[darinwc]

This is true, but I think a photographer's chances of achieving artistic expression are signficantly increased if he/she is actually allowed to use some light and shade effect and differential focus. The ideal in technical photography is, as I mentioned, flat lighting, deep focus, high sharpness, in other words emotional sterility (and I speak as someone who worked professionally as a technical photographer for years!) .

Agreed. The artistic use of lighting and focus will make or break a peice of art. Whereas a scientific documentation strives to capture the most detail possible, which pretty much defines the use of sharp focus and flat lighting.