Photography is not art
As you will all know by now, my two sons go to Hogwarts, which is a typical ye-olde-English grammar school, with hundreds of years of tradition blah, blah, blah, and a mighty fine standard of education in both the sciences and the arts. Or so we thought.
My oldest son is one of the brightest in his year at art. He’s really good. The school have said he should sit the art scholarship in January 2008, which is a tremendous honour, as only a selected few are allowed to attempt it.
If he gets it, he gets to wear a special flowing black robe with magical powers (kidding about the powers, but the robes are very real..…where do you think JK Rowling actually got the ideas for the Harry Potter series?) and varying special privileges such as their own common room with a shiny scholarship ping-pong table and a t.v. (which they can’t watch anyway because they will have too much homework), plus of course they get to be worshipped by all the girls (chix apparently deeply dig long flowing black robes – don’t ask me, apparently it’s a Dan Radcliffe thing…the movies have a lot to answer for). Oh and we get a discount on the school fees. (Seems inconsequential to him in comparison with said chix, but it’s rather important to us, as it means we wouldn’t have to sacrifice quite as many goats to send them there). To obtain this lofty prize, my son has to sit an exam, and he also has to submit a large portfolio of his work.
Don’t even get me started on the requirements for the art portfolio. Talk about pressure! Hogwarts want “proof that he spends the majority of his leisure time engaging in art", as opposed to playing computer games, which is actually his main leisure pursuit (at least until recently, because nowadays homework soaks up all available free time). The art portfolio is supposed to be made up of 50% of school art and 50% home art. If he’s doing 10-12 hours extra (at least) per week on school art stuff, as well as at least two or three hours homework every night, when exactly is he supposed to get this mysterious “leisure time”, to do the “leisure art” which makes up the missing 50% of his portfolio? Not to mention, when is the poor guy ever going to have any sort of life?
O.K. I thought, so why can’t his home portfolio partially be made up of his photographic stuff? The little chap is a fine photographer for his age (unsurprising, I know) and he can produce some decent artistic photography. So why not?
Well, it appears that the revered art teachers at Hogwarts do not like this idea. Apparently the very-highly-qualified Head of Art at Hogwarts (a cross between Sibyl Trelawny and Dolores Umbridge with an addiction to tea so strong, she keeps nipping out of class for a quick fix) does not consider photography to be an art-form, so “regrettably”, she says, he will not be able to include photographs in his portfolio.
Yes indeed, you read that correctly.
Photography is not art.
I am, of course, speechless.
If one of the best and most highly revered art teachers (supposedly) in the country, does not consider photography to be art, then what hope is there for future generations of young potential art photographers?
His first artistic challenge, according to the art teacher, is to draw a fine-art figure study of a black male. Or as my son put it, “Mum, it’s an ugly old naked guy. Can’t I draw a spaceship instead?”
Hmm….this scholarship may be doomed…
My oldest son is one of the brightest in his year at art. He’s really good. The school have said he should sit the art scholarship in January 2008, which is a tremendous honour, as only a selected few are allowed to attempt it.
If he gets it, he gets to wear a special flowing black robe with magical powers (kidding about the powers, but the robes are very real..…where do you think JK Rowling actually got the ideas for the Harry Potter series?) and varying special privileges such as their own common room with a shiny scholarship ping-pong table and a t.v. (which they can’t watch anyway because they will have too much homework), plus of course they get to be worshipped by all the girls (chix apparently deeply dig long flowing black robes – don’t ask me, apparently it’s a Dan Radcliffe thing…the movies have a lot to answer for). Oh and we get a discount on the school fees. (Seems inconsequential to him in comparison with said chix, but it’s rather important to us, as it means we wouldn’t have to sacrifice quite as many goats to send them there). To obtain this lofty prize, my son has to sit an exam, and he also has to submit a large portfolio of his work.
Don’t even get me started on the requirements for the art portfolio. Talk about pressure! Hogwarts want “proof that he spends the majority of his leisure time engaging in art", as opposed to playing computer games, which is actually his main leisure pursuit (at least until recently, because nowadays homework soaks up all available free time). The art portfolio is supposed to be made up of 50% of school art and 50% home art. If he’s doing 10-12 hours extra (at least) per week on school art stuff, as well as at least two or three hours homework every night, when exactly is he supposed to get this mysterious “leisure time”, to do the “leisure art” which makes up the missing 50% of his portfolio? Not to mention, when is the poor guy ever going to have any sort of life?
O.K. I thought, so why can’t his home portfolio partially be made up of his photographic stuff? The little chap is a fine photographer for his age (unsurprising, I know) and he can produce some decent artistic photography. So why not?
Well, it appears that the revered art teachers at Hogwarts do not like this idea. Apparently the very-highly-qualified Head of Art at Hogwarts (a cross between Sibyl Trelawny and Dolores Umbridge with an addiction to tea so strong, she keeps nipping out of class for a quick fix) does not consider photography to be an art-form, so “regrettably”, she says, he will not be able to include photographs in his portfolio.
Yes indeed, you read that correctly.
Photography is not art.
I am, of course, speechless.
If one of the best and most highly revered art teachers (supposedly) in the country, does not consider photography to be art, then what hope is there for future generations of young potential art photographers?
His first artistic challenge, according to the art teacher, is to draw a fine-art figure study of a black male. Or as my son put it, “Mum, it’s an ugly old naked guy. Can’t I draw a spaceship instead?”
Hmm….this scholarship may be doomed…
Labels: Miscellaneous
posted by Lin at 3:33 PM
3 Comments:
I love this post! Your description of the head of the art department is priceless. And who would have thought this of anyone teaching art in this day and age. My sympathies.
Never believe art teachers. I got a lousy grade at A level Art, but got into art college. There I was told by a tutor that I was unteachable and dropped out before completing my "training" because it was such a miserable place full of bullies.
All the way through, nearly all of the "teachers" I encountered were "artists" who couldn't make a living at it and were regrettably forced to teach to make ends meet. And they passed all of their angst and bitterness on to whoever would listen.
And you know what? All my adult life I've been able to make money through my non-standard, non-classy "art" and never sold my soul. It's always been a part of my living, and they were all wrong.
I don't know how to spell the sound of blowing a huge raspberry, but I'm blowing one right now to every miserable art teacher I've ever met who thought they knew best. A plague on all your houses!
To Fluffy Offspring Number One - Do it your way and let the rest of them go hang. See ya's all next week. Love, Grommit and Lady Tottington
wonderful post!!
I'm always amused when people claim to have some sort of authority on determining what is art and what is not. I think it showcases narrow perspectives on culture, and life in general. I try to stay clear from those who make blanket statements like this. To me, art is not about the medium that is used to create it, it's just about the desire to create, it's about exploration of the things that resonate within the eyes and mind of the creator, and finding out that it resonates with other people as well.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home