Is a Photographer an Artist?

Life had me flying in a few directions simultaneously and something had to take a temporary backseat; unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you'd like to look at it, it was my photography and everything that went along with it, including this blog.  Maybe other areas needed my more immediate attention and that's okay.  The important part is, I'm back, and ready!

A photographer, in some circles, is not considered an artist.  What is so great about photography, especially in this period of time, when so many can pull out their cell phone and capture a photo any time they want and of anything that catches the eye? What could possibly be so special when we are inundated with images from all over the world?

At surface value, I might agree if you are only taking an image for what it appears to be at first glance; however, if you look into a photo, a really good one, you will see a story.  Maybe you will be able to view it from an objective point of view or maybe it will be purely subjective, based on your own life experiences and what you are ready or able to see at that moment.  Isn't that the most wonderful gift about photography?  It appears to be real, the mind accepts it as real, but, depending on what the creator of the image has chosen, it can be altered by layers of other photos or edited in Photoshop in some manner. The final product can be a complete illusion.

To me the definition of an artist is someone who has the creative ability to take the mundane or the ordinary, the often overlooked, and assist you in looking deeper and/or aide you in viewing it in a whole new way.  No matter what the medium is, if you can do this, then you truly are an artist, a creator.

Up next...Images and How They May Affect Your Life

Photojournalism - Telling Stories With Pictures

The art of storytelling in photography, to me, is photojournalism.  It gives me the freedom to follow where my heart leads me, to capture and show something as it is but also leave room for the viewer's interpretation.  The reality of a photo may seem obvious to one but, in truth, many stories can be told from that one photo.  Take this one for an example...

What does it speak to your heart? This is only one single moment frozen in time.  What about all the other moments?  What happened here before and then after?  Who are the people in the background, especially the mysterious silhouetted child?  What are their stories?  How long has this market been here?

A long list of questions could be presented to each of you, and your own story could be written.  No two would be alike!  A good photojournalistic picture would likely spike the viewer's imagination, not suppress it.

Are the many images that we take in every day any different?  What was the photographer showing us and what are we actually seeing?  Was the photo manipulated in any way to change its meaning or to persuade us to see a truth as someone wishes us to view it?  Or does it leave room for us to wonder or as a launching point to ask more questions?

Some believe a photograph is real simply because it is there in front of them, because they can see it with their eyes, but is it really?  If you were to see a succession of pictures, you may be able to piece together a more accurate story but, even then, don't be so sure.

I think a wonderful example of this is the movie, "The Green Mile."

Image Courtesy of http://www.altfg.com/

The man in this film, John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan), was accused of horrible crimes and supposedly caught red handed, yet that wasn't the truth at all. Given the information available most people would have come to the same conclusions as were made in by the witnesses in this story and why is that?  Are we accepting what we perceive visually or are we asking more questions?  Are we interested in the truth or just what we believe to be the truth?  

Anyway, I don't want to cheat this film in any way.  My small summary is not the entirety of the movie, and it's really quite an eye-opener in many ways.  While it is told as non-fictional, one could imagine and, maybe rightly so, that this happens more often than not (the scenario I presented to you).

I honestly don't know why I'm going here except to say that maybe we all need to ask more questions, to not rely strictly on what we either see with our own eyes or what is presented to us by the media or anyone else for that matter.  The truth is not always palpable.  We may all need to dig a little deeper to discover it, to follow our own hearts to discernment, and not another's.

In summary, "a picture is worth a thousand words" but whose words are they?