Fine Art Photography

What is your definition of fine art photography? The Wikipedia definition is "photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist." This is the definition that I like. To me it is also any piece of beautiful artistic photographic work that is non-commercial that can be a landscape, a portrait, an abstract image or a macro image of some kind.



Different people have different definitions of what fine art photography is, some say it has to be black and white or monochrome, others say that the print has to be matted for framing before it can be called fine art. I do not subscribe to these at all. In truth fine art can be black and white / monochrome or color but I must admit that I do prefer black and white. My own fine art images are exclusively in black and white as I prefer this format for printing and framing. To say though that the photograph must be matted is a little obscure in my view. Surely it is about the image at the end of the day?



One thing I do see on a regular basis are personal photography websites touting themselves as fine art photographers and offering so-called fine art prints. Unfortunately many of these lack any artistic quality whatsoever and are merely record shots or snapshots. I doubt very much if they will see many sales of these! At the other end of the spectrum I also see truly fantastic photographic art on display in photography magazine reader galleries, that the photographer is not promoting or offering for sale or for print from their own site. I'm pretty sure this is down to lack of confidence from the photographer in their own work.