When is a photograph Art? (...on Latitude)

Ever since I picked up a camera and started producing prints in a darkroom, this question has plagued me.


This is the first article in a
series whereby I attempt to relate what photography and art mean to me. I wish to begin by looking at black and white prints and why the exact same subject can relate two different feelings, and tell two different stories.


My background and passion for photography has its foundation in shades of gray. Having been a Radiographer for the past 23 years, obtaining the right exposure and displaying just the proper scale of gray was essential in making critical diagnosis and saving lives. In medical imaging, the difference in seeing a bone fracture or the tiniest tumor came down to latitude. Latitude in gray scale is defined at the amount of discrete shades that exist between pure black and pure white.




The same can be said for producing the perfect black and white print. Some photographs demand to have a wide latitude, meaning that even the tiniest differences in shades must be reproduced to tell the full story. Other compositions or subjects have to be portrayed with relatively narrow latitude. The contrasty, harsh light and grainy photos speak to me on a different level. The key to telling your story is understand what you want to say, then to shoot in the right light to achieve the proper latitude.


I have discarded many quality pictures because they did not tell the story I wanted to tell. An example of this can be seen in my portfolio under Architecture/Structures. Taken in Chicago, I have two photos of the historic Wrigley Building. I included both because, while one was technically superior in terms of composition, the other tells the story I wanted to share. I felt that this old-world structure needed to be shot at night with the city lights reflecting off the dense, low hanging clouds.


This brings me back to the question of the article: When is a photograph Art? All art is subjective in nature, and not all art has to have universal appeal. When you create a print that grabs the attention of the majority of those who view it, your target audience, you come as close to creating art as any master painter or sculptor hopes to. The key is not to create postcards of interesting places that compete with every other picture of that same place, but to tell a story in a single image. To me, black and white photography is the best medium to narrate with. My portfolio includes many more color pictures than it does black and white, for the simple reason that people LOVE color. Color sells, plain and simple. I am never as happy, nor do I feel like I have done my story justice, until I take those beautiful colors and discard them for the sake of my narrative.


Never be afraid to tell your story. Even if it doesn't have universal appeal, it is your masterpiece.To me, this is Art.

Location:E Pine Creek Cir,Fullerton,United States