Abstract:
Art is a subjective term as it is subject to personal taste and opinion. It is impossible to definitely
derme what art is. In fme art photography there is no distinctive subject matter, there is no one thing
that is photographed like with other fields of photography. Art is not guided by any specific rules or
techniques. Any subject can be photographed or explored. It is a favourable opinion that fme art is
about personal expression, emotion and symbolism. Fine art is more about the way the artist sees his
subject than it is ahout the subject itself (Leggat, 1999:1). Photographic art comprises those images that
meet the criteria of any visual art. The basic nature of photography is first, its registration and second,
the artist's choice and control of the pictorial elements. For photography to be transformed into art, the
observable world must be seen artistically (Kaufman, 1989:3).
When photography used the conventions of painting, either replicating subject matter or simulating
painterly effects, it achieved limited success. The result was found to be either artificial or
unacceptable to the medium's unique potential to record facts. Pictorialism was responsible for gaining
photographs entry into art museums around the world, despite its drawbacks. It also paved the way for
photographs to be included in fme art exhibitions and in determining that photography was noljust a
mechanical process but a creative art form (McAdam, 2003: 1). In the earliest stages of the history of
photography there already existed a strong conflict with regard to photography being a science or an art
(Leggat, 1999: I).
