The Art of Photography
Is it Art or Photography?
Every photographer’s “about me” page describes their “passion” for photography. Honestly, I think that to truly be successful at any artistic endeavor you must be passionate, you won’t be doing it for the money. I’ve tried to explain to people who are not artist that it’s a strange thing to have “it” inside you and having to find some way of letting it out. Some pick up a paint brush, some a guitar, some a camera. I won’t tell you I am passionate about my art, I have made a life from it and that would have been impossible without that “passion”.
Our Family 1964
I’m from an old-school family, you know the type, every inch of wall space in the family home was/is covered with photographs and from a very young age my sister and I kept photo albums. The house was full of them. I remember listening to discussions between my uncles and grandparents about apertures, lenses and shutter speeds. None of it made much sense to me, but my fascination with the old family photos was ingrained and photography became part of my life. People laugh when I say it, but I can tell you what my great grandfather looked like when he was 20 years old based on photographs my Mother has saved that are 100 + years old.
The Internet, eBay and Photoshop
It’s embarrassing to say that I never looked as photography as art. When I was young, I drew (a lot) I painted, I learned to play guitar and those were the “outlets” for that creativity that demanded to be expressed. As kid, I would get an idea for a picture in my head and after my parents went to sleep, I’d get up and go to the living room and draw all night.
Though always encouraging and complimentary of my art my parents did not approve.
I always had a camera, I continued the family tradition and always took lots of pictures and created photo albums. But I was restricted by the cost of film and processing. The evolution of digital cameras changed all our lives. The internet, eBay and digital cameras allowed me to make a living selling on the internet and that job lead me to Photoshop in the late 90s’. Editing photos of items I was selling on eBay. As I learned Photoshop and how to manipulate images, that ability to create art from photos lead me down a long path that brought me here!
Colorized Family Photo circa 1912
Photoshop Digital Art
