Aperture 2007

The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argue that photography is 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 is said to have began with the earliest images "written with light"; Nic,phore Ni,pce, Louis Daguerre, and others among the very earliest photographers 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? What quality is common to Sta.

Sophia and the windows at Chartres, Mexican sculpture, a Persian bowl, Chinese carpets, Giotto's frescoes at Padua, and the masterpieces of Poussin, Piero della Francesca, and Cezanne? Only one answer seems possible - significant form.

In each, lines and colors combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions."

Raising the issue once more, the Graphic Students' Circle of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, will be holding their annual Aperture 2007 Exhibition on the following dates 24th, 25th and 26th November at the German Cultural Centre, Colombo 1st and 2nd December at the Y.M.B.A Hall, Kurunegala 8th and 9th December at the Y.M.B.A Hall, Kandy.