PHO TO GR A Fe

U IS USUALLY the custom to start off any discussion on photography
with the question, “What is Art?” and “Is Photography an Art?”
We have no intention of doing so here, but what we do want to
point out is how Art can be related to and associated with Photo-.
graphy. It has been said that most of us wish we had artistic ability in
one way or another. Possibly while on our holidays or out in the country
for a day we come across a scene that attracts us and we wish we were
capable, with either pencil or brush, of transferring our impressions to
paper or canvas. But for various reasons, such as lack of time, oppor-
tunity or finances, we have not had the proper training and so this parti-
cular scene is carried away only as a memory. But the art of photo-
graphy comes to our aid and changes all this, and now it becomes possible
for any one, with a little training, and provided some simple instructions
are followed, to record each and every scene with a minimum of time
and expense, and to the average persons the results are quite satisfactory.

For some, however, this is not enough. The mere mechanical
snapping of the picture is only the beginning. They want to follow it |
up, see it through to the end until, after developing the film, making the
enlargement, trimming and mounting it, the finished picture stands, the
proud result of their own handicraft. Or perhaps they may be fairly
capable from the technical standpoint but are not satisfied with their
pictures from the artistic or composition end. Psychologists also tell us
that everyone should have a hobby that is in sharp contrast to their daily
vocation, and so we find the sales clerk, the bookkeeper, the professional
man, and others whose work is non-creative, turning to photography.

It is for all of these that the photographic classes at the School of
Art have been formed. The students have been taken through the various
processes step by step, in theory and in actual practice so that they can
go away and carry on by themselves and avoid many of the troubles that
would otherwise await them.