Are Flower Photos Passe?
Have we gotten so jaded by photographs of flowers that when we see one we say "Oh no, not another flower picture"? I think we can all agree that flowers are beautiful, but is it cheating to take a photo of one and then call it art because they are inherently beautiful and the photographer is doing nothing but documenting that beauty? Is this any different than taking photos of kids or sunsets? Talk amongst yourselves….
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Personally, as a hobby photographer, I skip photos of flowers as a matter of priorities with limited time. I’m not really interested in them. I’m sure that if I went about looking at flower photographs, I would find many that would appeal to me, including this one.
Also, I don’t think it is cheating and I don’t think that the beauty is inherent either. I read a quote that said there are at least two people involved in each photo, the photographer and the viewer. If their vision calls it art; it’s art!
That’s a great quote… never heard that particular one before! Kind of reminds me of the “Is it art?” dialog attached with the Dada art movement.
I just searched and found the exact quote. It’s by Ansel Adams.
I wrote out this big, long spiel, and it was pretty much exactly said what Sam put in 1. paragraph #2. =) How many times do we awe at a sunset and how many sunsets has one seen in their life? It’s something we will never get tired of a “boring old sunset” because every sunset is different.
Sunsets are just like flowers. I think people look at photos of flowers and sunsets and think to themselves, I can see that almost any day. Yes viewers are jaded. Georgia O’Keefe’s flower paintings are not passe, at least not to me. Why not? I think it is the same reason that you described in your post. The main difference is in execution, lighting, framing, angle and any other technical method. I think when the viewer exhausts his critical mental dialogue and looks at it anew then the “beauty” comes through.