Photography is most definitely an art. Just as a song can be interpreted differently by two people, so too can a picture be taken in astoundingly contrasting ways. A photographer has various ways of adding his or her personal touch to a photograph. A picture can be taken at a specific angle, include or omit certain aspects, or be juxtaposed against another picture in order to convey the photographer’s message. I do not consider technology in itself an art, but I do think that it greatly expedites the process of tailoring a photograph to a photographer’s liking. An example of this is the ease at which computers can crop or modify a picture. Additionally, technology can open new windows into the modification of photos. This can be seen in Photo Booth, in which the user has the option of adding various effects such as Sepia or X-ray to enhance a photograph.
Photography is an essential art form because it preserves the past for future generations. Were it not for documentation of the past, the history of humanity would be doomed to repeat itself. In his portfolio Geographical Analogies, Cyprien Galliard juxtaposes photographs from Pripyat, Ukraine (an abandoned town nearby the Chernobyl nuclear power plant) against a photograph of Fritz Koenig’s The Sphere (a metallic sculpture that survived the events of 9/11). Galliard is not only documenting the effects of the two catastrophes through photography, but also commenting on the fact that both were man-made disasters by juxtaposing them. Inherent in his artwork is a call to prevent such events from happening ever again. If Galliard did not include the photograph of The Sphere, his work would appear as simple utilization of technology. However, including the photograph of Koenig’s sculpture adds depth and meaning to his work- making it art.
