Honestly I can’t recall the first time I ever heard the expression “Photography is a Common Art”. Nor could I speculate on the original authors’ thoughts or purpose. Maybe it had something to do with the ubiquitous nature of the camera, or maybe not. Because there is such an easy access to the medium, photography may be the easiest way to begin in the arts. Buy a camera, click, click, and your on your way. Of course one could just as well buy a set of watercolors, a musical instrument, or even just a pencil and some paper. But there’s no auto settings in any of those mediums while the camera presents an almost instantaneous entry. Other mediums require knowledge and training, an investment in time, study, and practice to really produce anything at all. Not so with the camera or so it might seem. If you have what they say is the “eye”, or just get lucky, results seem immediate and appear deceptively easy. When purchasing my first camera and darkroom in 1971, I really didn’t have any visual art background at all. At that time it never occurred to me that I was going to be in for a long journey of work, study, and well…. life experience. A study of symbols, composition, color theory, and the rest. A rewarding if not easy labor as it turned out, and of course, hopefully still emerging. From my vantage point now photography doesn’t have to represent something common - or less than. Photography can be Art, and in these times I think all the arts are needed, now more than ever. C