Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/12

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Subject: [Leica] Art vs Photography?
From: Afterswift <Afterswift@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 19:47:13 EDT

>I'm with David Vestal. I'd rather be called a "photographer" than an "artist"
any day. --Mike
- -----------------------------------------------------
Mike,

I'm as much a purist as you are, but I do recognize art in a fine print when I
see it. Whether that art is produced by a PJ or ad photographer or a field
photographer, something about it makes it an esthetic experience. 

As you might recall, the original business of the painter was portraiture for
the elite as much as decoration. But painters grew in their profession and
found the range of art. That was inevitable as sensibility and craft
developed. Photographers are no different.

Just as a prose writer might suddenly wander off into poetry, so do work-a-day
photographers sometimes stray from a subject into its essence -- and come up
with an extraordinary work. I call that print art. You can call it what you
will. But it's there anyway and will always remain.

Since I don't have a chance to read everything on LUG, please address any
replies off-list. 

Bob