I posted a picture on Flickr of sunlight streaming through a clear mug in my room-mate’s room. I had noticed it, and thought it was beautiful, so I thought I would capture the moment. On Flickr, someone commented, saying that the photo was an interesting observation, but that had I moved the mug, I could’ve made the composition even better.
The thing is, my moving the mug would change the reality of what I saw. No longer would it be this beautiful moment that I had found, but a moment I created. And I do not see myself as an artist, creating these situations; I see my goal to be a man documenting the world as he sees it; capturing the way of life around me. If I am anything, I see myself more as a documentarian. I’m a kid with a notepad, jotting down things I notice about the world. That’s all.
It seems to me that everyone these days thinks that they are an artist. But artistry takes skill, it takes vision; it isn’t just something that one is, because they are competent in one thing or another.
One can write without being a Writer, and one can paint without being a Painter. I know how to work a camera, and I use it, but does that mean that every single thing that I take a picture of is artwork? Because I know how to take a picture, does that mean that I am a Photographer?
There is no shame in using these tools, these mediums, as mere expression. I’m not saying that. I write, I take photographs, I make the occasional video - but I know that this is not art. Expression, maybe, but not mastery. Art is mastery. Art is the process of mastering one’s trade, and in turn mastering one’s self.
I am a dilettante at best. I am an admirer, who dabbles in what he loves. But that does not an artist make.
I am not an artist. And apparently I’m in the minority.
