Photograph’s role as art is often misinterpreted as art based solely on the existence of an image. However when one takes into consideration how the image is realized, one can draw a distinct and clear difference between photography and the traditional arts. In the traditional arts the skilled hands of the practitioner plays a pivotal role in the physical allocation of materials in the creation of a new reality. While photography when practiced in its traditional role as a narrative depiction of an existing time and place, recorded in real time void of any physical human interpretation. Here the practitioner plays more of a supporting role in the operation of the camera and composition of the scene. This dependency on a camera to record an existing reality instead of the creation of a new reality, is what establishes Photography as a unique and independent visual platform. However Photography’s Narrative classification does not mean that it can not be transitioned to represent a more artistic portrayal. This can be accomplished in the analog world with the physical introduction of content and in the digital world in post-production or combination of both worlds. But even with such changes the resulting image remains a representation of the photographic process. Since it is dependent on the recording of a image or images.
By Curtis Salonick
Curtis Salonick 