Share article:
Share article:

 
Photography is not a creative act.
 

Got your attention, did I? Don't worry, I'm not trying to take anything away from you, or from photography.
At its very essence, its core, photography is an act of selection. You select a subject, or at least a general direction to point the camera, you select a point of view, a position; you select a frame; you select some technical options; and then you press a button. That's the core of it.
Sure, there's a bunch of things that inevitably follow. Whether in the wet darkroom or seated in front of a computer, you perform at least some minimal manipulations to produce a final picture. Consider this: if you began with a drawing, or an etching, or a painting, and performed those same steps, would it become a photograph? No, it would remain a drawing, an etching, a painting. On the other hand, if you start with a photograph, it remains a photograph whether you perform this manipulation or that manipulation, or whether you do not.
So, ...

Read this story and all the best stories on The Luminous Landscape

The author has made this story available to Luminous Landscape members only. Upgrade to get instant access to this story and other benefits available only to members.

Why choose us?

Luminous-Landscape is a membership site. Our website contains over 5300 articles on almost every topic, camera, lens and printer you can imagine. Our membership model is simple, a Dollar-a-Month ($12.00 USD a year). This $12 gains you access to a wealth of information including all our past and future video tutorials on such topics as Lightroom, Capture One, Printing, file management and dozens of interviews and travel videos.

  • New Articles every few days
  • All original content found nowhere else on the web
  • No Pop Up Google Sense ads – Our advertisers are photo related
  • Download/stream video to any device
  • NEW videos monthly
  • Top well-known photographer contributors
  • Posts from industry leaders
  • Speciality Photography Workshops
  • Mobile device scalable
  • Exclusive video interviews
  • Special vendor offers for members
  • Hands On Product reviews
  • FREE – User Forum. One of the most read user forums on the internet
  • Access to our community Buy and Sell pages; for members only.
Share article:
Andrew became a mathematician about the time the internet became the world-wide-web, but fell in to software development by accident. After 25 years of that he's just Dad. All along, Andrew took pictures, some of them small ones, and formed opinions, some of them big ones. He lives in Bellingham, WA, with his beautiful wife and two small daughters. Andrew's slightly unorthodox ideas for the beginning photographer can be found here: http://intro-to-photography.blogspot.com/
See all articles by this author

You may also like

qtwg

The ALEXA 265: When Large Format Meets Freedom of Movement

ARRI's groundbreaking ALEXA 265 redefines large format cinema with its compact 6.5K sensor, 15-stop dynamic range, and revolutionary form factor, making professional 65mm cinematography more accessible than ever.
Jon Swindall

Jon Swindall

·

December 5, 2024

·

3 minutes read


madeleine
Community

Perpetual Motion – The Changing Faces Of The Sea

A photographer's intimate exploration of the sea's ever-changing moods, captured through daily visits to the Dutch coastline.
Madeleine Lenagh

Madeleine Lenagh

·

December 2, 2024

·

6 minutes read