Snapshots and Photographic Art - DPChallenge Forums

08/06/2002 03:06:42 AM · #1

While I rebuild a Raid 5 array and restore 100+ Gigabytes of data, I thought I would ramble a little bit....

What is a snapshot? A snapshot is a photograph that is intended to capture some moment in time for archival or nostalgic purposes. Snapshots populate family albums, business archives, police files, and just about any other information archive where photos are helpful. Snapshots serve as memory refreshers... they serve as family keepsakes... reminders of wonderful times... reminders of painful times... One does not have to be an artist to populate a family album with many great memories. Snapshots are not usually prepared or planned photos. Snapshots happen on the fly... usually on short notice... Image quality and artistic composition are not required.

What is photographic art? Artistic photography is not your normal snapshot photo. Artistic photography usually involves some amount of planning and thought for each image that is produced. An artistic photograph may happen on the first try or it may happen after 200 attempts. The photographer may change the perspective of the shot... change the lighting... take the photo at a different time of day or under different weather conditions... The photographer may spend weeks, months, or years executing the desired image. Why all the intensity?

The artistic photograph will be used as interior decorations... Magazine advertisements... Magazine covers... These photos can sell for huge sums of money. These photos can be printed and framed to decorate the walls of your home... The walls of hotels... the walls of restaurants...

There is no rule that says a snapshot can't be an artistic photograph... in fact, it's not uncommon that some shapshots turn out to be very artistic... it may be an accident or it may be an attempt... none-the-less, it happens.

As we see here on DPChallenge every day, lots of families have digital cameras and probably a film camera as well. Most people enjoy taking family photos while on vacations and other outings for the purpose of populating photo albums and creating keepsake images. These snapshots will make you laugh and they will make you cry... Digging through these albums and browsing the impromptu photos that just seem to happen without effort can bring much joy for many years. I often wondered why I browse old photos over and over again. I have seen them hundreds of times. They never get boring. They spark memories of past events and people that I may otherwise filter from my short term memory.

I wonder how many people have a photo of a 1 year old child at that first birthday party with cake smeared all over everything? How about a photo of a child blowing out the candles? Tearing open presents? Playing in the sprinkler in the yard? Building a snow man? I would bet that most people do :)

Why can't these family album snapshot photos have great artistic qualities like the photographic art? You obvlously can't spend two hours setting up a shot of a child blowing out the candles... You can't do 150 versions of it until you get it right either :)

This is where a good understanding of photographic technique and the rules of composition come into play...

This image, by David Hessell from my camera club, is also a 'snapshot' that is better than an average snapshot...

How about this one? David hasn't really used any special rules of composition... he just caught the right image at the right time maybe?

I guess maybe the point that I'm trying to make here is that 'snapshots' can be artistic if you want them to be. Just a few concepts of good composition tucked away in the back of your mind that you can recall on short notice... these may change the way you think about photos of those kids, flowers, pets, bugs, and sunsets in the future :)

lisae

Olympus C-720UZ

08/06/2002 03:52:49 AM · #2

I don't think the difference between a snapshot and a work of art is defined by how long the photographer spent on it, or how many attempts they made, or anything of that nature. If there IS any definable difference (things like this that come down to shades of grey make me uncomfortable), it's in the photographer's intent. I found it interesting that you said:

"The artistic photograph will be used as interior decorations... Magazine advertisements... Magazine covers... These photos can sell for huge sums of money. These photos can be printed and framed to decorate the walls of your home... The walls of hotels... the walls of restaurants..."

To me, "artistic photography" is the kind you would find in a gallery, taken by people who call themselves artists, people who bend the rules and experiment and take risks, and aren't necessarily intending to make a photo you would enjoy looking at. None of this would end up in any of the places you mention. It just shows how different people's views of "art" can be.

Ronin

Sony DSC-S85

08/06/2002 04:03:42 AM · #3

You both have great points, and its nearly imposible to nail down a definition to art, but there are definitly diferences between a snapshot and a artist photo. Before I ever knew what an ISO and F stops were I just lined up people in a row and said smile, now I would take 20 pictures of the same group of people changeing the angles and lighting to create that perfect image. I would attempt to use some the the predefined rules of photgraphy while applying my own creativty to the image. Where as I would hopfully have converted a normal snapshot into an artistic photograph.

08/06/2002 04:09:45 AM · #4

Lisae, i agree with your comment about art gallery photos.. I should have included that but it's like 3am when i was writing that among doing other things... i would love to see how well some of those art gallery photos would score in a challenge here on dpc :)

Alecia

Canon EOS-10D

08/06/2002 04:11:50 AM · #5

Originally posted by lisae:

To me, "artistic photography" is the kind you would find in a gallery, taken by people who call themselves artists, people who bend the rules and experiment and take risks, and aren't necessarily intending to make a photo you would enjoy looking at. None of this would end up in any of the places you mention. It just shows how different people's views of "art" can be.

i dunno lisae, are you saying that snapshots generally aren't really artistic? if so then i agree, becuase even to take a fabulous "snapshot", you have to be a pretty good photographer and have an eye for what you are trying to accomplish in an artistic way. like the framing with the kid playing the piano or the mood of the old man in the hallway. neither of those scream snapshot to me--more of a predetermined "i caught a great shot 'cause i knew what to look for" kind of thing. but i disagree about artistic photos only being found in galleries. i personally have a mapplethorpe hanging in my guest room--i consider him quite artistic. We have tons of art and photography openings here--the work gets displayed in local restaurants (the cool, trendy one's, of course) and in several of our downtown theaters and hotels. Look at Vogue magazine or or some of the more artsy mags like Raygun or whatever. I have seen some great photography in those and i'm not talking about the ortho-novum ads or what ever! ;)

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

08/06/2002 04:16:56 AM · #6

BTW-

"and aren't necessarily intending to make a photo you would enjoy looking at."

That's the part that really kills me :) I know you are right, but there is something truly twisted about that :)))

lisae

Olympus C-720UZ

08/06/2002 04:23:57 AM · #7

Originally posted by amitchell:

i dunno lisae, are you saying that snapshots generally aren't really artistic? if so then i agree, becuase even to take a fabulous "snapshot", you have to be a pretty good photographer and have an eye for what you are trying to accomplish in an artistic way.

No, as I said, it's impossible to define the difference between snapshots and works of art... we are human beings with feeble brains that like to categorise things in simple ways, but the world doesn't really work that way. I like to avoid that kind of situation. All I was saying was that the intent of the photographer is the ONE thing I would used to separate the two out... if the photographer says it's a snapshot, I won't argue, even if I think the photo is much better than that, and if the photographer says he/she attempted something more, I'll look at the photo differently. Maybe they failed to captivate me personally, but the intention to try something was there.

but i disagree about artistic photos only being found in galleries. i personally have a mapplethorpe hanging in my guest room--i consider him quite artistic.

Hehe, I was just looking at a little book of Mapplethorpe's photos of Lisa Lyon... yes, he's quite artistic :). OK, yes, you do find artist's photos in some magazines and on some people's walls, but the point is they would also be exhibited in a gallery. To me there's something definite about the scrutiny that any work of art recieves when it's exhibited that sets it apart from work that's purely commercial or family snapshots. Again, it's all shades of grey, but when a work is exhibited it stands on its own, its purpose isn't to sell anything or decorate something, or win a prize, it's just there for you to experience because either the artist or some collector/curator/whatever wanted you to see it.

Alecia

Canon EOS-10D

08/06/2002 04:40:24 AM · #8

Originally posted by lisae:
Originally posted by amitchell:

you are right, it does boil down to the artists intent--their categorization--not ours. point taken! also, i think we are on the same page with the artistic stuff--i see what you are saying becase i am partial to the artsy openings and showings and whatnot--and you are right there too--the focus of those is not to sell anything but the artist! BTW, per some other thread, I too love Marc Chagall-- i have this (now ratty) little book that has (all?) of his awesome prints--that i have been carting around with me since i was a teenager (it was my mom''s--i "borrowed" it!) sorry mom...

* This message has been edited by the author on 8/6/2002 4:40:43 AM.

Konador

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

08/06/2002 05:17:55 AM · #9

a vert interesting post jmsetzler.
i enjoyed reading it a lot.

thanks

stephan

Casio QV-4000

08/06/2002 08:18:45 AM · #10

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
BTW-

"and aren't necessarily intending to make a photo you would enjoy looking at."

That's the part that really kills me :) I know you are right, but there is something truly twisted about that :)))

It's not twisted. I primarily make photos which I enjoy looking at. If others also like it that's nice, but not required for my satisfaction with a photo. If it would be then I probably would go mad, because it is impossible to please everyone.

If I would be a photographer as my bill-paying job then I would be required to please others. Not so for hobby/amateur photographers. They do it for their own fun.