Fotografiskt

Blake Andrews har hittat ett gammalt foto och börjar fundera över relationen mellan ett konstnärligt användande av foto och ett där konstnärligheten kommer in i efterhand:

This particular photo seems to support that idea that the more “artful” a photographer attempts to be –the more referential and self-conscious– the more quickly it is forgotten, while photographers who record reality in less stylized documentary way eventually gain recognition. Some of the greatest photographers of all time –Watkins, Jackson, Atget, Disfarmer, etc– didn’t think of themselves as artists so much as documentary recorders. The recognition as art came later, as artlessness became arty.

In contrast, most of the photos I see in galleries today are done by people trying to make not necessarily photographs but art. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, but the motivation for nearly all is to make art. I suspect that motivation will prove hollow in say 21 years or so.

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