Keller: The History of Photography
Keller’s (1984) essay on “The Myth of Art Photography” was written before the explosion of Internet photography and this is evident in quotes such as: “The strategic purpose behind this generous sponsorship of Art Photography was, of course, to persuade the ordinary amateur that he too, could produce ‘artistic’ wonders - if he only invested enough money in technical equipment” (p. 268). Keller argues that the explosion of the photography industry and the elevation of photography to an art form has a commercial basis, in other words, to sell photography equipment. Photography has the seductive allure of allowing anyone the illusion that he or she can become an artist simply by purchasing a camera, in contrast to the decades needed to learn the fine art of sketching and painting by hand.
Of course, today, all an amateur photographer needs is a camera phone and an Instagram account to generate interest in his or her art. While better equipment and photo-editing software may be helpful, professional photographers are threatened as iPhone photos threaten to overtake their professional work because of their lack of expense. The same types of arguments that Keller was making against photography in general are now made against...
References
Keller, U. (1984) The myth of art photography: A sociological analysis.
History of Photography, 8:4, 249-275, DOI: 10.1080/03087298.1984.10442233
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