Photography as a cultural and aesthetic record

The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argued that photography was the mechanical reproduction of an image. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer. The controversy began with the earliest images or "sun writing" as photographs were known then. Nicéphore Niépce, and Louis Daguerre the fathers of photography were met with acclaim, but some questioned if their work met the definitions and purposes of art.

Clive Bell in his classic essay Art states that only "significant form" can distinguish art from what is not art.There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist; possessing which, in the least degree, no work is altogether worthless. What is this quality? What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions? to me the answer is that it should posess a feeling a sense of wonder.

These are some old Pictures that i bought in an antique store in Goa, the pictures i learnt are Chinese and the probable date would be the early twenties , i found these pictures really amazing in terms of how hey have been able to showcase the style and class associated with things around them , the thematic rendering, the objectifying of the painter, has created a timelessness which is full of " wonder" . This to me is art !.