(Rebuttal to THE STORY OF REMORA AND THE SHARK.)
Are photographers artists? Gosh darn right we are! We are the seekers of truth and makers of history! Do you see a painter on the battlefield, charging in right behind the troops and dodging bullets? Do you see a musician help improve the fashion industry? Or is there a sculptor who would go out and create a long lasting masterpiece in an abandoned and forgotten factory? And even if he does, who would be there to capture his work?
Yes, my dearest readers, photographers are artists and so much more. Art is not just about creating something from nothing. It is not just about turning gelatinous goo into David. Photography is a different medium. It is a medium of freezing history in its tracks. It is a medium of proving the unbelievable. Photography will take the simplest garbage and turn it into a masterpiece. Granted, there will always be Marcel Duchamp and his Fountain. That sculpture makes me think that Marcel was a photographer at heart, but that is just me.
Yes, the photography world has been simplified and saturated by all those who wish to be those amazing artists whose names would ring through generations to come. But which art style hasn’t? How many would-be painters and sculptors roam the streets hoping to be the next Dali or Michelangelo? Here I am hoping to be the next DeRuiter with this awesome blog. Speaking of writing, how many millions of books and stories are out there? Every genre is filled with writers with their unique styles and forms and ideas.
Photography is just the latest greatest format that has become accessible to the general public. We, as photographers, should not get upset or discouraged that our, once fairly small, world is being invaded. We are artists. Each one of us has our own style, our own view of the world and our own way to capture it. Do not be discouraged. Learn from your peers, improve, and never try to be like anyone else. Because art is about showing who you are through whatever medium that best represents you.
