Is Photography an Art Form? Some Thoughts
Is photography really an art form? This can be a kind of tricky question, because it’s not like painting, so establishing a reason on why it should be considered as art is kind of hard. But on this article we are going to give some interesting insights on why we consider it to be art. In my previous article I said something like that, but today I’m going to expand and give really powerful reasons.
The Discussion:
Everyone has been arguing about this matter since the 1800s. Because photography has caused a real controversy when it got started and the first photographers appeared.
In one of these discussions in the Photographic Society of London, many members arrived to this conclusion: “Photography is not an art form, because it doesn’t elevate the imagination.” If we think about it for a minute, you will see that in contrast to painting, photography doesn’t elevate the imagination as much as painting does. But that’s just a primary analysis which leaves a lot out of range.
The Idea That Remains:
This idea that photography doesn’t elevate the imagination, has remained for lots of years. Even in the 60s this idea still existed, that photography was nothing more and nothing else than capturing subjects, objects and surfaces.
This ideas has remained for a long time in the world of photography and art. But hopefully, today it’s not the case. People have evolved out of this conception and now photography is considered an art form. But how did this debate finish? How this did idea disappeared from the scene? In order to answer this, we have to review a specific case, which was the breakthrough.
Andreas Gursky's Rhine II Photograph:
Andreas Gursky was the responsible to finish with this conception, when he sold his photograph, the Rhine II, for over 4 million dollars. It’s considered as the most expensive photo ever sold, and since then, photography could escape that unjustified tag of “not art”, and could finally become what it was since its beginning: an art form.
Photography nowadays holds a very big importance in the world of art. And we are going to explain why it’s art.
The Reasons:
Just like one spends a lot of time painting, you also need to do the same when taking photos. The Rhine II is a perfect example, because in order to capture that moment, the photographer had to be very patient and wait for such a perfect moment to appear.
Photography is the art of capturing moments forever. The magic resides in how a photographer is capable of capturing the best moments, those that wake one’s soul and elevate it to the sky.
