Why do we make art?

Technoidiot, this name really doesn't suit you, can we not call you by the first two letters of your name or something like that?
Please think about it, I at least don't like to call you that forever on the forum

It's great to have this hobby and trying to get the skill to be able to create what you envision. I won't deny that being able to do that is not art but like I said I don't want to talk about art in that form but of something that is aestheticly pleasing and why you want to create that.
You said that you take photos because it pleases you to do that and a deeper meaning of why this pleases you is what I looking for, why do people go to all the trouble to capture the world or an object in a way they imaging it... is it to bring over an emotion, message or just to let them see with what kind of eyes they see the world?

Martin, your voice is your own, it's what you makes you that's nothing something that can be learned, the same way how you frame or see a photo, the signature you're talking about that's pure individuality, I agree that you can develop that and change it but you will have a super hard time to shoot in precisely and I truly mean precisely the same way as some else shoot. Just like people can mimic someone else but you always hear a small difference how good they might be.

I never hear someone say that they sing because they are under the shower but yeah they sing because of an emotion what they want to express.
Now my question is why do we feel the need to express that emotion, that's basicly the basic of art right to bring over emotion but why would we want to do that?
That's the point I can't lay my finger on.

If I remember rightly, a member has at the bottom of his posts words to the effect that everything tells a story and it is for the photographer to discover what it is. Where ever I look, I see something that I want to capture with my camera. Without exception, it is something that draws a response from within, an emotion!! a recollection!! a flash of beauty!! a moment of inspiration!! A look!! Yes!! I could go on. If what you see does not touch your soul in some way then the picture will disappoint you. Recording these moments for a future time is what photography is for me. This probably does not answer the brief for Anvh. We are all different, thank goodness and that is why we share our pictures for in doing so we share something of ourselves.
regrads thoramay.

Stefan ,you can't always define what gives you pleasure / sense of achievement or what have you , but you certainly know when you have achieved it .

Yes - sometimes it's just a record of somewhere I've been / something I've seen and when I see it again it brings back memories - occasionally painful [ the very last picture taken of my husband ] but these are all things I enjoy.

If some of my photos give pleasure to others - then I'm glad .

Is this art ? I think so - but it depends on your definition

Thoramay I know where you're coming from and you're right but why do we seek those pleasures, just because we are human?
Like I said 42 can be the real answer.

Thank you Tech, basicly what gives us pleasure is dopamine and various endorphins released by the brain but I find it hard to say that we make art because of that...

I know what you're trying to say that photos have a personal attachment and that's indeed a reason to make photos but not a reason to make art.

I sometimes wonder when I read a book why the writer wrote the book, it goes down the same line what I'm trying to get a answer on.

Why not? Ken still uses his handle "Beginer"

As for the topic, have you considered than many photographers do it simply because they like the technical side of things and the equipment, the sheer number of members here that suffer with LBA proves that

Yeah but we're allowed to call him Ken, however Technoidiot don't like to be called by her real name. I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable with it, the same as calling Ken Beginer.

Alan, you're right about that but I'm trying to get under the need why people make art.
I'm sure there are countless of reason to think of to make a photo.

Stefan ,

Sorry you are going to have to put up with my name as technoidiot till I'm ready for something else

Don't you worry about it, I'm just saying that I'm not ready to call you that forever and I could shorten it to Tech if that's okay with you

That's fine by me - or even Ti

Ti it is then, it sounds cuter

Sometimes it's simply the need to pay the rent and cover their wine merchant's bill.

Al

Hi Stefan,

My opinion on this is as follows:-

We (ie me) dont make art, we record moments. Now we may record a moment that goes on to become art.

Art in my mind is defined by our peers and for something to become art we need other people to like/hate it. But most of all we need people to define it as art. I would imagine all artists start of as amatures performing or creating for pleasure until they are discovered and called "Artists". This seems to be true across all types of art from singing and the performing arts to painting sculptures and architects. If you gave a good director a CCTV camera I am sure art could be created.

Now why do I take pictures, there are several reasons.
I like to record moments of our family life, in the hope that my kids will look through them (not just format c
I like to capture moments of breathtaking beauty, of general things that catch my eye as well as bugs.

I also like the personal challenge of looking potential environments and situations (eg a macro image) and thinking "keep the focus on the eyes, use a big DoF, Lets try 1/125 @ f22 with the pentax 50mm1.7 and the two small macro extention tubes"

The technicalities and thought process I go through to capture a moment either results in an a brief period of satisfaction (probably an endophine high)or dissapointment and re-calculation / adjustment of all the variables ready for the next attempt.

In fact I would probably enjoy Golf (if I ever tried) for exactly the same reasons.

Regards
PaulM

Not all books are art and some are written out of necessity, it may very well have been written because the author had to write it rather that wanted to write it.

Regards
PaulM

Stefan,

Great thread!

What then, I wonder, of icons and artefacts? Some of photography arguably goes towards the making of those things. So while photos and drawings may be matters 'of record', they may also be something more than that. Perhaps we need to learn to see things using a number of different perspectives - each complementary, none exclusive. So the historical record may be seen using a utilitarian perspective (ie, useful for something or someone); while the same image containing that historical record may also be seen as something 'iconic' (or symbolic?).

This also goes to motive - why was it relatively common for cavepeople to record the animals they saw and hunted? Why commission the Bayeux Tapestry? If the latter was for purely factual/historical reasons, why put dragons in the design for example?

Kris may have some more expertise here, but to me, your question goes straight to matters of culture/s and thus to humankind itself.

IMO, photography is a means to an end, and that end can be art - just as a pen could be used to write, and also to draw.

What facinates me most is the question as posed, and what motivates the question. Stefan. There is no diffinitive answer. you have asked yourself this question and it is within yourself to discover the answer. As you have discovered from responses, everyone has their own motivation which they sometimes struggles to define. There is within us all a sense of adventure, a need to discover, an urge, a longing, a motivational emotion all mixed up together. I express some of this through singing, through writing and photography. I would hate to spend time working out why because it is me, uniquely me. No one else can see through my eyes, no one else can interpret what I see. What they might do is to define what I produce as art, but that is seen through their eyes, not mine. What has challenged me through this thread is to stop and look harder at what I photograph and to even ask myself why. I doubt I will get answers.
Thoramay.