[HN Gopher] Photography is not Objective, Art is a Set of Choices
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Photography is not Objective, Art is a Set of Choices
 
Author : smbv
Score  : 26 points
Date   : 2022-03-17 21:34 UTC (1 hours ago)
 
web link (aaronhertzmann.com)
w3m dump (aaronhertzmann.com)
 
| the_af wrote:
| I've found this series of articles about art and photography very
| interesting, thanks to whoever has been posting them here on HN.
| 
| They helped me nail down some intuitions I had about photography,
| and clear some misconceptions. As someone who knows nothing about
| photography, I found it fascinating to learn about the process
| good photographers go through in order to get what they want out
| of a "plain" photo.
 
  | smbv wrote:
  | I would recommend subscribing to the RSS feed: all of the
  | articles are frankly superb.
  | 
  | https://aaronhertzmann.com/feed.xml
 
| bambax wrote:
| Art is intent + execution.
| 
| Keep execution, remove intent: you get bathroom decoration, which
| definitely isn't art.
| 
| Remove execution, keep intent: you get modern art, which is still
| art.
| 
| Edit: this comment seems to be interpreted as being against
| modern art. It really isn't. The point is that there is still art
| when we remove execution. Some modern art has very elaborate
| execution, but sometimes modern art is pure idea, and then _it is
| still art_.
 
  | pmoriarty wrote:
  | _" Remove execution, keep intent: you get modern art, which is
  | still art."_
  | 
  | I completely disagree with the lack of execution in modern art
  | as a whole.
  | 
  | There were plenty of modern artists for whom execution was
  | critically important.
  | 
  | Picasso wasn't throwing down completely random scribbles.
  | 
  | John Cage scrupulously followed his randomly-generated
  | compositions when he was performing them.
  | 
  | Damien Hirst's crystal skull isn't anything if not amazingly
  | executed.
  | 
  | These are just a few examples off the top of my head, but there
  | are countless others.
 
    | bambax wrote:
    | Yeah, that's not my point, but it's my fault for not being
    | clear enough. I added a line to the comment you're replying
    | to, to try to make it more explicit.
 
  | onemoresoop wrote:
  | It looks like in some modern art and the artists behind it are
  | lacking , I'd say, skill/labor not execution because the
  | execution exists in some shape or form. But many of these
  | artists are trained classically and could perform in a
  | classical way if they really wanted to (though some can't), but
  | choose to express themselves in novel ways. And that does get
  | pushed a bit too far, sometimes up to the point that we wonder
  | what could NOT be considered art. But even if you don't like
  | most modern art, at some point you will find something that
  | stirs something in you, something that would not be possible if
  | we had very rigid/conservative standards. I find that modern
  | art is more about processes, abstractions and ideas.
 
    | bambax wrote:
    | Modern art is art! I said as much. It doesn't so much lack
    | _in_ execution as it lacks execution: it 's often not
    | executed at all.
    | 
    | But that's good! In many ways modern art is pure intent: put
    | something where it doesn't belong, or think of putting it
    | where it doesn't belong, and you're done.
    | 
    | My point is not against modern art, or even about modern art;
    | what I meant to say was actually quite the opposite: that
    | intent is what matters, and if you remove execution but still
    | keep the intent, then there is still art, whereas if you do
    | the opposite, then there is no art.
 
| TheRealNGenius wrote:
| Agree, photography is not art
 
  | smbv wrote:
  | It's been the same argument for more than a hundred years now.
  | Just because art is more accessible to create doesn't mean it's
  | worse.
 
  | pmoriarty wrote:
  | What is your definition of art?
 
  | alar44 wrote:
  | Why? Do people actually think this?
 
  | vmception wrote:
  | Wrong article then
  | 
  | This is about a painter realizing that photography overlaps
  | with reality distortion aspects as others arts
 
  | onemoresoop wrote:
  | Why is photography not an art, just because anybody can do it
  | and anybody and their dog can take a photo whenever they want?
 
  | the_af wrote:
  | Who are you agreeing with? This is certainly not what the
  | article states.
  | 
  | A closer summary would be (selectively quoting from TFA):
  | 
  | > _Photography is not objective truth. Photography and painting
  | both result from deliberate choices of depiction, and there is
  | no clear dividing line between them._
  | 
  | > _[...] I argue that pictures are like stories that people
  | tell with pictures. In short, perception is interpretation, and
  | visual art is a construction made for perception._
 
| Melatonic wrote:
| I am not sure I agree with this original hypothesis - does anyone
| really believe a photograph is a perfect recreation of truth?
| From most people I talk to they understand that it is somewhere
| in between art and documentation.
| 
| I am big into photography myself and it would take a lot of
| conscious effort to actually take photographs that were as close
| as possible to what the average human brain is perceiving from
| their own eyes. It is certainly possible with the right tools and
| mindset but would require careful lens selection and conscious
| choice of angles/perspective.
| 
| TLDR:
| 
| Ceci n'est pas une pipe
 
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