Quote Originally Posted by Nathan Potter View Post
... there is an interpretation of previous work in both cases. The photographer is faced with a scene already existing while the musician is faced with notes on a sheet. Each are faced with deciphering previous work and do not have the advantage of starting from scratch as in other art forms.
I think any jazz musician or any classical organist would disagree with this. Since I have played jazz, and just this past week attended an improvisational workshop for organists, I'm one of those.

On the other hand, there is a school of thought in music that no composer or performer really creates anything new, but is merely consciously or unconsciously re-cycling what they have already experienced aurally.

So, I guess the argument can go either way ...

Photography is perhaps a little more problematic, but a fashion photographer, for instance, goes to a lot of work to create, set-up and light a scene. They do a lot more than just "capture" what they accidentally find. Studio work often starts "from scratch".

And other art forms don't always start from scratch, either. While painters have the option of painting strictly from inside their head, most, in fact, do not.