Action sports photography - Art or Journalism?

As a photographer, what would you prefer to be labeled with? The virtuous artist full of imagination and skill creating aesthetic masterpieces with your limitless talent? Or the guy who tells a story with pictures?

Artist:One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer (ed. note: or photographer) who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.
Photojournalist:A journalist who presents a story primarily through the use of photographs.
Dictionary definitions are rarely fair. The very nature of the definition requires that it be strict in it's interpretation so that the reader may understand quickly and efficiently the meaning of that particular word. Read the above definitions and think; as a photographer, what would you prefer to be labeled with? The virtuous artist full of imagination and skill creating aesthetic masterpieces with your limitless talent? Or the guy who tells a story with pictures?
Unfortunately, action sport photographers are often painted with the same brush as photojournalists. We capture the events of the day; the kickflip Andrew Reynolds does over a 12-stair set, the backside-540 that Sean White spins over some insane Utah gap, the backflip Cedric Gracias pulls out to capture the Redbull Rampage. These are all seen as events, the photos that captured them are seen as photojournalism …not art. Of course, we as photographers don't always help our own cause. We shoot sequences with little artistic merit in order to show that the rider landed a particular trick. Photo Editors, often working photographers themselves, choose only to publish shots of sponsored athletes, forgetting the stellar shots of unknown rippers for the sake of the advertisers dollar and the draw of the 14-year-old-male demographic. These are facts of life and a necessity in the industry but has it gone too far? The question remains, Are we artists? Or merely photojournalists living in a deluded microcosm of elitist art snobbery?
Maybe we're both? Is it possible? Can you be an artist and a photojournalist at the same time? It's a difficult task to capture a cork-900. It's even more challenging to make it look creative enough that the average person doesn't react to the image with the standard "Wow, that guy is crazy!" reaction. As a photographer, I know I much prefer the "Wow, what a beautiful shot!" reaction. Very few action sports photographers create images that span the small, subtle space that bridges art and journalism. The majority are left impressing the viewer with the size of the air, the technical merit of the trick or the draw of the athletes persona. Many action sports photographers are entirely happy with this. In my opinion, it isn't enough. My favourite artists are creating an interaction between the art and the capture of the event. They make them work together, in the same image, not as a sports photo that's artistic or a piece of art that documents a sports event but as an image that works on all levels of photography. You don't see portrait photographers getting by on beautiful models alone. In fact, some of the best portraits are done with some of the ugliest people (look for Richard Avedons "In the American West" project). It takes art to make a good portrait. Action sports photography is no different.
In the end, I think we should be appreciative of the our position in photography's ranks. We are, quite possibly, the only form of photojournalism that embraces our artistic side so assertively. Action sports photographers are getting more and more progressive every year, both technically and artistically. Lifestyle photography and portraiture within our industries is becoming more and more prevalent in our magazines giving all of us a great outlet to prove we are capable of the previously thought of "higher" forms of photography. We have the rare opportunity to tell a story like a journalist while using free license of our artistic talents. It's a great position to be in and I am happy to be a part of it. I think snowboard photographer Kevin Zacher, a man who has been known to successfully fuse art and sport together on more than a few occasions, said it best. "It's what you make of it for yourself. I have taken pictures that are journalism pictures and I have taken pictures that might feel like art. For me personally, I prefer the pictures that make the viewer feel the moment and feel like they are there or that they are part of the tribe."

Thanks to Mike Berard at
http://www.biglines.com/blarticles/2064/Action_sports_photography__Art_or_Journalism






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