（5） merely a practical art. Throughout the nineteenth century，　the defense of photography was identical with the strug　gle to establish it as a fine art. Against the charge that　photography was a soulless， mechanical copying of real-　ity， photographers asserted that it was instead a privileged

　　（10）way of seeing， a revolt against commonplace vision， and　no less worthy an art than painting.　Ironically， now that photography is securely established　as a fine art， many photographers find it pretentious or　irrelevant to label it as such. Serious photographers vari-

　　（15）ously claim to be finding， recording， impartially observ-　ing， witnessing events， exploring themselves-anything　but making works of art. In te nineteenth century，

　　photography's association with the real world placed i　in an ambivalent relation to art； late in the twentieth

　　（20）century， an ambivalent relation exists because of the　Modernist heritage in art. That important photographers　are no longer willing to debate whether photography is　or is not a fine art， except to proclaim that their own　work is not involved with art， shows the extent to which

　　（25）they simply take for granted the concept of art imposed　by the triumph of Modernism： the better the art， the　more subversive it is of the traditional aims of art.　Photographers' disclaimers of any interest in making　art tell us more about the harried status of the contempo-

　　（30）rary notion of art than about whether photography is or　is not art. For example， those photographers who suppose　that， by taking pictures， they are getting away from the　pretensions of art as exemplified by painting remind us　of those Abstract Expressionist painters who imagined

　　（35）they were getting away from the intellectual austerity of　classical Modernist painting by concentrating on the　physical act of painting. Much of photography's prestige　today derives from the convergence of its aims with those　of recent art， particularly with the dismissal of abstract

　　（40）art implicit in the phenomenon of Pop painting during　the 1960's. Appreciating photographs is a relief to sensi　　bilities tired of the mental exertions demanded b　　abstract art. Classical Modernist painting-that is，　abstract art as developed in different ways by Picasso，

　　（45）Kandinsky， and Matisse-presupposes highly developed　skills of looking and a familiarity with other paintings　and the history of art. Photography， like Pop painting，　reassures viewers that art is not hard； photography seems　to be more about its subjects than about art.

　　（50）  Photography， however， has developed all the anxieties　and self-consciousness of a classic Modernist art. Many　professionals privately have begun to worry that the pro-　motion of photography as an activity subversive of the　traditional pretensions of art has gone so far that the

　　（55）public will forget that photography is a distinctive and　exalted activity-in short， an art.