Is photographing sculpture art?

[Wazza999]

Dear Ausphotography aficionados,
Is photographing someone else's art, in this case sculpture, legitimate photographic art produced by you? For example if you photograph public sculptures incorporating some element of their environment such as position relative to the natural or built environment, conditions sunrise/set, rain, fog, night, does your interpretation or visualisation of the sculpture become an artwork in it own right.
Warren

[junqbox]

I think in most cases, it will be the decision of the viewer. Personally, I think most shots in this category would come under documentary, however, if you're re-interpreting the meaning of behind the artwork and placing in juxtaposition, or a different context, to it's normal surroundings, that might be another matter. Basically, are you using to the artwork to create a different message/story, or are you just rendering it in a supportive or attractive surrounding.
An example here, would be the photo of the Tom Bass sculpture at the P&O building in Sydney with someone urinating in it, like a urinal. (Tom Bass quite liked the image). What this image did was render the artwork with a new meaning or understanding, rather than just capturing it for posterity.
Here's someone's photo of the artwork- http://www.flickr.com/photos/27071816@N04/2562270451/
Here's the Oz Mag version- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oz...6_Feb_1964.jpg

[Steve Axford]

I doubt that you would normally call it art, but then a good photograph need not be art in its own right. Have you ever looked at an art book and said, "That photo of that sculpture is great art." I doubt it. But you may have thought, "that is a really good photo of that work of art".

[Eberbachl]

I think it depends on the context of the photo. If you're simply documenting art, the photo itself is not art. If you're interpreting it and presenting it in an interesting and artistic way, then I say why not?

[Ionica]

Imo yes, it certainly can be a work of art. I have a book ( 'Corpus', by Alejandra Figueroa ), which is a series of photographs of statues from museums around the world. They are ( to me ) wonderful portrayals, many in close-up, of these statues, showing very personal interpretations of the works, and skilled use of light. An eye -opener for me.

[ricktas]

Not under parts of the copyright act, If the main subject of your photograph is someone else's artwork (scultpure, painting etc) then the artist who's work you photographed has rights and can tell you when and where the photo can be used. So it depends how prominent the art work is in your photo