Marius De Zayas’ essay Photography and Artistic-Photography was first published in Camera Work no. 41 in 1913.

De Zayas opens with the statement ‘Photography is not Art, but photographs can be made to be Art.’  He goes on to explain that if a photograph is taken without any forward thought to the final image, if the photograph is merely recording facts, then that is ‘Photography’.  However, if there is an attempt to attain an emotional, expressive, personal depiction then that is ‘Artistic-Photography’.  Both can co-exist without detriment to the other.

I agree with De Zayas’ ideas, and in fact the desire to create ‘Artistic-Photography’ (though I was not aware of the term at the time) was my motivation for embarking upon my first OCA course.  I was making pictures which I was aware were simply record shots, albeit ones I was happy with, and felt that in order to advance my practice I needed to find a way to bring a sense of personal expression into my work.  Today, I practise both types of photography; I still want Photography for the online album and reminders of family events and excursions, but I also make Artistic-Photography for my own creative purposes.  I consider both to be separate and able to co-exist with each other within my practice, in agreement with De Zayas’ opinion.

References

De Zayas, M. (1913). ‘Photography and Artistic-Photography’ In: Camera Work 1913, 41.