Much photojournalism is not art Visual & Performing Arts Essay (Essay Sample)

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MUCH PHOTOJOURNALISM IS NOT ART
Arthur C. Danto is a philosopher who created a classification of what is today considered photographs and artworks. This paper shows how Arthur Danto’s views allow us to distinguish between artworks and photographs and how his views apply towards photographs mechanically reproduced.
Artworks vs. photographs
According to Arthur, the concept of artworld plays an ontological role that cannot exist out of an atmosphere of art theories. An artworld is a theoretical framework through which people can bring artwork into existence. Danto says that art should embody meaning (Cascales 136). The viewer should be able to determine the meaning embodied in the art. From the various properties ascribed to a material object, viewers should discern which of the properties communicate meaning. The triumph of Western art differentiates arts from other manifestations of human existence. Danto says that photography can be art because it is an object and also embodies meaning. However, in certain ways, it falls short of technical pursuits such as paintings. He argues that nature’s pencil traces what is set before the lens without creative imaginations. A photographer only represents what is there, while a painter uses imagination to show things in ways other than how they were or are. Cameras capture optic facts, though not visual facts, by freezes, which happens faster than the human eye can see. Photography has pieces, bits, and in-between moments. However, photographs do not c