'Photograpy is not merely pointing and shooting'

There’s more to photograpy than merely pointing and shooting a beautiful moment. Ace photographer Shibu Arakkal reasons that photography, despite being highly technical, is truly an art form.

In a sense, a photograph is a cognitive interpretation of reality. As in any case, an art is defined as just that, an interpretation of reality. That being so, one might argue that photography, presumably the most realistic of all art forms, maybe more fragments of reality and thereby could challenge those notions of reality itself. In such fog that clouds the definitions and relevance of photography in this day, it may be an exercise of value to find some bearings.

Photography, due to or thanks to it’s technical nature has been wrongly perceived to be merely a medium of visual documentation, which might have been it’s obvious usage when discovered, but that was over a hundred years ago.

The world has moved on since and so has photography. Although, until the coming of the digital age photographers were largely to fault for the unneeded mystery that confined the medium.

Photography and everything about it was taught only to the deserving few and the rest remained ignorant. As one may see some wisdom, even if little, in such misguided guarding of photography, it is undeniable that that is what kept the actual art form from gaining wings.

There were however those that stood like lone pillars making of the art form what their creativity and imagination lead them to and for that we must be just so thankful. One could sight names of legends such as Ansel Adams, Edward Steichen, Bill Brandt, May Ray, Irving Penn and such. It could be made to understand how taking a photograph is like physically capturing a slice in time and how that is as profound a thing that one can ever do, but if one fails to see that, then the true meaning and that profundity will be ever so lost on them.

Owing to photography’s digital rebirth, one can see how the art form has taken flight and on the other hand turned into a second nature for common folk to just snap away, even if it is on their hand phones or just those pocket-sized shooters.

That is how I think photography should have been from the start, a means of visual documentation, an art form, a commercial advertising entity, all in their disparate brackets.

The art form that photography is and has always been is a matter of interpretation of reality, expression of the artist’s beliefs, discovering concepts and not least of all technical skill and understanding. In able hands, the art form might change perceptions of reality into fantasy or very extreme reality. It may even go so far as to question one’s notions, convictions or just quietly but dramatically alter general perceptions.

In essence, the art of photography is that it is born from reality but could grow into unseen expressions and simply challenge that very notion of what real is. This almost deceptive nature of photography is also what lends it it’s versatility and vindicates it’s very character as an art form, being like any other means to create expressional impressions.

‘Instant’ is a word that is germane to the blin k-of-an-eye digital photography, it however is also a word one could use to describe the medium’s relatability to the lay man. Photography as an art in particular by it’s very nature isn’t somehow as intimidating as painting or sculpture, at the least in freely expressing an opinion.

Much like musicians and poets of a time, the photographers are the ones who remind us what things looked like, their artistic interpretation of it course. But it isn’t often in a world of so many do’s and don’ts, that we experience true liberation of the mind and the soul. Taking a simple, conscious and intentful photograph does that so very often that, pardon the pun, it seems to instantly put things into perspective.