Fine art photography
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'''Fine art photography''' refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography. Photojournalism provides visual support for stories, mainly in the print media. Commercial photography's main focus is to sell a product or service.
''The final creative reason for a fine art photograph is the photograph itself. It is not a means to another end, except perhaps to please those besides the photographer who beholds it.''
''Fine art photography'' is created primarily as an expression of the artist’s vision, but has also been important in advancing certain causes. The work of [[Ansel Adams]]' in [[Yosemite]] and [[Yellowstone]] provides an example. Adams is one of the most widely recognized fine art photographers of the 20th century, and was an avid promoter of conservation. While his primary focus was on photography as art, his work raised public awareness of the beauty of the [[Sierra Nevada]] mountains and helped to build political support for their protection.
==History==
{{Mergefrom|History of Photography as Fine Art|Talk:History of Photography as Fine Art|date=April 2008}}
Successful attempts to make fine art photography can be traced to [[Victorian era]] practitioners such as [[Julia Margaret Cameron]], [[Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]], and [[Oscar Gustave Rejlander]] and others.<br />
Until the late 1970s several genres predominated; nudes, portraits, natural landscapes (exemplified by [[Ansel Adams]]). Breakthrough 'star' artists in the 1970s and 80s, such as [[Sally Mann]] and [[Robert Mapplethorpe]], still relied heavily on such [[genre|genres]], although seeing them with fresh eyes. Others investigated a [[snapshot aesthetic]] approach.
Throughout the twentieth century, there was a noticeable increase in the size of prints. Small delicate prints in thin frames are now a rarity, and hi-gloss wall-sized prints are common. There is now a tendency to dispense with a frame and glass altogether and instead to print onto blocked canvas.
American organizations, such as the [[Aperture (magazine)|Aperture Foundation]] and the [[Museum of Modern Art]], have done much to keep photography at the forefront of the fine arts.
==Current trends==
There is now a trend toward a careful staging and lighting of the picture, rather than hoping to "discover" it ready-made. Photographers such as [[Cindy Sherman]] and [[Gregory Crewdson]], among others, are noted for the quality of their [[Tableaux Vivant|staged]] pictures.
[[Image:OrchardFence-byCurtisNeeley.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Black and white photo of an old split rail fence.]]
According to [http://press.artprice.com/pdf/Trends2004.pdf ''Art Market Trends 2004''] (PDF link) 7,000 photographs were sold in auction rooms in 2004, and photographs averaged a 7.6 [[percent]] annual price rise from 1994 and 2004. Around 80 percent were sold in the [[USA]]. Of course, auction sales only record a fraction of total private sales.
As printing technologies have improved since around [[1980]], a photographer's art prints reproduced in a finely-printed limited-edition book have now become an area of strong interest to collectors. This is because books usually have high production values, a short print run, and their limited market means they are almost never reprinted. The collector's market in photography books by individual photographers is developing rapidly.
==See also==
*[[List of photographers]]
==References==
* Naomi Rosenblum, ''A World History of Photography''
* Michael Peres, ed., ''The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography''
* Jerry L. Thompson, ''Truth and Photography''
* [http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_781536544/Guest_Essay_The_Impact_of_Photography_on_Painting.html The Impact of Photography on Painting]
==External links==
* [http://www.creativephotography.org/ Center for Creative Photography]
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/lessons/97/world/history.html Library of Congress - A Brief History of Photography]
* [http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/photography/ MoMA Photography]
* [http://www.nga.gov.au/photography/ National Gallery of Australia Photography]
* [http://www.photo-web.com.au/shadesoflight Shades of Light (Australian Photography 1839 - 1988)] the online version of the original Shades of Light published 1998, Gael Newton, National Gallery of Australia.
* [http://www.c4fap.org/ The Center for Fine Art Photography]
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[[Category:Photography by genre]]
[[Category:Art genres]]
[[de:Künstlerische Fotografie]]
[[gl:Fotografía como arte]]
[[hr:Umjetnička fotografija 20. stoljeća]]
[[it:Fotografia d'arte]]
[[pl:Fotografia artystyczna]]
[[ru:Фотоискусство]]
[[fi:Valokuvataide]]