Art and artists (photographically and generally)

droj

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droj
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It's plain that there are those who haven't figured out what might constitue art (sorry, Bill, I didn't help much, did I?). It's also plain that some think of themselves as artists, when in fact they are just artistes (artistes are stylists - they arrange things, and might even be original, but their work is essentially hollow of content). Others might hardly think of it at all, but have some gift and just get on with it, producing art without worrying about the definition (and that has been so since prehistory - reference various cave paintings that survive and have content and power, and were certainly not done by artistes). Technicians (an admirable breed) we shouldn't really discuss in this context, except that some of them aspire to being artistes, just as many artistes aspire to be artists.

Remember that this is a purely cultural discussion and not about the human worth of individuals. (Many people who post here have a propensity for feeling threatened and jumping up and down about it at the drop of a hat ...)

It's a game, ok? But a deadly serious one, just like football.
 
Who cares? As long as you enjoy what you do and it gives pleasure to others (on whatever level) what difference does it make what bracket it falls into? Some people really need to get over themselves:rolleyes:
 
^ Pretty much my thoughts too. I see the whole debate as to whether you're an artist, artiste (incidentally I've never once on any photography forum seen that distinction made in any discussion) or just a guy with a camera pretty much pointless. They're circular discussions that never resolve anything, never enlighten us in any way and often serve as little more than point-scoring exercises. Why not just grab a camera and go take some photos?
 
I'm serious about the pictures I make, but I don't take it seriously. Like everything it's only as serious as you want it to be.
 
Is there a competition I haven't heard about? - there seems to be a fresh artistic insecurity thread popping up every day..
 
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Internet forums are intoxicating, (I better qualify and say "for some")

I'm not a football fan, I could have been but I watched England play a few times and that persuaded me otherwise
 
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My one and only post in this thread will simply be...

:rolleyes:
 
Round objects!
 
I've sometimes wondered whether Rembrandt would have made a good photographer. And I'd be very interested to read the psychoanalyst's report explaining what goes on inside both Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst's heads.
 
The OP uses the language used by the so called "art elite" Basically it is used to try and justify why what most of us see as cr@p is actually very good.
 
I've sometimes wondered whether Rembrandt would have made a good photographer. And I'd be very interested to read the psychoanalyst's report explaining what goes on inside both Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst's heads.
I'm pretty sure Sir Henry Raeburn would have, there's a good documentary with Peter Capaldi that starting at 28:00 shows how his studio works using natural light..


It would still make a classic portrait studio for photography - one I'd prefer working in to the more typical dark cave with artificial light.
 
You know when they have lost the plot, some of these "self called" artists I mean, when they report you anonymously to a Moderator inferring that you have copied images from the web and passing them off as yours

Bloody Cheek

(That has just happened to me when I posted 3 of my images on a thread in one go, ironically a thread that I started ….. I was also accused of "carpet bombing" …….. when the guy before me also posted 3 images in one go……… but he was a "Staff Member")

but maybe it's just that section in this Forum
 
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And I'd be very interested to read the psychoanalyst's report explaining what goes on inside both Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst's heads.

It would be a rather short read something along the lines

"Nothing"
 
And there's me where I think of myself as a cartoonist rather than as an artist. :D
 
Remember that this is a purely cultural discussion and not about the human worth of individuals. (Many people who post here have a propensity for feeling threatened and jumping up and down about it at the drop of a hat ...)

Not gonna happen Rog, the membership decide what is discussed sensibly and what isn't, why can't you make a thread about memory cards, faceache copyright, or forum flirting, some $h@t like that........you're just a trouble causer...lol
 
While I'm all for promoting photography as art and not a hobby, I think the two or three threads we have already are about as much as the forum can handle at once :)
 
To paraphrase Bono: if you don't know what it is, it must be art.
 
If you don't know what's art, then nothing is.
 
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