Blurry pictures, out of focus, inacurrate colors = Art?

[Draconian Guppy]

So I don't use facebook at all much, heck I don't even have an account of my own. So the other day one of my friends was browsing some photos and a couple of albums got my attention, because mostly all the images were blurry as hell , out of focus, yet all the comments were like "OMG OMG that's such an amazing image, that's art! how did you do that?" ( And these comments by teh bucketloads) I felt like answering "well just set shutter to 1/2 and move camera around" but since it wasn't my facebook to begin with. Just as an example:

No granted I'm no pro, but it doesn't take a pro to know what "ART" should look like or if not art, at least what a decent shot SHOULD look like. I will say there ARE good pictures in facebook, but it's like posting blurry/out of focus images is a MUST to be considered "amazing skillzzzzzzzz"...

anyway

/rant...

[Solid Knight]

I call that a failure to properly operate a camera.

[Pajter]

Art is in the eye of beholder. Or something.

There may be people who find a turd art. It's just what they like. :)

For the record, I think it's a nice pic.

[Draconian Guppy]

I call that a failure to properly operate a camera.

Agreed, but some FB people consider that "OMG what a photo"? :| :/

[argonite]

They were probably hitting on the girl in the photo, that's all.

[Draconian Guppy]

Art is in the eye of beholder. Or something.

There may be people who find a turd art. It's just what they like. :)

For the record, I think it's a nice pic.

Oh I agree, art is for those who can appreciate it.

But in this case, I hardly see what's to appreciate? Terrible shutter time? There are guidelines to follow so to say. Focus for one...

From a photographic point of view anyway I think that shot is pure crap...

Edited March 22, 2010 by Fred Derf
closed quote tag

[dead.cell]

They were probably hitting on the girl in the photo, that's all.

[Draconian Guppy]

They were probably hitting on the girl in the photo, that's all.

:rofl:

Could be true, except that album had much more pictures that weren't of a girl too.

[o0moonman0o]

usually blurred photos looks nice cuz it works for a certain reason, the above example is just an example of a shot gone wrong.

[Draconian Guppy]

usually blurred photos looks nice cuz it works for a certain reason, the above example is just an example of a shot gone wrong.

Oh I agree, blurry works from time to time... Though not on the above shot... And what made me rant was people commenting on facebook saying what a fabulous shot it was!

[crazzy88ss]

people are dumb. I've seen many "you're such a great photographer!" comments on the world's shttiest photos. it's so annoying, but oh well.

[CL114C0777498D]

perhaps the commenters are just trying to encourage their friend.

but it doesn't take a pro to know what "ART" should look like or if not art

i think art is much more difficult to define than you seem to think - refer to dada art movement. it is art if someone wants to appreciate it as art, there are no real guidelines as to what it should or shouldn't look like in order to qualify as art.

[crazzy88ss]

yea art is tough to define. Many photographers/painters that are thought of as being the creme of the crop were laughed at while they were alive. However, this won't be one of those times...

[Draconian Guppy]

people are dumb. I've seen many "you're such a great photographer!" comments on the world's shttiest photos. it's so annoying, but oh well.

+1

Annoying as HELL

perhaps the commenters are just trying to encourage their friend.

i think art is much more difficult to define than you seem to think - refer to dada art movement. it is art if someone wants to appreciate it as art, there are no real guidelines as to what it should or shouldn't look like in order to qualify as art.

Agreed, art for know to appreciate it and honestly I think you're right on the encouraging thing, though I find that even more annoying, because if it were one of my friends, i'd say "this and that, and maybe that too" that way, he/she can better herself. IMO saying the above is a great picture is much more damaging than helpful

yea art is tough to define. Many photographers/painters that are thought of as being the creme of the crop were laughed at while they were alive. However, this won't be one of those times...

Yeah back when there were only 7 things defined as art IIRC ( or was it 9 :s )

[Bubbabyte]

the definition of "art" seems to be a touchy subject with some as they feel anything they can create is art, but i'm totally with drac on this one. It's the same as the whole HDR craziness, let's make everything in the photo look radioactive and call it a work of art. One great example of this is a thread that's been driving me ****ing nuts at digital photography schools website. Seems that taking a random picture and running it through a photoshop filter is how you make art.. go figure.

Here is the thread

[Bubbabyte]

people are dumb. I've seen many "you're such a great photographer!" comments on the world's shttiest photos. it's so annoying, but oh well.

I agree. But not only are the ridiculous compliments annoying, but the fact that they will have a HUGE watermark on their pics as if someone is going to steal their ****ty work and claim it for themselves. I'll be the first to admit that i'm no pro, far from it actually, but some people are just so oblivious. I guess these are the same people that try out for american idol because they were told they can sing..lol

[Colin-uk Veteran]

fail, you could probly replicate that efect with photoshop too :p

[crazzy88ss]

the definition of "art" seems to be a touchy subject with some as they feel anything they can create is art, but i'm totally with drac on this one. It's the same as the whole HDR craziness, let's make everything in the photo look radioactive and call it a work of art. One great example of this is a thread that's been driving me ****ing nuts at digital photography schools website. Seems that taking a random picture and running it through a photoshop filter is how you make art.. go figure.

Here is the thread

I hate DPS. I no longer go there. I made some posts there about how DPS has become useless and I just got bitched at because I wasn't the one reaching out to make a difference.

I agree. But not only are the ridiculous compliments annoying, but the fact that they will have a HUGE watermark on their pics as if someone is going to steal their ****ty work and claim it for themselves. I'll be the first to admit that i'm no pro, far from it actually, but some people are just so oblivious. I guess these are the same people that try out for american idol because they were told they can sing..lol

I used to have a friend who would watermark every photo and would rarely upload any of his photos cuz he thought everybody was going to steal his image. It was so laughable.

[Draconian Guppy]

the definition of "art" seems to be a touchy subject with some as they feel anything they can create is art, but i'm totally with drac on this one. It's the same as the whole HDR craziness, let's make everything in the photo look radioactive and call it a work of art. One great example of this is a thread that's been driving me ****ing nuts at digital photography schools website. Seems that taking a random picture and running it through a photoshop filter is how you make art.. go figure.

Here is the thread

Oh dear... That's one decent photo gone to hell, perfect example too! HDR is another good example, just because it's HDR doesn't mean it's a good photo, though I have to say i'ven really breathtaking HDRs, but mostly overdone ultra-radiation

I agree. But not only are the ridiculous compliments annoying, but the fact that they will have a HUGE watermark on their pics as if someone is going to steal their ****ty work and claim it for themselves. I'll be the first to admit that i'm no pro, far from it actually, but some people are just so oblivious. I guess these are the same people that try out for american idol because they were told they can sing..lol

Preach Bubba!

I HATE people who watermark crappy photos of their blurry night out, yeah they figure someone in the whole world is going to use that crappy shot for some ultra-uber-expensive advertising and they won't get a dime and they figure a nasty huge ass watermark will prevent that...

I hate DPS. I no longer go there. I made some posts there about how DPS has become useless and I just got bitched at because I wasn't the one reaching out to make a difference.

I used to have a friend who would watermark every photo and would rarely upload any of his photos cuz he thought everybody was going to steal his image. It was so laughable.

Of course, he watermarks in case he prints and somebody steals his stuff :laugh:

I think I registered on DPS before I did on neowin, but left because I got some really nasty fanboy answers when looking to buy D50/XT, some olympus guy kept saying just "shoot low ISO and voila no noise..." I can't even remember my login name.

Now don't get me wrong, I can understand abstract photography, but done right, blurry hell because of incorrect exposure/shutter time is no abstract art in my "Art Book" sorry... For the sad part on the original photo two of these is what they were using for lighting for that shoot, PLUS an extra handheld one. How he/she managed to fcuk it up is beyond me. Oh I remember what I wanted to rant about too ( equipment after posting that shot) ! Why do they even bother getting lighting if they can't even figure out shutter speed? People think that by getting a dSLR you magically become a photographer! If you're not going to take the time learning how to use said equipment, why bother to begin with? ( Hell even that light shot is blurry!!! )

/rant

Sorry I get overly excited.

[carmatic]

to me, art is defined by how much effort went into creating it... im tempted to post in that digital photography ?school , asking 'sir, how much time did you spend making that second picture? if it was anything less than an entire evening, gtfo cuz you are wasting our time'?

i think that adding filters is a valid way to create a nice picture, but only if the picture ends up getting liked by people in the end... not some cheap shot bang-up job which only took a few clicks and you saying 'ooooh thats so preeeettttyyyy' ....

same with taking blurry pictures on purpose, in the context of photography you are ruining the picture, but if it is used for pure eye candy, the combination of what you can see and what you couldnt would make it work quite well... in general this kind of picture would be a part of some greater project, and it the photographer didnt know what he/she was doing, the entire work would end up crappy... like taking the picture the wrong way, adding the wrong filters afterwards, using a bad webpage design, etc etc

[Draconian Guppy]

to me, art is defined by how much effort went into creating it... im tempted to post in that digital photography ?school , asking 'sir, how much time did you spend making that second picture? if it was anything less than an entire evening, gtfo cuz you are wasting our time'?

i think that adding filters is a valid way to create a nice picture, but only if the picture ends up getting liked by people in the end... not some cheap shot bang-up job which only took a few clicks and you saying 'ooooh thats so preeeettttyyyy' ....

same with taking blurry pictures on purpose, in the context of photography you are ruining the picture, but if it is used for pure eye candy, the combination of what you can see and what you couldnt would make it work quite well... in general this kind of picture would be a part of some greater project, and it the photographer didnt know what he/she was doing, the entire work would end up crappy... like taking the picture the wrong way, adding the wrong filters afterwards, using a bad webpage design, etc etc

LOL it was probably 10 seconds. For eye candy purposed I would say such plugins like the DPSchool is "valid", but it definitely only the made the original photo look worse.

Oh I agree filters and post-processing CAN make some shots better, but not much you can do if the shot is crappy to begin with. Hell I took me a while to understand that removing details and colors isn't going to make a good photo. Around 4 years ago I used to love making all my photos look like they were watercolours paints :/ But the only way I figured that out was by constructive criticism, which I think most of those popular photosharing website lack especially Facebook :angry: and not even facebook, that DSP link that bubba posted which you would think, more knowledgeable people regarding photography hang around...

[the evn show]

to me, art is defined by how much effort went into creating it... im tempted to post in that digital photography school , asking 'sir, how much time did you spend making that second picture? if it was anything less than an entire evening, gtfo cuz you are wasting our time'

Time spent is pretty much the worst way to judge anything. Is a math solution more correct because somebody that didn't understand algebra spent a month solving something where a reasonably bright 7th grade student could solve the same problem in half an hour?

Alternatively is

not art because he composed pieces in very short order (one or two per week on average, though sometimes he'd go months without writing the produce several pieces per day) while

spent months producing a single album?

[MikeChipshop Member]

Different artistic styles come in to fashion... fashion is bulls**t... as are the photos.

[crazzy88ss]

I completely disagree. It's just a different type of photography. There's a million different types, and each serves its own purpose.

[djesteban]

This is art

:D