“Concerning Art, Photography, and Culture”

Sarah Hester - Box 1397

Philosophy

Woody Wilkinson

12/2/2010

Introduction

Art is a powerful force in every culture. It is displayed in museums, sprayed onto

brick walls in the street, uncovered in archeological sites, read and re-read in libraries

and in homes, watched in theaters and auditoriums, listened to in music venues and on

MP3 players, and collected by those who love it. It is a natural part of life from childhood

through death - even at the young age of only a few years we humans are already

engaging in representing the world we see around us through crude yet innocent forms
of art.1 Richard Eldridge says it this way: “Works of art - products of human performance

with powerfully absorbing effects... have seemed to some of their audiences to be as

important in life as anything can be.”2 In this essay we will explore art, and specifically

photography, how it functions in our culture and how it impacts our world.

Art and Aesthetics

The Function of Art

In the preface of his book, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde famously

declared, “All art is quite useless.” And many prominent philosophers agree with him,

arguing that we regard beauty in nature or art as something we must admire

disinterestedly, with no other use for them than appreciating their beauty.3 As a

photographer and artist myself, I understand the point but cannot agree. When

approaching something of beauty I want to capture, I appreciate and am grateful for its

beauty, but I also see its use as a catalyst of change and inspiration. As I attempt to

capture, illuminate, and bring it to others to appreciate, I also watch as it impacts the

world around me - hopefully for the better. Friedrich Schiller said, “Beauty alone makes

all the world happy, and every being forgets its limitations as long as it experiences her

enchantment.”4

Many people, however, get quite upset when others de-value the functionality of art.

Arther C. Danto, for example, seems nearly offended by those who would view art as

merely something nice to look at; he asks, “How would a woman feel if you told her you

1
Eldridge, Richard Thomas. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP,
2003 (41)
2
Eldridge, (2)
3
Eldridge, (50)
4
Eldridge, (13)
only keep her around because she’s beautiful?”5 Yet my view on the subject is more

relaxed - let others view art as they may, whether it be merely a lovely thing to look at or

something to ignite, to illuminate, to inspire. Art is powerful and moving no matter how

one views it; let it show some that there is beauty and goodness and loveliness in the

world, and let it show others truths about God, about people and about life, and let them

be changed. Eldridge illustrates art’s engaging power, speaking about photography: “It

is the function of the photographer... not simply to record... but to display an instance of

a kind of thing that may engage human interest, attention, and feeling... There must be

an achievement of illumination of significance for us - to artistic representation.”6

Art and Emotion

Many people will require that emotion be a part of the very definition of art itself. The

Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy says that “the aesthetic has always been intimately

connected with sensory experience and the kinds of feelings it arouses.”7 Leo Tolstoy

defines art this way; saying that art is one man using certain activities to show others

feelings he has lived through, and that others are then infected by those feelings and

will experience them as well.8 Art is heavily involved in taking that which is part of

ordinary life and sharing those experiences and emotions with other people -

illuminating the extraordinary from out of the ordinary. “Genuine art will present the stuff

of ordinary life as a subject matter of feeling as it arises in the responsive artist and is

communicated creatively through the expressive work.”9 Eldridge will even say that it is

the “office” of art to teach us how to appropriately feel about the experiences of

5
Eldridge, (61)
6
Eldridge, (42)
7
Audi, Robert. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. (10)
8
Tolstoy, Leo. What Is Art? Trans. Aylmer Maude. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1996. (51)
9
Eldridge, (74)
everyday life.10 According to Aristotle, true art - a successful imitation - must be able to

engage our attention and emotions “almost as if it were real.”11 It is an achievement for

the artist when the audience experiences “quasi-emotion” in the are - what the subject

of the art was feeling (i.e., Elizabeth Bennett’s love and gratitude for Mr. Darcy), and

what the artist was experiencing in creating the art (Jane Austen’s benevolent delight in

the coming together of her two created characters).12

Those artists who abandon traditional beauty in pursuit of inspiration and

transformation are changing the face of art today. Many people dismiss modern art as

something their child or dog could have drawn, giving no respect or consideration of the

artists’ intentions. In fact, the artist of today has attempted to become something more

of a catalyst of change through emotion rather than a producer of beauty. They desire to

inspire emotion in the viewer of the art, whether it be disgust, anger, joy, or gratitude as

they reflect on some part of society.

Art and Ability

A huge part of successful art is evoking emotion in the viewer, therefore, an artist

needs to put much more effort into a piece that is meant to cause feeling than if the art

was just meant to “look good”. While it is important to have inspiration and good ideas

and expression, “genius” must be a talent put hard to work. Taste needs to be refined,

ability needs to be consistent and sharp, and ideas need to flow well and gracefully.

True art requires refinement and consistency, even through its unpredictable, original

and tame-less nature.13 If a person who consistently produced poorly imagined and

10
Eldridge, (72)
11
Eldridge, (27)
12
Eldridge, (197)
13
Eldridge, (105)
executed crafts randomly created something original and pretty, no one would call it true

art.

The Surreal and Desire

Some might say that we only encounter the real of our desires through dreams or

surreal representations. As false images and ideas are presented to us, it is only then

that we can recognize what we desire through our imagination and the illumination of

our passions.14 Art is a way that we can connect with an idea not quite realistic and

realize a part of ourselves that desires something we cannot yet achieve. A piece of

internet art created by an anonymous graphic designer communicated this truth crudely

and harshly, grumbling that “Art is the best way to say f*** you, reality!” This deep

connection to art in finding that which we desire in the depths of our being is a very

spiritual feeling; it is part of ourselves reaching out to find something bigger than

ourselves. Tolkien said concerning fantasy stories, “The peculiar quality of ‘joy’ in

successful Fantasy can thus be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality

of truth. It is not only a ‘consolation’ for the sorrow of this world, but a satisfaction.”15 But

not only does it point us towards our desire for something better, it can illuminate for us

that which is already good. In photographing, painting, or otherwise capturing the

surreal, we give ourselves a new ability to find in actual reality that which is fantastic.

Art is a continual opportunity to rediscover life in all its wonder. Gregory Bassham

says concerning the impact of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien on the way we view live,

“Having encountered ents and towering mallorns, we forever see ordinary elms and

beeches differently. Rock and tree, leaf and branch, shadow and sunlight become

14
Zizek, Slavoj. "Slavoj Zizek - Looking Awry." Scribd. Web. 30 Nov. 2010 (13)
15
Tolkien, J.R.R. "On Fairy-Stories." Brainstorm Services. Web. 30 Nov. 2010 (23)
again, as they were in childhood, wondrous and strange.”16 Not only is this child-like

spirit found in those who can use art as a path to rediscover wonder in their life, but it is

also a requirement for those who would creatively produce art. Yasmin Tajik, a young

photographer put it this way: “No, I’m not immature or lacking life experience. I am

returning to a state of mind of being completely open and curious, with my eyes set at

2.8 [a reference to aperture - the wideness of a camera shutter’s opening]. I’m taking it

all in, and experimenting.”17 Excellent and original art requires at its very core the ability

to look at things from a new perspective - to explore, to enjoy, to admire, to be filled with

wonder, to truly feel the emotions each experience presents to you, and to be able to

present all those emotions to your audience.

Photography as Art

A Surreal Reality

Photography carries vastly different implications than painting or any other

reproductive art. In the very nature of photography, in capturing an image exactly as it

stands before you, you can know that the subject of the image actually existed; while in

painting a portrait, the painting may represent generalities of man, or a specific man, but

you have no distinct visual evidence of the existence of that specific man. Photography

brings that visual proof.18 Therefore, what is represented in a photograph has more

16
Baggett, David, Gary R. Habermas, and Jerry Walls, eds. C. S. Lewis as Philosopher: Truth, Goodness
and Beauty. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008 (248)
17
Tajik, Yasmin. "I’m 38 Years Old and I Act Like I’m Five « Photofocus." Photofocus. 17 Nov. 2010
18
Because of space and time restraints on this paper, I am forced to ignore certain realities about
photography that change some things discussed here, especially photo editing - creating or changing
images and likenesses that did not exist in the original captured photograph. There are many questions
that would need to be asked concerning this topic, i.e., whether it is ethical to create edited images that
portray reality to the viewing public; is it deceiving to edit and enhance a photographic portrait to make the
subject more attractive; how often are photographs meant for news stories edited or manipulated to
propagandize readers; how does the enhancement of photos such as fashion and beauty images impact
expectations for appearances and levels of attractiveness today, etc.
implications for reality than a painting or similar reproduction would.19 Also, because of

the nearly infinite opportunities for detail to be recorded in photography, there is

opportunity for nearly infinite meaning(s) in a photographic image; there could be

incredible details in a photograph, and each detail could be assigned as a symbol, a

metaphor, or an allegory with meaning for the viewer to interpret.20 Susan Sontag

agrees that photography is much more of a realistic art than anything that had come

before, saying, “Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so

much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality.”21 Yet she later makes strong statements also

considering the surreal nature of photography, remarking that “photographs, which

cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction,

speculation and fantasy,”22 and that “surrealism lies at the heart of the photographic

enterprise.”23

Photography and Desire

Just as the rest of art can be a channel for discovering desire, photography has a

large impact on our desires as well - perhaps an even heavier one because of its

connection of art and reality. Photography creates images that can become “surrogates”

for the reparation of a person’s desire. When a person is unable to fulfill a desire to

travel, for example, he might instead view pictures, videos, and even models of the

places he wants to see. The images do not completely satisfy that desire, but will

appease restlessness.24 Sontag elaborates:

19
Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy: Basic Readings. London [u.a.: Routledge, 2005. (513-514)
20
Warburton, (531)
21
Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977. (4)
22
Sontag, (20)
23
Sontag, (48)
24
Scruton, Roger. The Aesthetic Understanding: Essays in the Philosophy of Art and Culture. London:
Methuen, 1983. (152)
 A photograph is both a pseudo-presence and a token of absence. Like a
wood fire in a room, photographs - especially those of people, of distant
landscapes and faraway cities, of the vanished past - are incitements to
reverie. The sense of the unattainable that can be evoked by photographs
feeds directly into the erotic feelings of those for whom desirability is
enhanced by distance. The lover’s photograph hidden in a married
woman’s wallet, the poster photograph of a rock star tacked up over an
adolescent’s bed, the campaign-button image of a politician’s face pinned
on a voter’s coat, the snapshots of a cabdriver’s children clipped to the
visor - all such talismanic uses of photographs express a feeling both
sentimental and implicitly magical: they are attempts to contact or lay
claim to another reality.”25

Photographic Pornography

As we explored a small bit earlier, one of the great draws of photography and other

art is that of imagination and the surreal. Yet by the very definition of that which is

pornographic, it has a low artistic value and leaves nothing to the imagination. “If

fantasy breaks through the tissue of imagination then the dramatic thought is scattered,

and the imaginative emotions along with it; the value of dramatic representation is

destroyed.”26 Some people try to categorize pornographic images as art, and while

some definitions of art might accept this (something meant to communicate emotion and

inspire action), I am very hesitant to put something as damaging as porn under such a

benevolent-sounding name as art. There is a large number of people - men and women

- who are addicted to viewing and experiencing sexual pleasure through pornography.

These people suffer highly detrimental effects because of their addiction; porn effects a

person’s ability to connect an emotional feeling with a sexual act, deeply damaging any

relationship that person would hope to pursue with a sexual partner. There is even

research showing that in most cases of violent crimes (especially sexual in nature), the

perpetrator often viewed or was addicted to pornography; this is not to say that every
25
Sontag, (14)
26
Scruton, (158)
viewer of porn commits violence and sex crimes, but that it is found to be a contributing

factor in most of those cases.27 Pornography is therefore an often detrimental type of

reproduction in its effect on society, and should not be counted among the ranks of

higher and more beneficial arts.

Art and Changing Culture

The Impact of Art

Art, as such a large part of every culture, must have a large impact on the societies it

finds itself in - for better or for worse. Art in its very being is something that makes an

impression on those who experience it.28 Artists, alongside the rest of society, have

deep aspirations for life and meaning and goodness, and attempt to insert that into their

work.29 They are able to look at society and culture from their own particular perspective,

and using their abilities try to change it for the better. Gilbert & George did not shy from

saying their purpose straight out: “Our reason for making pictures is to change people

and not to congratulate them on how they are.”30 Plato tells us in the Symposium that

good role models found in art (literature or otherwise) provide examples for us to follow,

and will inspire or shame us into good behavior.31

When we read of the selfless, dogged persistence of Frodo, the

indomitable courage of Sam, the loyalty of Merry and Pippin, the nobility of
Aragorn, the repentance of Boromir, the humility of Galadriel [characters in
a famous literary work, The Lord of the Rings], we feel the allurement of
goodness that Plato classically describes in the Symposium. We are
27
Dunlap, MSW, Becky. "Porn, Meth and Violence: Making Some Connections." Crisis Connection Inc.
Web. 1 Dec. 2010
28
“It is a matter of contention whether a work’s aesthetic and artistic values are independent of its moral,
political, or epistemic stance or impact.” (The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Robert Audi,
Cambridge University Press 1995), p. 11
29
Eldridge, (248)
30
Gilbert & George, “What Our Art Means,” in Gilbert & George. The Charcoal and Paper Sculptures,
1970-1974 (Bordeaux: Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, 1986); quoted in Introduction to
Aesthetics, Eldridge, (254)
31
Baggett, (251)
 moved, energized, and uplifted. We dream of better things and desire to
grow.32

Obviously, art can impact cultures and societies in bad ways as well as good, but we

prefer to call true art that which brings to our attention ways we need to grow and

change for the better, not that which brings us down.

The Impact of Photography

When photography first became a popular art form, it brought a new era of art and

celebrity into America. Photographing something gives that thing importance, and

suddenly, normal people could be photographed - their very own images could be

captured - and they were celebrities. They were suddenly more important. It was a

copulation of art with reality, bringing art much closer to the people to be understood

and reached.33

We know from our discussion above that art is something that transfers emotion to

us and even “teaches” us acceptable emotions. This happens on a much larger basis

now with digital photography and the explosion of social media. Art was a “common

culture” to everyone on earth before, but is now much more accessible through the

internet and other communication mediums. We now have a much greater ability to

learn and understand how to act in a way that is culturally and socially accepted, and

photography is a big part of that.34 Because of photos, people no longer have to leave

their own homes to view images of cultures and people on the other side of the world.

We now know things we never would have understood otherwise, and that knowledge

changes us - changes our ideas, opinions and actions. How many people have joined a

32
Baggett, (248)
33
Sontag, (26-28)
34
Scruton, (171-173)
cause because of images that have moved them? How many people still would have

protested war without seeing first hand photographs that captured all its horror? How

many would be contributing to charities attempting to end poverty and hunger if they

had no touching pictures of children with sad eyes and empty stomachs?

Similarly, a photograph is an artist’s opinion on the subject he is capturing in the

image; the viewer is forced to look at the subject through the photographers eyes, and

must find the photographers opinion to be his own, if only temporarily.35 Because of our

new greater ability to cast a wider net for viewers of photography, any popular artist’s

opinion may become widespread, and the culture of that society will change to

accommodate whatever that new opinion entails.

Finally, possibly photography’s biggest impact on culture is the simple fact that it is

taking a single moment in time and freezing it forever. A photograph is an instant piece

of history, instantly an artifact of a time that was and cannot be again.36 It can point to a

nation and show them what they were yesterday, and - since all history points us

forward as it looks back - will show them what they should be tomorrow. It also reminds

humans en masse of our own mortality.37 Moments frozen in a photograph cannot be

retaken and relived. When we take the time to ponder the moment captured by a

camera, we find that we are reminded of the shortness of life, of the changes we have

experienced as we’ve lived it, and of the changes we desire to implement in the time we

have left before us.

Conclusion

35
Sontag, (79)
36
Sontag, (61)
37
Sontag, (63)
 Photography, and art in general, is something that impacts and changes us as
individuals and as a people, a human race. We find in its subjects something we
can identify and relate to our purposes, habits, and interests. It brings many
positive and a few negative changes to our lives as it itself changes; no one can
deny that the ebb and flow of art has a great impact on the ebb and flow of the
rest of many culture across the world. But the best and most important impact
good and true art has on a person is this: it brings man closer to seeing God.
God, as the creator of beauty, reveals himself to man through the art he created
in nature and the propensity he placed inside of man to create art. Psalm 19
famously records God’s own artistic genius, first praising his beautiful creation in
the glory of the heavens, then moving on to honor his literary genius in writing a
“perfect” and “refreshing” law for his people to follow. Knowing about God’s
perfect artistic ability and taste, it therefore makes perfect sense that we dedicate
all human artistic ability to be glorifying to him. J.R.R. Tolkien, discussing artistic
fantasy and surrealism wrote, “Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our
measure and in our derivative mode because we are made: and not only made,
but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.”38

38
Tolkien, (18)
 Works Cited
Audi, Robert. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
1995. Print.

Baggett, David, Gary R. Habermas, and Jerry Walls, eds. C. S. Lewis as Philosopher:
Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008. Print.

Dunlap, MSW, Becky. "Porn, Meth and Violence: Making Some Connections." Crisis
Connection Inc. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/pdf/Porn.pdf>.

Eldridge, Richard Thomas. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art. Cambridge, UK:

Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.

Lewis, C. S. Surprised by Joy; the Shape of My Early Life. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1956. Print.

Scruton, Roger. The Aesthetic Understanding: Essays in the Philosophy of Art and
Culture. London: Methuen, 1983. Print.

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977. Print.

Tajik, Yasmin. "I’m 38 Years Old and I Act Like I’m Five « Photofocus." Photofocus. 17
Nov. 2010. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. <http://photofocus.com/2010/11/17/im-38-years-
old-and-i-act-like-im-five/>.

Tolkien, J.R.R. "On Fairy-Stories." Brainstorm Services. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

<http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2004/fairystories-tolkien.pdf>.

Tolstoy, Leo. What Is Art? Trans. Aylmer Maude. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1996.
Print.

Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy: Basic Readings. London [u.a.: Routledge, 2005. Print.

Zizek, Slavoj. "Slavoj Zizek - Looking Awry." Scribd. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/17714444/Slavoj-Zizek-Looking-Awry>.