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Originally Posted by MikeyC
there is certainly an acknowledged difference between a "photographer" and an "artist" who happens to use photography. if you go to an art school or even a normal university in an art program, you can often notice that "photographer" is almost a dirty word. if you have crits with students across several mediums you will have discussions about concept and philosophy. when it comes time to looking at photographs the pointless questions begin. "what camera was it shot on?" "what sort of lens?" "how did you print it?" it becomes all about technical issues. i like to ask the painters what size brushes they use when that happens. but it is often looked down upon by a large percentage of the art world. though some certainly do praise the "photographer." its a different world.
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I think that when you get to a certain level of professionalism, then the questions about brushes and paints are legit in the artfield. I went to art school since I was 5, first privately, then for college. Then I worked for 6 years as a personal studio assistant to a fairly recognized artist. (I don't mean to sound like I am boasting or anything)
I can tell you that once you hit the level where your 'art' is selling and you are really living off that, and not like starving artist, but living a good nice life, the topics of conversation move towards things like what kind of tools do you use to make your art.
I think this comes from a persons level of knowledge and understanding of the artform itself, this includes all the tools that go into producing that artform.
For example, if you take a picture that I think is great, and I happen to have twenty years of shooting experience under my belt, then after talking about the picture itself, I ask you about the camera and lens etc that you used. Then you tell me that you used X camera, with X lens etc. Then I, who has in depth knowledge of that camera and those lens, can gain an even greater appriciation of your work because I know the limitations of the equipment that you used to produce it.
It is the same thing with paints. Paints from different companies have different properties. Different painters exploit these different qualities in their paintings. This is a very big deal in the art world. If you follow things, then you may be aware that some pieces that were label as Jackson Pollack experiments were found. Recently they tested pigment samples off them to see if the paint was the paint that he used. Here it was found that the paint on the paintings wasn't patented until shortly after Pollacks death, but he knew the maker of the paints and it is believed that he could have been painting with the test batches.
And the same with music. Why do we care what gear Underworld uses? But for those of us who know the gear, can see and understand how they use it creatively. etc
I hope that makes some sense.