Dear friend,

As a photographer you’re an artist. Never let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Why is there a negative bias towards photographers?

The reason people don’t really call photography “art” is for these reasons:

1. It is open and democratic: Anyone can take a picture, yet crafting poems and painting is more difficult to learn.
2. Painters paint for the sake of it; photographers started off as documentary image makers. Thus, the beginning of photography had more of a “newspaper reporting” tradition (Magnum photos and photojournalism) than photography as art.
3. With digital photography, most people have a hard time seeing something which is easily replicable as “art”. Most people believe that true “art” must be one of a kind (like there’s only one Mona Lisa in existence).

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What does “art” mean?

The best definition I have for art is this:

An intentional “putting together” or something.

My definition is informed by the etymology (root of the word) ‘ars’ in Latin (it means a skillful craft). This is what inspired me to make my photography feedback startup platform to be called “arsbeta.com”— I see photography as art! And as artists, our work is always in flux or evolution — in a “beta” form!

Or the photo-Indian ‘her’ which means “putting together, to fit, to fix.”

So an artist is someone who intentionally, skillfully, puts things together!

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Composition

Composition means to put something together. So for composition in photography and all visual arts, we are trying to best “put together” or “arrange” visual elements to make a powerful image.

I think photography is all about composition. However you put together visual elements is how you create meaning in a photograph. Because composition ain’t just lines, shapes, and forms. Composition is who you decide to put into your pictures. For example, your loved ones. For me, it is Cindy.

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Do you like your own photos?

Now, to me, I see all photography is art. But I don’t like all the photos I see. Therefore, I am a judge of the pictures of my own and others.

I have pride in my pictures, and I like my own photos. I don’t like all the photos of others; but I always appreciate the heart and soul they put into their work.

Ultimately, when I look at the photos of others, I don’t really care too much if the photos are good or not. I’m more concerned whether the photos are authentic or not — whether I can see the soul of the photographer in his or her photos.

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You’re an artist, and the camera is your sword

Some last words of advice: a “photographer” is a sketcher or a drawer of light. The camera is your paintbrush or your art-creation tool. Thus,

Paint your own reality with your camera.

JUST SHOOT IT.
ERIC