I have, for many years, thought about what divides ‘fine art’ photography vs photography that is not ‘fine art’. I supposed that one person’s fine art is an other person’s photo or snapshot. Or, more directly, fine art is in the eye of the beholder. So using my modern learning tools I kind of like what AI says it is: “Fine art photography is a style of photography created with a photographer’s artistic vision as the primary goal, using the medium for creative expression, emotion, or ideas, rather than for documentation or commercial purposes. It focuses on the photographer’s unique perspective and aims to convey feeling, beauty, or meaning beyond what is objectively real, differentiating it from photojournalism or advertising photography.” I exercise that concept in my approach to photography by showcasing the natural world around us in ways that accentuate beauty, drama and/or mood. These oak leaves, for instance, aren’t the iconic brilliant reds and oranges that maple leaves turn into in the fall but their subtle, rusted look in late afternoon more than whispers FALL to me. I saw this as an artful visual and I present it to you as my art.
