A snapshot of fine art photography

Photo art lovers all over the world are celebrating 179 years of the birth of photography today (August 19). There was a big debate whether photography is a technique or an art form. Those were the days when the paintings and painters were highly respected for their art work and considered to be artistic and their works an art form.

The beginnings

In the year 1839, Louis Daguerre, a French man, has invented a process called Daguerreotype. It marks the first time an image can be made with sunlight. For that, he used a wall, a rooftop and a chimney. The technique, named heliography, used a photo-sensitive plate, a sheet of pewter coated in a mixture of bitumen, dissolved in lavender oil. Using this process, Louis Daguerre worked on this invention. This Daguerreotype is the first camera. And this process has been accepted and brought out by the Government of France on August 19, 1939, and given to the world as “Free Gift”. And thus, the birth of photography on August 19 is being celebrated all over the world on that day.

Since then, photography has changed drastically and technologically from analogue to digital. From merely recording images as snapshots to thought-provoking images, photography has helped change the thinking of the world in the fields of environment, and the view of people towards destructive and senseless wars. It helped protect the universe from global warming and pollution, facilitate development of the research in medicine, space technology, changed the Governments’ point of view to apartheid and the less blessed, spread awareness in accepting the reality of senseless destruction of this universe with afforestation and elimination of endangered creatures.

Recording the history and historical events for posterity, photography gives a positive direction to the future generations. Thus, photography has made its way to the modern world with a strong presence in every walk of life and is universally accepted not merely as a technique but as an art form, that changed the perspective of the world towards many pressing and nagging issues.

With the evolution of digital technology, tremendous advancement took place in the field of digital photography also. This paved the way for every individual to have access to an easy way of making pictures. But the big debate is, whether all the pictures one makes fall under the category of fine arts or snapshots?

What are snapshots?

A “snapshot” photo is a picture that is clicked at random without any artistic intent. Snapshots often do not require much planning and visualisation. They are, therefore, referred to as amateurish or imperfect. Mostly, pictures taken on vacations, birthdays and events, catching the family members and pets’, etc., fall under this category. These pictures ultimately end up in the family albums. “Snapshot” photography started to boom when in 1948, the famous Polaroid cameras were introduced. It flourished further when aim and shoot cameras appeared on the scene.

In the 21st century, with the digital technology blooming, snapshot photography is becoming increasingly popular, especially with the teenagers. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Internet further encouraged many to record millions, millions of these pictures every day.

Fine art photography

Famous landscape photographer Ansel Adams once said: “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” That sums up everything about art photography. To take an art photograph, the photographer has to align the head, the eye and the heart. In fine art photography, images are created to fulfil the creative vision of an individual professional.

The snapshot is a record of what the camera is pointed at, whereas an art photograph is an interpretation of what is seen, thought and felt. A snapshot doesn’t go beyond the technique. But, an art photograph transcends the technique to vision. Fine art photography focusses on more detailed points in photo and requires thought, unlike snapshot photos which are taken casually and have less meaning.

Fine art photography has a longer history than snapshots. Such photographs are often found in galleries and salons whereas snapshot photographs are found on Facebook sites, photo albums and digital cameras. Fine art photography is first and foremost about the artist. It is not about capturing what the camera sees; it is about capturing what the artist sees. Therefore, the artist uses his camera merely as one more tool to create a work of art in photography.

And even with all this, it is easy to find examples of fine art photos made by point and shoot and cell phone cameras in the hands of artists; so, it is the technical mastery that makes the difference. But, when a photograph is made with the skill, vision, intent and emotion, and executed with all the basic photographic techniques intact, it can always stand out as an art piece.