How To Recognize Great Art Photography Part 4- Vision

A great photograph is created, not taken. It is the product that began as the photographer's vision and completed through mastery of his art.

Put yourself in the shoes of the photographer and really look at the photograph. Before that image became the picture before you, the photographer may have created that image in his mind for months or maybe years before all things came together and he was able to actually photograph it.

Before you is a picture, but behind it is the photographer. Did he climb a mountain to get that scenic shot? Did he walk up to a stranger and ask to take their picture, or did he hide among a crowd with his camera tucked discreetly at his side? Did he hire a model, use an assistant, rent a studio, use studios lights, special lenses, filters? Part of a great photograph is the photographer himself.

It takes years for a photographer to master the use of his camera as a tool to create art and develop style. Art photography has history, a role in society, its own language and technology. Photographers are part of this. They study, they learn and they struggle to create the un-achievable perfect photograph among endless possibilities.