What makes fine art photography "fine art"

[jnanian]

LOL seems like every other week the same thread pops up
but with another first poster ...

fine arts is just a title.
art schools teach it ... rather than vocational schools.

anyone can say their photography is "fine art photography"
but it seems that mainly ansel adems wannabee landscapers
use the title the most.

do what eddie suggested .. just make photographs

[Jim Jones]

. . . More then anything, I want to find my photographic voice and have my voice recognizable. . . .

Too many have found the best way to make their style recognizable is to trumpet whatever they do, regardless of any intrinsic value. This means studying psycology, marketing, and the art scene; and by courting anyone who can promote their work. Fortunately for the art of photography, others have pursued some area of photography that inspires them to exert the effort needed to become masters of their field. Edward Weston and Eugene Atget are examples of this. Only by the efforts of a few who recognized Atget's accomplishments has he achieved the recognization denied during most of his photographic career. Weston had some help from his wife and fellow photographers in achieving some fame during his lifetime.

Ask yourself, "Which is more important, your photography or your fame?" Perhaps you can join the few who have both. Until then, concentrate on just one.

[zackesch]

I suggest the O.P concentrates on becoming fine photographer, and not producing "fine art".

This is my intention for this post exactly. I am interested in what qualities make fine art photography "fine art." After the numerous responses, I understand now that there is no set of qualities of that make it fine art. My goal as a photographer is to master one genre of photography. Fame is not my goal.

There are a number of competitions in my area and my goal is when I enter my competitions, and have my work easily recognisable from one competition to the next. If prints are sold along the way, that would be great, but not my main goal. I do not aim to please the masses, but to challenge myself and discover what I am fully capable of.

Thank you all for your very helpful and informative posts.

[StoneNYC]

How about the german taxi driver and he got his work shown of all the topless women in his cab. Isnt that fine art too stone? :P

If he makes metal prints and puts it in a fancy frame and it sells for assloads of money, then sure


~Stone

The Important Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

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[ajs77306]

There isn't really an answer, especially on this forum, but two things are for certain - an art education helps and the validation of critics is absolutely necessary.



A Leica is a bare minimum. This is what I've discovered through poring over books and literature. But go medium or large format if you want to literally nail the 'fine' bit - assuming you know how to focus.
35mm photographers rarely win the fine art label from critics because their negatives are too small and heads too big. (Try Googling a picture of Garry Winogrand and tell me he doesn't have a big head. Critics don't like this, as it takes up gallery space reserved for their own giant craniums - physically and otherwise.

This is a very subjective statement. Use whatever equipment you have available. The camera gear you mentioned is just fine. My response is not with respect to pouring over books and making historical references. My college photography professors *all* used a combination of formats, all of whom have done world-wide shows, won awards, and hold distinguished academic positions.

[Diapositivo]

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum50/1...statement.html

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum50/1...rt-status.html

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

(somebody from a balcony)

[desertratt]

There was this fellow years ago who wanted to take some group photos of working class families in their homes in Harlem. He took a great big bulky and awkward camera, an 8x10 as I recall, instead of a 35mm and everybody seemed to agree it was "fine art." I thought it was a gimmick.
There's a lot of mindless hype in this society and making a value judgement about "art" and "fine art" is way up there.
The definition of "art" that I like is that it simply is something that is better than average, something that stands above the pack.

[batwister]

This is a very subjective statement. Use whatever equipment you have available. The camera gear you mentioned is just fine. My response is not with respect to pouring over books and making historical references. My college photography professors *all* used a combination of formats, all of whom have done world-wide shows, won awards, and hold distinguished academic positions.

I was playing around of course, but there is definitely a bias towards large format work. Agree that using multiple formats (playing with the medium) is great and some work very well this way. But there are very few notable for it, because the art world likes auteurs - people who do the same thing over and over in a way that makes us familiar with their work. Bresson (35mm), Strand (LF), Weston (LF), Ansel (LF), Robert Adams (MF), Stephen Shore (LF) - their approaches are tailored to their formats, and they've stuck to their single minded technical (and subjective) approach to great success. It shouldn't be forgotten that your camera format informs how you investigate photography and it takes a lot of investigation to get anywhere. As with painting, your choice of materials is your first artistic decision. 'Whatever' won't do. <subjective> Isn't that how we ended up with postmodern trash? </subjective>

Technique, subject and aesthetics have a symbiotic relationship in the best art. I'd say the OP should use the Elan, but play to its strengths and weaknesses, rather than trying to work around them. There's always a better tool, but it always gets to a point of accepting your camera's and photography's limitations before you might as well take up painting. Large format is like the cut off point, which is why I think many of these photographers dabble in and take from painting - they're so close to it.

[mark]

It shouldn't be forgotten that your camera format informs how you investigate photography and it takes a lot of investigation to get anywhere.

I like this comment.

[Jim Jones]

. . . but there is definitely a bias towards large format work. . . .

Yes, and for many reasons. Ansel Adams compared the negative to the musical score, and the performance to the print. The better the score, the more possibility for the print. However, concept is often more important than technically perfect prints. The 1954 Pulitzer Prize in photography was earned by amateur Virginia Schau with a Brownie box camera.