Very special thanks to the National Park Foundation for sharing my work.

Was Picasso a talented painter or did he just have a great set of paint brushes?

 

Recently I was inspired by the brilliant colors of fall and the still water of the lake I live on casting a wonderful reflection. As any artist who finds inspiration would do, I stopped and captured a few images that I hoped, when finished with my artistic talents, would convey the spirit and emotion of the beauty I had seen.

Once I finished my creation, I couldn’t wait to share it among my small group of friends on Facebook. I usually enjoy feedback regarding my work if it connects with someone. However, one of my close friends who has a previously stated dislike of Photoshop, decided to post a comment of “Nice Photoshop”. I felt his comment implied that because the image had been processed by my chosen software of Photoshop, the resulting product was not my artistic creation, but a product of Photoshop.

Now in this person’s defense, he is not an artist or photographer and does not understand how or why photographers have to process digital raw files in their computer software programs before they end up being the final JPG files that most people are accustomed to viewing.

However, his dismissal of my artistic expression in favor of a particular tool I use to create it, struck a nerve for me. This caused me to ponder the question in the title. Was Picasso really talented or was it the brush he used to paint with?

Any sculptor, painter, writer, recording artist or movie maker, is generally freely given the distinction of an “artist”, however, a photographer is generally defined by the tools he uses to create with rather than his creation.

In the example of my Facebook friends post, it was the fact I created it in Photoshop that seemed to suck away any contribution I made to the image. So I wonder, would a sculptor be complimented on the chisel he used instead of his final result. What was responsible for the famous words of Robert Frost, the typewriter he used or Mr. Frost himself? And why is a painter hailed for his use of color, oil or acrylic and yet a photographer’s talent is attributed to a software program or the type of camera he owns.

I have been told so many times, if I had a good camera I could create that same type of image. My response is go buy yourself the best camera money can buy and knock yourself out.