What is Art?

I've had some thoughts on art recently based on some photography that I've seen.  I follow a blog called Digital Photography School because I always want to keep improving and getting better.  There was a post last week with pictures of splashes, and the one that really caught my eye was called A Splash of Rose.  The post this week contained spooky images, and some of these are simply amazing.  These kinds of pictures are what I consider "art."  These are the kinds of things that not just anyone can do, it takes an artist to create these images.  I've been considering for quite some time trying to create a website and sell my photography.  While I have a good eye for composition and I keep my eyes open for photographic opportunities, I'm not so sure that I make pictures that anyone else with a good camera couldn't capture.  So I haven't tried to sell my work because at this point I don't think it's close enough to art to really interest anyone.  If I can’t do something unique that couldn't be done by the average person, why would anyone want to spend money on it?

This is similar to the way I feel about some abstract art:  I could make some of those things, as could anyone else.  It’s only when it’s unique and takes a level of talent not enjoyed by the average person, that I find it to be art worth appreciating.  My husband has a different take on abstract art.  He thinks that it's still art if someone thought it up.  However, if all it took was an idea, I'd be a published author hundreds of times over.  I just don't think it's difficult to come up with a good idea.  Executing on the idea is the hard part.  So we have to agree to disagree on this one.

One place where I do have unique “artistic” talent is in how I can use math and formulas to create tools for others.  That’s something that I can do that not everyone else can do.  Which is why someone pays me to do math, and no one has ever paid me to take pictures, or create a cross-stitch (something else I enjoy).

I do have the Lightroom download on my wishlist for Christmas this year so that I can start doing some post processing, and maybe once I get good at that I'll start feeling like I have a product that's worth selling.  I used to think that it wasn't real photography if you couldn't make it look the way you wanted to directly from the camera.  But I have a picture that I took late this summer of cherries on a tree that would really pop if I could make the photo black and white and just keep the cherries in color.  I also know that you can't get some photos straight out of the camera if the background and foreground need to be captured with different exposure levels.  So I'm hoping that I get my Christmas wish so maybe I can start getting more artistic and eventually reach a place where my pictures are better than just anyone can make with a decent camera, where I actually produce photographic art.

Leaves in the flowers, which are still blooming since it's been so warm this fall.

 

Our maple is finally turning yellow.

A bush in our backyard.  This has gone through some post-processing to really make the red pop.