P3D Re: Is it Art? [was Re: Holga vs. Hassy, for instance! ]

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Andy Beals wrote:
> More in line with the thread, there are snapshots and there is art.
> Actually a lot more than that -- are photos taken of Haute Couture
> Art?  What about the slides made of models wearing dungarees for the
> J. C. Penney catalog?  If Ansel Adams [bow, scrape] had sold his
> pictures to travel agents for use in advertising, would we hold him
> in the same high regard?
> 

Actually Adams was a commercial photographer.  He took pictures for
companies annual reports, portraits, and other work.  Unfortunately I
don't think you can still see much of this work, so it's kind of hard
to determine how different (if at all) it is from his more well known
landscapes.

I think this discussion probably boils down to "what is art?" (hence
Andy's change of the Subject line), and I don't think there can be any
one answer.  I think the most reasonable answer is "art is whatever
the artist says is art, and anyone can be an artist".  To be more
narrow than that (e.g., "art is what is taught in art school", or
"painting and sculpting are art", or "I don't know what art is, but I
konw it when I see it") is sure to exclude someone's favorite artist
or art style.  I personally don't like a lot of what many consider
art, but I feel that if I don't respect someone's right to declare
their work art I can not expect anyone to respect my right to declare
my (meager) work art.  (Not that all my photographs are attempts at
Art, which I'm sure many will agree with.  :)

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
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http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
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