F.W. Thorlton Photo-Graphic

There has been, since the introduction of photography, the argument a foot that photography is not an art form, but rather a trade or a mechanical representation.

I find this not only wrong, I find it offensive to all the photographers who have, through the generations carried a cumbersome camera, foul smelling chemicals, and a tent in which to produce their creations. To the photographers with 8 x10 view camera and a light meter trying to reproduce what he sees through his lens as did Ansel Adams who sat for weeks waiting for the correct light at the correct time to press his shutter release and then spend hours in his darkroom trying to recreate what he saw or what he visualized, or the photographer who carried a Graflex camera or later the Speed Graphic, the 35mm camera, or the Rolli and so on. And, I reject the lack of understanding by all the critics who expound the feelings mentioned above, and the mindset that photography is not an art form, or even a lesser art form. It is in fact a greater art form.

The artist is limited by nothing. He can view a scene, and with his skill with a brush recreate or change that scene in any manner he wishes an call it art. To some degree the world is always ready to agree and accept his judgment. He can change the light, he can change the color, he can change the scene itself to fit any image he has in his mind.

The photographer has forever, had the same feelings, but has been limited by far more:
The light could not be changed, except in a studio
The form of the image could not be changed,
The character of the surrounding could not be changed.
They were forced by technology to live within the boundaries of that technology, and that technology did not make them less creative it made them more creative.
And, within those boundaries the photographers who went before, created some of the most spectacular images mankind has ever witnessed.
When historians seek to represent the history of man where does he go?
Before the advent of photography they went to paintings, which often represented a bias point of view, for there was nothing else.
After the advent of photography, very rarely do you see paintings used to present what they are trying to make you understand. They went to photography. Photography was the ART FORM used in the 20th century to depict the 20th century.
And now, at last the 21st century has freed the mind and the art of the photographer. With his new found tools the photographer is no longer limited to his age old restrictions. Now he is free to create what he sees in his mind, and perhaps now at last will be recognized for what he has always been, a creative artistic individual. With his digital camera as his brush and his mind as his canvas his future is unlimited.
I do not pretend he be among this new generation that is about to spring forth on the world. I am part of the old. I wish with every fiber of my being I was a part of it, but that is after all evolution, the old is replaced by the new.
I wish them GOD Speed and I will watch as long as I can.
And always remember PHOTOGRAPHERS you are artists.

F.W. Thorlton 2005