We have been asking NQ photographers to research diffferent types of photography. One category that we have included is 'Fine Art' photography. We include this because it is quite difficult to define, and it requires you to develop an understanding of some of the history of photography, and to begin to develop an ability to judge and analyse photography.
A very good source is 'Photography Now', and also 'Masters of Photography'.
There are several differnt ways of thinking about this.
One definition of art photography, is work that pushes back the boundaries and possibilities of photography, and the work shows new ways of looking at the world. This can be very difficult to understand, because it breaks the existing rules. Some photographers who have done this are Robert Frank, Joel Myrowitz, William Eggleston. They broke most of the rules that you are trying to learn.
Another way of thinking is that the photographs that have been produced for one reason (say advertising, or magazine journalism), are so good that they become known beyond that purpose, and live on. Steve McCurry's Afghan girl is an example, so is Dorothea Lang's 'migrant mother' or Eugene Smith's famous pictures from Minemata. These pictures can be said to 'transcend' their original purpose and resonate with people. (Resonate means vibrate and spread, like a musical note or water ripple.)
A third way of deciding what is art photography, is looking into the generally agreed (consensus) of the arts community. So what do photography writers, historians, gallery curators and photographers say? They do not always agree. Writers like Sean O Hagan in the Guardian is worth looking at. Also John Szarkowski, who was a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York wrote a defining essay for a book called 'The Photographer's Eye' which I have referred to on this blog. The Edinburgh based Stills camera club is also good for learning what 'opinion formers' are saying about photography. Also, the BBC TV series, 'The Genius of Photography' and book gave a thorough overview of photography as art.
Deciding what is 'fine art' photography is not just a personal opinion, or a subjective decision that you make to suit yourself. If you are going to study this subject further, especially at Stevenson, Napier, or in Glasgow, you will be expected to know something of writers and different art movements that influence photography - such as pictorialism, modernism, post-modernism.
You don't learn this overnight, and it isn't a simple set of rules to follow. You can't do it just by looking at the pictures, you need to read too, or watch suitable TV documentaries like 'The Genius of Photography.'
Deciding what is 'fine art' photography is not just a personal opinion, or a subjective decision that you make to suit yourself. If you are going to study this subject further, especially at Stevenson, Napier, or in Glasgow, you will be expected to know something of writers and different art movements that influence photography - such as pictorialism, modernism, post-modernism.
You don't learn this overnight, and it isn't a simple set of rules to follow. You can't do it just by looking at the pictures, you need to read too, or watch suitable TV documentaries like 'The Genius of Photography.'
A good tool for picking apart photographs is to ask these questions: Does it have strong visual qualities? Does it have a meaning or signifcance? Does it require craft and skill to create it?
So a way forward is to go to Photography Now, and ask those questions...
http://www.photography-now.net/
http://masters-of-photography.com/
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