In photography we have two types of photographers (they may of course overlap) the art photographer for whom the picture is the message, and the documentary photographer for who the subject is the message. As you can see the difference between the two (at least beyond a certain skill level) is simply the intent of the photographer.
Therefore I say, if your intent is art then you are an artist. It is as simple as that.
frank theriault wrote:
First, I think one should remember that one doesn't simply "become" an artist. It's a journey; an ongoing process. Especially with photography, where anyone can pick up a point and shoot and snap a pic, it's possible that "art" can be (even unwittingly) produced with no thought whatsoever. The thing about the monkeys at the typewriters eventually doing Shakespeare's plays applies much moreso to photography. I daresay that a chimp with an automatic camera may eventually take a meaningful photograph, even without knowing what they're doing. Does that make the photograph in question any less "art" than any other photograph? I don't think so.
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
