Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly (1910 (Heft 32))

PHOTOGRAPHY AS A MEANS OF
ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

Early last spring Mr. J. Craig Annan delivered an address on “Photog-
raphy as a Means of Artistic Expression” to the Edinburgh Photographic So-
ciety. In the Society’s Transactions a part of the address was published with
the introduction: “The following is an abridgment of the paper, a consider-
able part of which has unfortunately to be left unprinted as its interest largely
depends on the illustrations which cannot be reproduced here.” We wrote
to Mr. Annan that we were desirous of publishing his address in full in Camera
Work as we felt that whatever he might have had to say on photography was
worth while preserving. Mr. Annan wrote us: “It was not really a lecture at
all but rather an exhibition of lantern slides chiefly taken from the reproduc-
tions in Camera Work. As I am not a fluent speaker I jotted down what was
printed to serve as an introduction. I am sorry that there is no more of it and
on reading it over I don’t see how I can make a complete article of it. If you
find the opinions expressed useful snip them out—I think they would be most
effective that way.” We consider it in the best interest of photography to
reprint the paper as it appeared in the Transactions of the Society, Vol. XX,
No. 267, June, 1910.—The Editors.
THE question as to whether photography is entitled to be considered
one of the fine arts is, to my mind, a foolish one, but if it were asked
whether photography might be utilized as a medium of artistic expression
I would most unhesitatingly reply in the affirmative. It might be discussed
whether sculpture, or painting, or architecture offered the widest scope for the
expression of abstract beauty but it would be admitted by all that each of
these arts is peculiarly adapted for the expression of some particular aesthetic
quality. Following this line of argument, I hope to be able to prove that
photography is capable of expressing certain aesthetic emotions very com-
pletely. That its sphere is strictly limited I am quite prepared to admit, but I
consider that it is still too young an art to have its scope determined. It has
not yet had an opportunity of showing what it may accomplish, largely because
it has been practiced by the wrong class of persons. In its early days it was
taken up as a hobby by those of a scientific turn of mind, who found in the
process a pleasant outlet for the exercise of their chemical and physical knowl-
edge, with the added charm that, as a result of their operations, they obtained
pictures. It is not surprising that the accredited artists looked askance at these
performances, and without very much consideration concluded that the
process, being mechanical, was only capable of producing mechanical results.
They reasoned that only by the medium of the human hand could the divine
element of imagination be introduced into a picture, but, as a side light on the
probable correctness of their conclusions, I may remind you that many of
the same class were absolutely assured that Whistler was an impertinent
charlatan. Times have changed, however, and the present generation is
producing a new type of intelligence, which combines a cultured artistic sense

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