civilized ku # 2728 ~ (weird) fish inspection as art?
Friday, May 30, 2014 at 11:28AM 
pictured picture ~ Jones Falls ~ Ontario, CA • click to embiggen
Time eventually positions most photographs, even the most amateurish, at the level of art. ~ Susan Sontag
I pictured the picture in this entry while in Canada. I came across it on a wall of old pictures in a funky cool old hotel, Hotel Kenny. The experience of viewing the display was not unlike that of visiting a gallery to view a group of historic pictures.
Knowing absolutely nothing about the people in the pictures, they were primarily people pictures, I had no personal emotional attachment to those who were pictured. I was nevertheless captivated by not only the picture's visual impact but by the thoughts and feelings the pictures evoked. My reaction to the pictures was, in some ways, different than but, in other ways, similar to my thoughts and feelings when viewing pictures in NYC (or anywhere) galleries.
Does the viewing experience elevate what are undoubtedly amateur tourist pictures into the realm of art?
Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, I'd love to hang a few of them on my wall.
As always, comment appreciated.
Reader Comments (3)
I like the picture a lot. It fits the frame well and the angle of the subjects are all in the same direction yet balanced. It is hard to tell how old the photo is... in some ways it is timeless.
And by the way, I don't think Ontario, CA is in the Adirondack PARK. The old copy-paste issue again.
Just realized I did not respond to your question...
"Does the viewing experience elevate what are undoubtedly amateur tourist pictures into the realm of art?"
Is it really an amature picture? A true amature would put the heads in the center of the frame, but this is well composed. Maybe it was just a lucky shot? Whatever, I think this one qualifies as art, especially according to Groucho.
I have one nagging question with this image, Mark: Was it originally so tightly framed as you show it here? This would hint for me to a very skilled photographer that made best use of the frame, composing the diagonal and putting the fish out of the center to make it even more interesting... So there's at least some doubt if this is just an amateur tourist picture.
But the picture itself I like very much - so much expression from those two guys inspecting the fish in it. Art? Hmm, I don't always recognize it when I see it...