Is it Art?

 

Much discussion has been exhausted over the years as to whether photography should be considered an art form. It was an especially controversial issue in 1930 when the Museum of Modern Art in New York began collecting photography. The Panama-California Exhibition, which opened in San Diego in 1915, placed photographs – not in the Fine Art building – but alongside telescopes and some new technology of that time.

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While the camera is a mechanical device, photographs are created in the mind… no less so than any other art form. Art sees beyond the obvious – a hallmark of creative fine art photography. In the case of this image of a yucca plant, it’s not simply a documentary picture of a plant along the side of a road, but an impression made from deep within the plant. By entirely filling the frame with the subject, the photograph focuses solely on the inner workings of the yucca. Context is ignored. Rendering it in black and white also eliminates the distraction of color, allowing the viewer to focus on lines and patterns which are the essence of the plant.