Abstract:
The author ha.s chosen to explore the po ss ibilit y that the
creative talent exhibited by an artist's perceptive powers can be
equalled
effects.
by the photographer through subtle use of special
To this e nd the author has explo l'ed a pl'obiem encountered
particularly in 1990's photography which has resulted ill a mass
of high quality photographs taken by large numbers of amateurs
world- wide, who are u si ng sophisticated moderrl camet's technology
as a recording tool without achieving that element of creativity
which captul'es DU I' attention and communicates with our inmost
beings.
The authol' ha s used his own photogl'aphic work and t.ha t of
contempor"ary photogr'aphers in his field of s tudy, to su bstantiate
the claim that thl'ough use of subtle special effects in a ,'ariety
of topics, the photograph can be used a s imaginatively and
c reative ly a s an i mage pI'oduced by a competent artist o r' painter.
This observati.on could have important implication s for an
industry which throug}l co mput er' tec}lnology PI'oposes t o go beyond
the technical re strictions o f the painter whil s t main tai ning that
p rofession's cl"eative flexibility. These spec ial effects should, i n the Buttlo r"s opinion be u sed not
as an e nd to th e mselves, bu t as a mea n s o f transfol~ min g the
of ten c linical med ium of pho tography into a creative tool li lni te d
only by th e photographer's imaginative power's.
