“Photography Lacks the Depth and Heft […] That Painting Possesses”
The National Gallery in London, the world’s 4th most visited art museum, is currently holding its first major exhibition of photography, titled, “Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present.” Andrew Graham-Dixon of The Telegraph has published a review of the show, and has some strong opinions on photography’s place in the art world:
The truth is that very few photographers have ever produced images with the weight of thought and feeling found in the greatest paintings. The camera is certainly an artistic tool, and photos can certainly be works of art. But can they be works of art of the same order as paintings? Modern critical orthodoxy would say yes. But the real answer is no. Photography lacks the depth and heft, the thinking sense of touch, that painting possesses.
That is why the greatest images of the last 150 years– the images people argue about, contest, return to again and again – are not photographs but paintings
Brian Sewell over at The London Evening Standard has written up a lengthier, but equally critical, review.
Seduced by Art: Seven magazine review [The Telegraph via POTB]
Image credits: Photograph by Maisie Broadhead and painting by Thomas Gainsborough
