To be truly authentic is to be ‘not false or copied; genuine; real’, therefore it can be argued that it is impossible to be authentic, especially in today’s modern culture where the sharing of information is now easier than ever. Throughout my creative practise I always research beforehand, whether it is a practitioner, a theory, a technique or medium. If I come across something that is inspiring and use it to develop my work, am I copying an idea or am I reworking it in my own vision?

David Quay states that “…each period has the type it needs, one which reflects an overall cultural pattern” (Broos, K and Quay, D. 2003). Going by this, it is arguable that every piece of art created during differing art movements aren’t truly authentic, because although they might faithfully represent their respective movements, are they are just reworkings of the same idea over and over again? On the other hand, it can be argued that the creatives are being authentic because they aren’t copying each other’s work, simply the idea.

Furthermore, the definition of authentic does not necessarily have to mean copied. It can mean if a piece of work successfully embodies the idea or inspiration that’s behind it. Take for example the photographs of Paul Strand, authentic because they capture “a subversive alternative to the studio portrait of glamour and power. A new kind of portrait..” (The Met, 2004). By revealing “the strains of living in the city” (Mutti, G. 2016), he captured an authentic, grittier city, the underbelly of New York that was unfamiliar at the time because it had not been documented.

1Dictionary.com. (2017). the definition of authentic. [online] Available at: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/authentic [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].

2 Broos, K. and Quay, D. (2003). Wim Crouwel Alphabets. 1st ed. BIS Publishers.

3 Department of Photographs. “Paul Strand (1890–1976).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pstd/hd_pstd.htm (October 2004)

4 Mutti, G. (2016). How Paul Strand Paved the Way For Photographic Modernism. [online] AnOther. Available at: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/8482/how-paul-strand-paved-the-way-for-photographic-modernism [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].

5 Collections.vam.ac.uk. (2017). Yawning Woman, New York | Strand, Paul | V&A Search the Collections. [online] Available at: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O190912/yawning-woman-new-york-photograph-strand-paul/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].