by Pete Morton

People’s reactions to photographs have always interested me.  I’ve seen people bored by spectacular pictures and I’ve also seen viewers be thrilled by images that most people don’t like.

Years ago, I would get irritated when I showed someone a photograph I was proud of and they said, “Wow, you must have a really good camera!”  Now, I typically reply with amusement, saying something like “Thanks, I am also amazed at how well the camera takes pictures.”

Some time ago I was at a dinner party where the guest sitting next to me was an art teacher and an accomplished painter.  Since I had brought a couple of pictures with me (as I was requested to do), she opened the conversation with “So, you take pictures?  Don’t you hate it when people try to make their photographs look like paintings?”  The way she spit out the word “photographs” made it clear that she had very strong feelings about the subject!

For a moment I was too stunned to respond.  Finally, I replied “Well, I feel that both paintings and photographs can be works of art.”

She was not willing to let the subject rest.  With a bit of annoyance in her voice she said, “Yes, I agree.  But it’s just wrong for people to try to make their pictures look like paintings.”

Pretending not to hear the painter’s last remark I turned to my wife who was sitting on my other side and commented on the wonderful food.  I was glad to have ended the conversation before it became unpleasant and glad that I resisted the urge to say “Your paintings are beautiful.  You must have really good brushes.”  However, the discussion made me think about the topic – what is art?

I finally decided that for me art is not restricted to paintings or photographs. Art can also be a beautiful handmade quilt, a meaningful poem or a lovingly crafted piece of furniture. What makes something art is its ability to invoke emotions in the viewer. Creating those feelings seems to be most successful when the artist has a strong feeling about his/her creation and when the viewer’s background relates to the art. How the art was created may be interesting, but it does not determine if an object is a work of art.

If you have comments, disagreements or additions to this article, please let me know by sending email to Pete.Morton@yahoo.com. Thank you!