Photography // Photographers and Art

Am I a 'modernist' photographer? When shooting, am I creating art or just another photograph? I wonder... though I'm not sure there's a definitive answer.

In an article for PetaPixel "Why Photographers Don't Get Art", John Raymond Mireles discusses the nature of modern professional photography versus contemporary art to try and tease out the differences between the two and how they might be reconciled. Central to his argument is the idea that photographers operate within a narrow definition of what's considered a great photograph through a modernist lens. Or rather, technical proficiency equates quality of art—camera operation, quality of light, aesthetic achievement and the description of a visual narrative must be of the utmost quality. Photography is a well-defined narrative captured in a single image, apparently.

Art, Mireles argues, relies on the "underlying conceptual currency"* of the piece and less so on the aesthetic result with "the move away from craft...art has increasingly focused on exploring concepts and philosophies and less on advancing art on its aesthetic merits. Postmodern art especially is about dissecting historical perspectives and denouncing traditional narratives. Basically, you have no idea what you’re looking at nor how to judge it unless you read the often densely written artist statement affixed to the nearby wall." For conceptual art this might be true—ideas push the artist to explore abstract concepts rather than obvious visual narratives—but not always. And there are many practicing artists who's craftsmanship is impeccable.

Acquisition, 120cm x 50cm, Charcoal on Paper © Yanni Floros. Used here with permission from the artist.

I take issue with the photograph he uses as an example of "commercial photography" as well. The image by Mark Seliger is the most cartoonishly exaggerated example of a female cowgirl standing on an obvious set with painted backdrop and all the props you can scavenge from a country goodwill store in order to make his point. But commercial photography has so many facets which include the creation of images that are inspired by art, or documentary, or editorial styles. Sven Kovac, for example, created this beautiful commercial / fashion image which also feels like the best of contemporary street photography.

© Sven Kovac, borrowed from Instagram.

Still, I enjoyed reading the article and it's obviously got me thinking which is never a bad thing.
Drawing from my own city for example, Adelaide local Yanni Floros has produced a series of hyperreal illustrations of men and weapons to discuss masculinity and power using only charcoal as a medium. Joshua Smith creates incredible miniature reproductions of real dilapidated storefronts inspired by his love of graffiti culture and architecture, spending many hours developing new techniques to perfectly reconstruct tiny bricks, chains and milk cartons. And Lisa King, who paints aesthetically beautiful images of women in oil, inspired by the work of fashion photographers and designers and while her images may appear "simple" in composition there's many hours of mood boarding and concept development before she even begins painting. Then there are artists such as Tom Borgas who creates highly refined sculptural works that exist in reality but which he only completes if they "look good through a camera, as all work exists to be digital these days." (I'm paraphrasing Borgas here from a presentation he did a few years ago at the Relay design forum.)



Maybe I'm going off point but I feel that the position taken by Mireles assumes that most photographers are still steeped in traditional values only held by pure commercial studio photographers of the late 1990s but aren't necessarily here today. At least, they're not the same views held by many of my contemporaries (photographers in their late 20s to early 30s) who love and appreciate art in all its facets.

* How great is the phrase "conceptual currency"?!

GRAP 2030 // Week 1 // Class Prep // Graphic design and the making of meaning

"Design is about the future because every form of it manifests the future."

"How and why we affect the future."

"What designers really do... we think."

"Graphic designers think about the meaning of things. How things come to mean what they do. Then ponder how this information might be conveyed and used in a visual manner." — not just visual

"How do materials affect the thing we are creating?"

"Graphic design tries to help others with their world." — external reflection. A form of communication.

"Actively exploits curiosity and mess-making at the same time. Anything close to alchemy practiced today is graphic design. Astounding materials into amazing things. Paid to play." — I've never thought of design as play. Design has always been a process of thinking, sketching, drawing, creating, responding. It's always been structured. The concept of "play" in the sense that coming up with concepts and ideas constitutes unstructured and unrestrained practice, the idea that every iteration of a concept or sketch is working towards a "final performance"—the finished design artefact. But is it play? I'm not sure. I'll have to read into this some more. Hell, sometimes designing isn't fun at all. It can be bloody hard. Like a solid sprint where you wonder if you're getting anywhere at all then "BAM!" the deadline hits and its over and you wonder what just happened. Or a marathon, where your muscles ache and you constantly hit brick walls before finding stride only to need regular water refreshments and in the end you finish the race and collapse to one side and need to recover for a week. Sure, it can be fun sometimes. But if you're working as a designer, it's not fun most of the time, well, at least in my experience. 

"Service oriented profession. Perform transformative role. Change perception of information to provide audience with understanding."

Poor communication leads to greater problems.

Graphic design is mediatory.

Help make sense of what is being said and present this information in visual ways.

We are artists. Analogue and digital media to create beautiful messages to provide better information.

Narrative structure of visual delivery.

"It is our responsibility to show the visual representation of linguistic ideas."

"We use a branch of linguistic philosophy known as semiotics... study the signs and signifiers and understand how this relationship creates meaning and affects communication. Critical tool when crafting messages because it allows us to observe the underlying mechanics of how meaning is constructed."

"Design must understand the greater culture to produce meaning for a particular audience."

"What works in one environment can be disastrous in another."

"I the end graphic design is the visual manifestation of a good idea."

Good design results from honesty, respect and trust. Also, understanding, research and trial and error.

"Design is an investment and investments only mature in the future. Good ideas grow. Our world depends on them."

Is Graphic Design alchemy?

What is alchemy?

What does it mean?

I hate describing design as something so mystical as alchemy. Alchemy wasn't a proven science—it was almost wishful thinking. Like homeopathy.


From Wikipedia: Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Europe, Egypt and Asia. It aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects.^{[1][2][n 1]} Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble" ones (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease; and the development of an alkahest, a universal solvent.^[3] The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and, in the Hellenistic and western tradition, the achievement of gnosis.^[2] In Europe, the creation of a philosopher's stone was variously connected with all of these projects.