Art or Craft?

10-OCT-04

There was an active and lively discussion on an internet forum recently, directed toward determining whether photography is an art or a craft.

The art camp claimed that great photographs have been made with sophisticated equipment and also with very basic equipment. I think we've all seen some great photographs with home-brew pinhole and other low-tech cameras. And anyone using a camera less than ten years old is likely using pretty advanced gear. The art camp said that since it's not equipment and since much of the development process is automated, it must therefore be art. Photographers must have an artistic eye to see potential, create a composition that contains essential elements and excludes others, and then put that vision onto a print.

The craft people disagreed. It's all about getting the exposure, focus, depth of field and then producing a print. Darkroom or digital, the picture on the negative is only an outline of the final work. The ability to achieve appropriate density and color balance is a learned skill, not an art. The craft people went on about great photo printers, mentioning many well known people but omitting my name entirely. Hmph.

The art camp said skill or no skill, if you don't have an artist's eye, you're not going to produce a great print. The skill people said pah! What good is an artist's eye if you can't get the image on paper? Art asked if Craft were making their own paper; Craft asked if Art were making their own landscapes. From there, the discussion gradually degenerated into something resembling Islamic extremists and Western imperialists. A predictable result, actually, since, after all, it was a 'net discussion. Both sides claimed that "God is on our side and we will destroy you."

I stayed out of it, except to suggest that if God wanted either side destroyed, He didn't need any misguided artists or craftsmen to do it for Him. But I will share the True Answer to the whole question. Photography is both art and craft, just like painting, sculpting and music. But don't blab it. Be a shame if everyone knew that.