• ARTICLES, Special Section, The Joint Construction of Personal Meanings in the Arts

Taking pictures vs. making art: A personal construal of creative photography.

McWilliams, S. A.

Keywords:
Creative photography, personal construct psychology, constructivism, postmodernism

Abstract:
I characterize my approach to creative photography from a constructivist or postmodern perspective as ‘making art’ as contrasted with ‘taking a picture of something.’ I subsume this dimension under the superordinate dimension of constructivism and postmodernism contrasted with foundationalism and modernism, viewing creative photography as an appropriation of impressions and concepts to create an image that depends for its meaning on the viewer’s response rather than representing reality or inherent meaning. I also consider subordinate construct dimensions related to the creative process of making artistic photographs and include examples of images that illustrate these dimensions.