Hi Brooks and thank you for giving your time here when you so obviously have a lot on your plate. Not being a painter or a sculptor I don’t know if those practitioners doubt their art as much as photographers do, but it seems a constant anxiety for many. Why is it that photographers continue to question whether photography is art?
Alfredo, perfect timing for your question! I do a weekly podcast where I share my thoughts on various topics. I’ve been doing so since 2005 and there are now over 1,300 audios in those archives that are all available to members of LensWork Online, our membership website. This is a paid site, but over at www.lenswork.com we also post the two most recent topics for free. Last week’s discussion was about curating! Here is the link to that audio. Hope it answers some questions for you. https://www.lenswork.com/podcast/LW1330%20-%20Some%20Thoughts%20on%20Curation.mp3
If you are interested in more, you can learn about LensWork Online here. There is a 1-month trial membership available for $10.
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Thanks. Good question. I’ve always thought that some of this stems from the fact that photography is so pliable and can be used for so many different goals. Documentary photography, scientific photography, family snapshots, mug shots — all are photography, and all are not artmaking. In fact, a relative few number of the trillions of photographs made each year are personally expressive artwork. I’m not sure why photographers are plagued by self-doubt, but they shouldn’t be. We use writing for grocery lists, addressing envelopes, and our will, but you don’t see novelists doubting whether or not their work is a creative act. Personally, I think it helps if photographers think of themselves with a different label. Perhaps storyteller or even artist are better, more comforting terms. Just keep doing your work and eventually such labels will be defined by what you do rather than by some arbitrary label.
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Brooks, I’ll start by saying how much I love your daily podcast thoughts! I’m a Lenswork Digital subscriber and also like and appreciate the reviews of projects from past editions. Wonderful idea!
As a new-ish photographer (3 years now) I’m starting to make more connection in my art. This usually comes by connecting with a subject or photograph in the field or afterwards in my “digital darkroom”.
I know you talk about making connections with art and I’m curious what has been a strong connection you have made in your own work?
Thank you for all these thoughtful (and fun) replies!
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Thank you so much for your answer Brooks! 
Brie, there are so many! We connect with our subjects, with our artwork, with our deeper self, with photographers and other artists from the past. Take NPN, for example. This AMA, for example. Would any of us know one another if it weren’t for photography bringing us all here? Not long ago, I spent an hour or two with Cole Thompson and John Barclay in Death Valley recording a video chat (yet to be posted) on photography and creativity. Would any of us have been in Death Valley if it weren’t for photography? Would we have met each other if it weren’t for photography? Would we have spent an hour together sharing stories and lessons learned if it weren’t for photography? Without connection we are merely (in the words of the poet — I can’t remember who) “naked and afraid in a world I never made.” With art and culture, we have each other.
Perhaps the biggest connection we cultivate through photography is discovering our deeper self. It is hard to be a photographer without asking, Why? Why do I want to photograph? Why do I photograph this particular subject? Why should anyone care about my photographs? Why do I think it is important that I make photographs? Why, why, why. And all such questions are the gateway to thinking about and understanding our deeper self. It is so easy to go through life carried by the waves of habit and insensitive to all that surrounds us. To be an artist is to look more closely, think more deeply, feel more meaningfully. Artists pay attention. They are not numb. They “see the universe in a grain of sand.” Every day. Their artifact is merely a testament to how they lived their lives. Not a bad way to navigate our four score and ten.
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Thanks to everyone for a fun day of “talking shop.” So many good questions!
I hope you don’t mind if I encourage you to consider a subscription to LensWork or a membership to LensWork Online. Lots to see! Literally terabytes of content.
And you are all invited to download my issues of Kokoro from Brooks Jensen Arts. These are always free and include projects from my own photographic efforts.
And lastly, our new book Trilogies 2022 is now shipping! This book features “trilogies” (3-image suites) from 125 incredibly talented photographers.
Safe travels and make art!
Brooks Jensen
Editor, LensWork Publishing
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