The Most Elusive Medium_ SPC II, Photographic Artist
Unlike Painters and Sculptors who use tangible things as their medium, Photographers use Light and Shadow to illuminate, model, shape, define and represent our subjects. Painters use tempura, watercolors and oil paints on paper wood and canvas. Sculptors work with a variety of physical mediums including clay, stone, metal and glass.
You can't hold light or shadow in your hands. You can't take a pile of light and a pile of shadow and brush them onto a canvas, or carve them with a chisel, or weld them together with a torch. Light happens, and objects that stop the forward travel of the light create shadows. And light travels at some 180,000 miles per second, so how can it be said that light and shadow are being 'used to define and represent a subject'?
Well, that's the trick then, isn't it? If you have a steady light source such as the sun, or a light bulb, or a dependable on-demand, directional light source such as a flash or strobe unit, a photographer can either position the subject in such a way that from the photographers viewpoint, the subject's interaction with the light source creates shadows which gives the subject the appearance of three dimensional reality. Or, the photographer can reposition himself so that the same effect results from his viewpoint. Or return to the subject at different times of day.
So, does that make it sound like there are a few things to know about before a person can reliably make a good photograph? Well, there are! There are many factors that come into play whenever a photograph is being made. Certainly exposure in the camera is critical to a photograph's success, and that depends on the photographer's ability to read the light correctly. There are also camera position and angle, angle of view or framing, and certainly how interesting the subject matter is. But the whole outcome is completely dependant upon the amount, quality and direction of the light source or sources.
What else is important in creating a successful photograph? The "feel" or affinity the photographer has for the subject. Now this is completely subjective, as is the interest level of the subject, and the overall presentation of the whole image. And all this working with a medium that is intangible!
So, what is "Art"?
In my experience, when someone says they are a "Painter", or "Sculptor", the assumption is that they are an "Artist". When someone says they are a "Photographer", more often than not the assumption is that they are a "Tradesman"!
Sure, it is true that there are at least three "classes" of photographer: Artist, Tradesman, and Hobbyist. Isn't it also true of those who use other mediums? There are 'sculptors' who fashion headstones, and engravers of signs and markers. There are 'painters' who apply latex to exteriors of buildings. Are they not 'tradesmen' rather than 'artists'?
In no other occupation is there greater potential for creative artistry than photography! In all photographic endeavors, whether in conceptual art projects, journalistic coverage of events, or documentation of objects, there is always the potential for the most aesthetic lighting, the dramatic angle, the flattering pose. Photography is an art. It's just that not everyone with a camera is an accomplished artist.