I’m really struggling with the  idea of concept in art.   This struggle is not in understanding concept, rather it is trying to understand why it seems so freaking important.   That I understand something does not mean I agree with it.

I understand style and understand the subconscious things behind it too.  I have a style and I can consciously change it as needed.  I also refine and develop my style in unconscious ways.  No problem with style. It’s the individuality of the person coming through in the work.

I find that the need to have a defined concept when shooting a body of work troubles me as being to restrictive.   The trouble with the arts here is that they want to ground you in concept and unification of a body of work when working towards a class final presentation or even my MFA dissertation final presentation.

Why is a solid concept and fully recognized body of work with a solid and well communicated concept so important to art?

Do I just need to play along, create and execute solid concepts to be a sucessful artist that uses photography as my chosen medium?

[UPDATE 10/16/09 My instructor Marc Ullom responds...quite well I think]

Hi David

There isn’t really a simple answer to your question. However, the answer is there, and it is made up of a variety of facets that help create the entire answer in a more holistic way. You do not have to agree with the answer I’m giving you, and therein lies an issue with art in general. It’s an opinion-or a way of looking at something-that we don’t have to agree with. This is your first class at the Academy-and I remember mine and the way I felt at the time (It was Nature of Photography for me) and I hated the idea of constraining all of my image making by all of the terms I was learning. So when I say I hear you, I really do. Let me say that it is a infinitely rewarding experience that is also infinitely frustrating and uncomfortable too. All of the photographers that you are being exposed to did not have Concept imposed upon their work-and here is the important part-their work is the most pure expression of who they are as visual creatives-it is the essence of their visual constructs and motivation for creating work. Their conceptual foundation was not externally enforced upon them, it informed their photography through decades of seeing and revising, and perfecting their craft, and their work was changed by all of that experiential fodder. So, are you frustrated yet with my rambling answer?

Here you are, learning all this stuff-this ACADEMIC stuff. That is one reason why it feels artificial to you now. Most of the artists we have looked at did not earn MFA degrees-but we are here, in the 21st century, approaching the idea of mastering a medium in a formal setting, rather than through decades of trial and error, and intense focus. No one would say that Avedon was not quite up to par because he did not earn an MFA, right? He was undoubtedly a master of the highest degree, and his worldview informed his work-he knew what he was about and it was always evolving. You are here in a 3 year program to fast track your identity as a visual artist. It is a period of rapid growth-especially as you dig deep into the reasons for your passion in photography and to consciously explore the reasons why you create with the camera. If you want to teach, the degree is pretty much necessary, but academia is not for everyone-and I agree that there is some stuff that is not essential to making good pictures, but for me, in my experience, the holistic approach that the Academy takes is really quite good, a balance of craft, technique, personal vision, and the ability to communicate in a profound way through your work is hard to find in a graduate program. Honestly, so much of graduate school is more conceptual art, rather than art with concept as a foundation-and there is a huge difference between the two. So I have rambled on enough-feel free to keep posting, as I know exactly where you are coming from. You have a good technical foundation with the craft of photography, and you seem engaged, so figuring out who you are creatively, not just stylistically is really an important thing. It’s a matter of developing true photographic VISION, rather than just photographic STYLE….

Let me know if this helped at all.