> Merely reproducing something is not art, it's direct reproduction. Introducing unique style would be art.
One could then argue that photographs are merely reproduction of reality, and therefore not art. I fail to see why you think photographs introduce unique style but pixel art does not.
> The photo in question was beautifully captured, and the flippant way it's being treated is rather sad.
I apologize for suggesting that you dislike pixel art, but that's how I this sentence reads to me.
One could then argue that photographs are merely reproduction of reality, and therefore not art. I fail to see why you think photographs introduce unique style but pixel art does not.
Because that photography does not merely reproduce reality. The camera, lens, film type, lighting, everything produced an entirely unique image[1]. Furthermore, if you were sitting there, observing his playing, you would not have seen what came out in that photograph. That's what makes photography something other than mere reproduction. That's where the art comes from.
Regarding pixel art, I don't really consider this piece to even be pixel art. It's just a somewhat blocky rendition of a photograph. Great pixel art is more akin to Picasso's deconstruction of a bull:
Great pixel art deconstructs an image into the minimal set of elements necessary to convey the original idea. The 'pixel art' in question really does just looks like a few photoshop filters applied to a very well-known photograph. Or a bad resizing of a thumbnail.
[1] I get the impression that the "photography is reproduction" crowd don't understand technical aspects of photography, like lens selection, aperture, dynamic range, the effect that film selection makes, etc. Yes, a midday, f/16 snapshot of "The Bean" may not entail meaningful artistic qualities, but that sort of distinction tends to be along the fuzzy line we draw between 'snapshots' and 'photography'.
One could then argue that photographs are merely reproduction of reality, and therefore not art. I fail to see why you think photographs introduce unique style but pixel art does not.
> The photo in question was beautifully captured, and the flippant way it's being treated is rather sad.
I apologize for suggesting that you dislike pixel art, but that's how I this sentence reads to me.