Photographer vs photographic artist

Are you a photographer or a photographic artist? I used to think of myself as a photographer and for many years that was an accurate description. I would take photographs and with minimal effort afterward put the image out in the wild. During the past 2 or 3 years, I believe in my own humble mind, that I am more of a photographic artist.

What is a photographic artist

Photographic art and fine art photography are very loosely defined.

.Photographic art or fine art photography is a loosely defined genre. One definition I have found is “photographic art“, “artistic photography” and so on, the term “fine art photography” has no universally agreed meaning or definition: rather, it refers to an imprecise category of photographs, created in accordance with the creative vision of the cameraman. The basic idea behind the genre, is that instead of merely capturing a realistic rendition of the subject, the photographer is aiming to produce a more personal – typically more evocative or atmospheric – impression. One might simplify this, by saying that fine art photography describes any image taken by a camera where the intention is aesthetic (that is, a photo whose value lies primarily in its beauty – see, Aesthetics) rather than scientific (photos with scientific value), commercial (product photos), or journalistic (photos with news or illustrative value).

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/fine-art-photography.htm#:~:text=Known%20also%20as%20%22photographic%20art%22%2C%20%22artistic%20photography%22%20and,accordance%20with%20the%20creative%20vision%20of%20the%20cameraman.

Wikipedia defines fine art photography as

Fine-art photography is photography created in line with the vision of the photographer as artist, using photography as a medium for creative expression. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message, or an emotion. This stands in contrast to representational photography, such as photojournalism, which provides a documentary visual account of specific subjects and events, literally representing objective reality rather than the subjective intent of the photographer; and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to advertise products, or services.

Wikipedia

I decided to call myself a photographic artist and my work as photographic art because I don’t just “snap” a photograph with my camera and throw it into the wild without ensuring the image portrays the look and feel I want the viewer, even if it is just me, to experience. To achieve the look and feel I wish to portray may involve a significant amount of post-production work in photo editing software, it may involve creative lighting, or it may involve manual adjustments to camera settings. It often involves all three.

Many of you have seen the photograph above from a Facebook post in the group The Digital Photography Forum. Where I posted the final version compared to the original.

I take these steps with nearly all the photographs I produce not only just portraits but landscapes, still life, macro, sunsets, pets, you name it.

Changing reality

Some would argue I’m changing reality but I argue perception is reality. I used to loathe that term as it frequently appeared to work against me but if we expand on that term a bit it makes more sense.

Even in the so-called straight photography the photographer, to some extent, alters reality. We can alter reality by the choice of lens we use, the choice of the aperture, the choice of shutter speed, the choice of metering, the choice of composition, and so on.

Perception is reality

Reality is an individually defined state. Two people can look at the same scene and the same event and have two different perceptions of what they see or happened based on their life experiences. This doesn’t make either view more or less realistic just different.

Photographic art versus photography

I used to take offense when someone referred to my work or the work of others photographic art rather than photography if they did post-processing. Nowadays, it’s a compliment. I’m an artist not merely a photographer.

What are you?