolen, it should land the owner in jail? Or is it still just a $100 external hard drive?

hmm

That's the idea behind modern art. Is there something about it that makes you think and see our world a little differently than you saw it before. If so, it has artistic merit.

Not so hard to understand, really. It does take some thinking to "get it" though.

Matthew

icepics wrote: Snapshots can be good or bad; a photo being a snapshot doesn't necessarily mean it's not art. Leiter's work is a slice of life but has interesting perspectives and looks at the world in a unique way. That's what I think takes it to the next level as art. I know I've been out taking pictures and people look at me, look up etc. - they can't figure out what I'm taking a picture of! That's the difference I think for photographers as artists, I know I see things differently than the average person. They don't see what I'm photographing because I see something there that they aren't even seeing. I see the design, the pattern, the colors, etc. in what might be a common object.

Completely agree in your assessment, Sharon.

Every "thing" has form in it. Discovering the form (its essence) is what art photography is about.

Since I posted this earlier, I will re-issue it here. This is the form of a Gerbera. A distilled version of the flower, and yet still recognizable:

In the "Homework" thread, you'll see many other works that achieve the same thing. The form of the thing (a flower) is simplified to get to its essence.

Pixelchix wrote: Someone asked me the other day who my favorite photographer is. I said me before I even thought about it. Then I thought yes it is me. Do I admire others work YES. Do I strive to improve YES. But at the end of the day all I have is ME.
So in answer to your question. It doesn't really change anything for me because I will always see merit in my own 'Art' , as do others that use their cam phone or any other device for self expression.

You appear to have that idea inside that Dali stated. His goal in life was to achieve himself. A complete, fulfilled human being.

While that seems to be obvious, its not so much. The world throws many curves at us. The people around us will mold us (if we allow them to). Our families molded us too.

An artist creates the world they want to live in, and that can only be done by knowing who you are better than anyone else, and NOT being what others expected you to be.

You must rebel, and seek your own truth. It's an absolute. It's who YOU are.