Photography or Art?

Fine art photography generally refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer and can be anything from portraits, to landscapes to still lifes. Art is primarily created by the imagination of the artist, while technically, photographs are created by electro-mechanical devices. However, a camera is incapable of selection, composition, timing, and editing. I don't know about you, but I am an artist and a photographer, though I like to consider myself more of an artist than a photographer. Even though I am constantly striving to become a better photographer, I generally see it as a means to creating more artistic photographs. As I'm sure is the case with many photographers, I often take numerous pictures of the same subject with varying film modes, composition and exposures. In this process I am always trying to be creative and come up with something new and pleasing that will hopefully separate the end result from the norm. As a result ...
I end up with a lot of really bad photographs in pursuit of the good ones. Thank God that the family and friends who end up viewing my work don't get to see the crap, but only the result of much culling and editing. This artistic journey can often be frustrating, discouraging, and downright disappointing. Because of photography’s limitations, I am frustrated by the fact that I can't capture what I want to. As a result I use photography as the means to capture raw material for my art. This is the great thing about digital photography; after capturing a picture you can then spend hours in the post editing phase working to achieve the artistiic vision that was in your mind when you snapped the shot. When I fail to achieve the desired result that my artistic mind sees so clearly, I sometimes find myself saying, "this is just too hard." It is at this point that I realize that I need to buckle down and learn more about photographic processes and how to better use my camera  to achieve my artistic goals. And so once more I read, read, read, practice, practice, practice, and try, try, try again.