At what point does the love of an art form translate into some talent or skill at that art form? I love photography but I do not have any real talent for it yet. Would studying composition and basics from books help, or should I take a course?

>>4430446 (OP)
Yes. Studying the basics of composition, lighting, and the technical aspects of photography is important.
You gotta take lots of pics and then objectively analyze them. If you really want to improve I suggest that you make prints of your pictures. Digital or film. Just make some small 4x5 prints or whatever so you can hold your image, put it on the wall or whatever. It adds a great perspective to your photography and will help show you more easily what looks good and what doesn't.

Another important aspect is to have a goal in mind greater than just taking pictures. Come up with some sort of project or idea you want to explore.
A really simple project is to choose an object, theme, idea, etc. that you really like and try to take 5-10 unique images of that thing.

>>4430446 (OP)
Artistically, you have it or you don't. This doesn't matter.

Politically, its who you know and how many fake intellectuals (in the vein of susan sontag) you can get on your side. This is what gets people into magnum.

>>4430446 (OP)
Never listen to people like >>4430481 your art will suffer.

>>4430446 (OP)
The best way to improve is to receive criticism and improve based on that

>>4430497
most photography confirmed for crappy art

Art has absolutely zero to do with photography 101 rules and techniques.
Art is you the artist having something to say. That’s the 99%
If you are a boring person it’s over, you won’t have anything to say and can’t be an artist.

>>4430635
and if you're an actual artist it's even more over
people will appreciate your art in the same way people appreciate liveleak videos
they'll be like, "wow that's fucked up cool" and then you'll die poor

>>4430635
can you please tell us what hacks like gary winogrand, steven shore, and mark cohen had to say besides "i made friends in high places" and "i own a nice camera" because photography seems to be lacking in artists

what does annie leibovitz have to say, besides "i know famous people" (slim aarons played this straight and said something deeper with his art, and is a good example of not being a hack)
i think boring people can actually expect to succeed. alec soth isnt exactly riveting and look at him.

>>4430645

They are all showing very planned glimpses into very specifically chosen people’s lives, millions of people take portraits but they had a vision of exactly what they are portraying, doesn’t mean everyone’s gonna like it, but they did have a clear thing to say.

>>4430645
Being famous doesn't mean you actually made art that has artistic value. In 200+ years actual artists of today will be appreciated, just like it's always been

>>4430649
>they did have a clear thing to say.
Wrong.

>>4430446 (OP)
Owners manual for modern digital camera contains most information an amateur needs to take technically good photos in natural lightning. RTFM and practice. For amateur, taking photos you like yourself is sufficient. Taking photos other people find interesting, that's hard.

When you stop worrying about whether what you are doing will be perceived as art and start doing it because it calls you