I need to break the term "fine art photography" down a bit in order to answer the question. "Fine art" is a term used to refer to fields of creative endeavor traditionally considered to be artistic, and it is also used to describe high-quality works from these fields.
"Fine art" differs from useful art or "craft" in that it is purely aesthetic; "crafts" are made to serve a practical purpose. For example; a sculpture of a violin one can't actually play is fine art, but making a violin that one can play is craft. Fine art photography adheres to the aesthetic principles ["aesthetics"] of symmetry and asymmetry, contrast, focal point, pattern, perspective, three-dimensionality, repetition and proportion, among others.
Great photographs touch our hearts and souls, even though they may violate some guidelines or give different weights to the various aesthetic principles.
Fine art photography is created for its beauty, not its usefulness. Fine art photography is viewed for its aesthetic qualities, as well as its subjective meaning to each viewer, and for its cultural significance independent of any practical usefulness. – D.K. Smith: BFA in Photography, Pratt '74; Photographer, Photo Educator.
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