In this exercise I am to reflect on the role of photography in the work I have just looked at.
For me a photograph of an artwork is just a record. It does not become the artwork because it is not the subject, it is an image of the subject. Prime examples of this are the wayside sculptures by Richard Long.
A photograph becomes an artwork when it is only with this medium that you can capture the elements of a moment. For example, in the photo study ‘Sleeping by the Mississipi’ there is an image of a man called Charles Vasa who mends model planes. The photograph of that man, in that place with those objects can only be captured with a camera. That is when a photograph becomes the thing as opposed to being of the thing.
Creative Arts Today 