Tuesday
Feb232010
ku # 677 ~ to be or not to be
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 10:18AM 
Ice slab on river rock ~ West Branch of the Au Sable River, in the Adirondack PARK, NY • click to embiggenI assume somewhat tongue-in-cheek-ish, a comment left by Svein-Frode stated (in part):
... Photography isn't really art, it's just a word used by some photographers to boost their own egos and tell the world that their work is superior to that of others ;).
On that same subject - Art or not Art - there is another opinion that I find rather satisfactory:
"Although photography generates works that can be called art - it requires subjectivity, it can lie, it gives aesthetic pleasure - photography is not, to begin with, an art form at all. Like language, it is a medium in which works of art (among other things) are made." Susan Sontag
Reader Comments (10)
I've been checking out this natural ice sculpture for the last 2 weeks wondering when it was going to teeter over. Amazed it's stayed like that so long.
When I first saw this image I thought the ice "sculpture" was a snowy owl.
Looks like there are two of 'ku #396.' Both this one and the moon halo image seem to have the same number. ;)
Seems like the same thing could be said of paint or even painting. Does she define an art form?
"…it is a medium in which works of art (among other things) are made."
Paint is the medium in which works of art(among other things) are made. Marble is the medium in which works of art(among other things) are made.
That's her point. I think you may have missed it Dennis.
The Sontag quote has a subtly that is easily missed especially out of context. As Jimmi points out, sculpture is made from marble, but sculpture generally is art—art isn't made from sculpture. There's a narrowing taxonomy in how she's using the words:
• medium (like stone)
• manufactured object (statue, step, k-rail)
• art (sculpture).
Her point seems to be that photography belongs at the second category and includes things like weather photos, x-rays, passport photos (these are the examples she uses). The confusion with photography is that we use the one word for the last two levels of the taxonomy—we would have a similar confusion if we used the word sculpture to indicate any object made of stone including not only art objects, but steps, highway barriers, curbs, and countertops. It's interesting but somewhat banal.
The sentence before this quote in 'On Photography' is:
"But the very question of of whether photography is or is not art is essentially a misleading one."
Something to keep in mind.
Reminds me of the time I was introduced to a person who described himself as a "painter". I politely asked "Houses or landscapes?".
Houses or landscapes. A landscape painter is going to need an awful lot of paint ;-)
"Paint is the medium in which works of art(among other things) are made. Marble is the medium in which works of art(among other things) are made."
No shit!
So what's an art form?
My original point was: What's the point? I didn't get the quote, not that I didn't understand the language.
Thanks to Mark M for elaborating. So we should draw a sharp distinction between "photography" as a term describing the means and "photograph" as a term describing the object which may or may not be a piece of art.