Art & Creativity + Photography: Considering Artists and PhotoStreem

The world of so-called #NewSteem — and I mean that, as it extends beyond just "Steemit" into the new sphere of "tribal communities" — is an intriguing and at times confusing landscape, albeit one with an assortment of opportunities.

As an artist and general "Creative," I'm trying to find my home within the #CreativeCoin community, which feels like a good fit for posts like these.

A new design, finished just yesterday...

Caring... or NOT Caring?

Perhaps I am just taking it all "too seriously" because I actually give a damn about posting appropriate content to the appropriate places, wearing the most appropriate tags.

Most many people, I realize, really don't give a rat's hind end about such things... they just tag on an endless stream of tags (see what I did there?) that may or may not bear even the slightest relevance to their content.

After all, we're just here to empty the proverbial rewards pool into our own pockets, right?

Anyway...

I take lots and lots of photographs of my work, and it made me ponder to what degree artists and creatives get to call themselves "photographers." More specifically, I have been eyeing the PhotoStreem Tribe, because I do use a lot of photos in relation to my work... but I guess they would — ultimately — be considered "product photos."

But is that "artistic" enough to be considered "photography," even if it is photography of art?

Yeah, I know. I'm a weirdo for actually giving a shit.

Does this make the photo above... "A Photograph?"

Swimming in Creatively Polluted Waters?

Having worked in and around the art business for 30-odd years, I have a pretty deep understanding of the myriad ways in which both artists and sellers of art (including agents and galleries) can be extraordinarily clique-ish and snobbish about what "counts," and what doesn't.

Of course, very few people actually know for sure, because the "rules" are not written or spoken anywhere, and they are applied relatively arbitrarily according to secret codes of nepotism and favoritism. And if you are not in, you are definitely OUT.

And if you're out? Then you've just been given your walking papers to dwell forever in the "lowlands of creativity" otherwise known as "crafts."

Which is all a very long-winded way of saying that nothing seems clear.

Is the ART "creative" by itself, or does the PHOTO also have to be "creative" in order to count?

In case you hadn't figured it out by now, yes this IS a fairly tongue-in-cheek post.

That said, it does have its roots in more serious considerations... and when I use the world "polluted," I am mostly referring to the proliferation of "tag spam" we are starting to see in the Steemitsphere, as it relates to what people post here.

And I do take that part somewhat seriously, because I am just so sick and tired of irrelevant content that seems to exist for no greater purpose than being a marginal "place holder" for harvesting rewards.

The philosophical approach might be to simply shrug and say "to each their own," but does such a passive stance really help create a better community; a better world? Methinks NOT! Freedom may be a nifty ideal, but standing passively by, so as to allow the "freedom" of bad behavior? Not so much....

Thanks for reading!

2019.09.08 AS-TXT-018