I would like to explore here the question as to whether the ART that we bring to our printed paper is OUR art or someone ELSES! The three images that I have reproduced below illustrate the practical aspect of this question. Take, for instance, the color image. This was taken in Bisbee, Arizona – a place where many artists call home. Several had created a wonderfully colorful and expressive wall – about forty feet long and six feet tall. As I came across it, I had to capture it, as, I am sure, many people do. The IMAGE that I have created from this flat surface is quite nice, and most people would love to have it in their home on the wall, but it is not MY art! I captured it in a little different way, perhaps, than the other out-of-town visitor with a cell phone camera, swinging the lens to keep the image in focus while looking ALONG the wall – getting the light to reflect off the surfaces just right, etc – but that is all technical stuff that allows me to DOCUMENT well what someone else did.
On the other hand, when we are dealing with something someone else has done in THREE DIMENSIONS, like the cave image below and to the right – there is a chance to capture something unique. This image is of a cave that Ra Paulette carved in northern New Mexico, it is just part of the many spaces and surfaces in the cave. There are an infinite variety of ways in which you might capture and express what YOU, as a photographic artist, see in HIS work. So, in this case, HIS work or MINE! Since he intended his work to be ART – HIS expression of the things that were in his mind, and I have ADDED to it what I saw and what was in MY mind as I expressed this in a two dimensional image – it is PARTIALLY mine as well. But, since the foundation of what I am doing rested on the artistic expression of his – this is a collaborative effort. I do NOT show these images in galleries or shows on the wall, but they are available for people to discover and enjoy – but if they sell, half of the profit goes directly to Ra.
The third example is a ceiling in a building in Fiji. This was NOT intended to be art by the contractor that built it. It IS a picture that anyone COULD take, but most would not – they might not even have noticed this amazing ceiling. And, the presentation is all mine, of course. THIS is what I, myself, do – even if it is resting fundamentally on the work of someone else, THEY never intended their work as something that would inspire – I have taken it to a whole different level.
If you would like to express your thoughts on this – one place is my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009012961529
