Photography is art

Some photograph to take a photo and others photograph to make a photo. These are not to be mistaken for the same because they couldn’t be further apart. Everyone has a camera in their pocket accessible in the couple of seconds it takes to get it out of your pocket and swipe to the right shortly before pressing that white button at the bottom of the screen. This is taking a photo, making a photo is when it was taken with a specific eye for something, something was appealing, something caught the eye of the photographer. Maybe this is apparent in the work, maybe it isn’t. The interesting thing is that many times, the aspect of the image that sparks the interest is often times not the biggest influence to the audience.

Photography is simply just another art form. Art is all similar in the fact that it is relatable. At its core art is made by people for people and its that togetherness that makes art appealing. Inspiring creation and internalizing experiences and thoughts through whatever form is calling is why people are drawn to it. We as people don’t know why art is appealing just that it is, a lot of times it feels familiar while also foreign.

Art is a mere look into ones thoughts at a given moment. It is safe to assume that in other circumstances or at another time, the artist would create something different or create the same thing differently. It is a pause in time, a representation of a moment, similar to the shutter on the camera, you are capturing that moment at that time.

Art is subjective but the only subject that truly matters is you, Art should be created by the artist for the artist. Often times we see people creating art that they feel others want to see but often times this can serve the artist negatively. Art is unique in the same way that the artists that create it is unique. No person will view your work the same as the person next to them and this is ok. Negative interpretations of your work are meaningless if the work is meaningful to you. The second that we take this uniqueness out, the person touch out, we no longer have art or creativity.

Activity:

Take this photo that I posted today. Without any context, analyze it and take whatever thoughts or feelings it may evoke.

Now look at this image, are they connected in any way?

As a viewer, I like to let the work evoke its own feelings however and as the artist/photographer I like to leave thoughts and emotions up to the viewer and only persuade through imagery. However, I do think it can be fun and beneficial to see how the way an art piece serves you changes after getting a glimpse at the artist’s eye or thoughts in the current moment. Although we know the artist can never truly go back to exactly what inspired a work of art in the given moment, for the scope of this activity I will attempt to.

The Summer of June 2024 at Glacier National Park.
For me (the artists), the first image really shows how much people are creatures of habit and depicts social norms. It portrays solitude and possible a bit of rebellion.

This image alone doesn’t tell much of a story without zooming out to see the full picture which is what the second image does.

Typically “Going to the Sun Road” is closed due to snow and cold temps this time of year. This line of cars is approaching a barricade in the road and you guessed it, it’s the same one from the first image (If you squint really hard you can see a stop sign towards the front of the line of cars). To the left, there is a glacier lookout viewing area. This mixed with a bunch of cars trying to turn around and people walking in that couldn’t secure a parking spot created this crazy cluster.

What really inspired me to take this photo was the cyclist with the skis strapped to his bag. This just adds another element of story telling as I previously mentioned the road was closed due to snow. I later found out that people will hike or bike past the road closure and go ski on these avalanches carving out there own paths and creating there own way.

Now go back to the images and reflect, did this change any thoughts and emotions on the work? Notice how easy it is to be persuaded, emotions are so precious in there purist from because they are almost always influenced. Be conscious.