For almost 200 years now, photography has been struggling to reclaim its place. What is art photography, simply fixing reality or transforming it, adding meaning to it? Looking at the history and current state of photography, one can say with certainty that photography is an independent phenomenon on the borderline of reality and art.
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Why can not everyone be a photographer?
Today, anyone with a phone takes pictures almost every day (some dozens a day), capturing everything they see. It would seem that we are all collectively profaning the art of photography, demonstrating that anyone can be a photographer – even a child, or even a cat that has stepped on the phone. And yet photography remains an art. Thousands of professional photographers work all over the world, cooperate with mass media, take part in picture contests and serious exhibitions, offer fine photography for sale, even get a special “photographic degree” like a PhD, for example, at the Royal Photographic Society. As it turns out, anyone can make a photograph, a very successful and effective one, it is all a matter of chance. But very few people are capable of creating a high-quality cultural product with certain parameters, according to the laws of art.
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What are the options for artistic photography?
To answer this question we need to understand the types of photography available today. The first, easiest and cheapest option is to print in a photo studio your own or your friends’ photos of beautiful scenery, or architectural views of towns you’ve been to. Remember your digital photos need to be of high quality and a good resolution. A second option is to buy from a photobank of more experienced photographers. To do this you have to look through thousands of photos on various websites, pay for the cost of your chosen work, and then order it to be printed. The third option is to buy a ready-made artistic photo from a photographer with a name, or from a young and little-known one, with the hope that he will become a star and the cost of your purchase will increase.
Where to look for photographic art for sale?
You can buy ordinary posters at any home improvement store. Of course they don’t have any uniqueness, but they’re cheap and made to suit all tastes. You can buy art photography wherever you can buy other works of art: at art fairs, in galleries, directly from the photographers or on special on-line contemporary art marketplaces. You can choose and purchase your work in several ways: pre-printed (the most common), as a digital print for self-printing or by ordering a print of a certain size on a specific surface from the artist.
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What materials are used for printing photos?
Many people think in the old fashioned way that a photograph is printed on special paper. But even if we leave aside printing on t-shirts and mugs, the choice of materials for printing images is great today. For example, a photograph can be printed on canvas, foam board, metal, plastic, glass, ceramics … Depending on the material, the final appearance of the image will be different. When printed on metal, for example, it seems as if there is additional depth to the image, and the substrate itself is very durable. In addition to “just” printing, a photo image can be part of a collage, or the first layer of a painting, on which the author works with colours, creating new meanings and images. We should add that the same rule applies to art photography as to prints – if the author makes a certain print run, he indicates the number of prints from the original.
Prices for the work of professional photographers are noticeably lower than for the work of artists (unless, of course, you want to buy the work of Annie Leibovitz, Andreas Gursky or other masters from the list of the world’s best photographers). If you are on a tight budget, consider looking at photobanks or local photobanks in various countries, where artists sell their pictures without any middlemen and where the prices of an author’s picture start at a few dozens of euros. However, in this case you always run a small risk – you might not get what you are looking for. A more reliable option is to buy your art photos at offline or online galleries, where the works are selected by specialists and full purchase protection from payment to delivery is guaranteed. You can buy a great photo work here for a few hundred euros and also order more of this photographer’s work if you want to collect his work.
Source: medium.com
Where is art photography being used?
From its inception, photography has been present in interiors, but for a very long time they were small snapshots, usually portraits as a keepsake. Around the 1960s, photography began to increasingly conquer private spaces as well as public ones: in advertising, as an element of information, for decoration. The size of finished works increased, which allowed to create accents in interiors, plus the technology improved and at some point colour photography overcame black and white. It is true that today black and white photography is back at the height of popularity, with many photographers deliberately abandoning colour in favour of a meaningful monochrome. In recent years, interior photography has become a fashionable trend; such works can be found in the richest homes with elaborate designer finishes.
How do you place a photograph in an interior?
Before you start looking for an interior artwork for sale, decide why you need a photo in your home or office: as a bright spot, semantic accent and a certain story, or as a subtle almost imperceptible detail that adds a special grace. Consider where it will be placed, in what surroundings. When buying, consider size and orientation, foreshortening and method of lighting. It’s not enough for a photograph to blend in perfectly with its surroundings; it’s enough to be beautiful on its own. Unsuitable decoration (a wrong frame for instance) and hanging it in a wrong place can kill all the positive emotions. However, here’s a little tip – you don’t even have to hang the photo on the wall, you can project the images, change them and create unusual effects.
