Fine art photography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography. Photojournalism is to promote an editorial point of view. Commercial photography's main focus being to sell a product or service.
The final creative reason for a fine art photograph is the photograph itself. It is not a means to another end except perhaps to please those besides the photographer who beholds it.
Fine art photography can be used to promote something. They are created most importantly to be true to the artist’s vision of beauty. We can see this by looking at Ansel Adams' work of Yosemite and Yellowstone. Ansel is one of the least disputed fine art photographers of the 20th century and an avid promoter of conservation. He hoped to have these wonders protected. The photographs were still not created to raise awareness of anything. They were done simply to be true to his artistic vision. This is an example of how fine art photography that is created simply to be true to artistic vision can be used for effect. The Ansel Adams Wilderness exist today because of this use of Ansel's fine art photography.
Contents |
[edit] History
 |
It has been suggested that History of Photography as Fine Art be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
Successful attempts to make fine art photography can be traced to Victorian era practitioners such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and Oscar Gustave Rejlander and others.
Until the late 1970s several genres predominated; nudes, portraits, natural landscapes (exemplified by Ansel Adams). Breakthrough 'star' artists in the 1970s and 80s, such as Sally Mann and Robert Mapplethorpe, still relied heavily on such genres, although seeing them with fresh eyes. Others investigated a snapshot aesthetic approach.
Throughout the twentieth century, there was a noticeable increase in the size of prints. Small delicate prints in thin frames are now a rarity, and hi-gloss wall-sized prints are common. There is now a tendency to dispense with a frame and glass altogether and instead to print onto blocked canvas.
American organizations, such as the Aperture Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art, have done much to keep photography at the forefront of the fine arts.
[edit] Current trends
There is now a trend toward a careful staging and lighting of the picture, rather than hoping to "discover" it ready-made. Photographers such as Cindy Sherman and Gregory Crewdson, among others, are noted for the quality of their staged pictures.
According to Art Market Trends 2004 (PDF link) 7,000 photographs were sold in auction rooms in 2004, and photographs averaged a 7.6 percent annual price rise from 1994 and 2004. Around 80 percent were sold in the USA. Of course, auction sales only record a fraction of total private sales.
As printing technologies have improved since around 1980, a photographer's art prints reproduced in a finely-printed limited-edition book have now become an area of strong interest to collectors. This is because books usually have high production values, a short print run, and their limited market means they are almost never reprinted. The collector's market in photography books by individual photographers is developing rapidly.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Naomi Rosenblum, A World History of Photography
- Michael Peres, ed., The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography
- Jerry L. Thompson, Truth and Photography
- The Impact of Photography on Painting
[edit] External links
- Center for Creative Photography
- Library of Congress - A Brief History of Photography
- MoMA Photography
- National Gallery of Australia Photography
- Shades of Light (Australian Photography 1839 - 1988) the online version of the original Shades of Light published 1998, Gael Newton, National Gallery of Australia.
- The Center for Fine Art Photography
