本文探討攝影是否可以被看作一種「普遍的藝術形式」，並據此探討兩項議題：攝影隸屬「藝術」範疇的可能性（攝影師是否可被視為「藝術家」），以及攝影成為「普世性」的能力。在指出攝影於1970年代進入當代藝術後，本文論述攝影的科技性質，以照相機為基礎，呈現攝影工藝的普世性。可是，攝影是由「攝影師」實踐而成就。攝影師可能是藝術家，也可能只是個攝影師；他可以選擇探究個人與文化的特性或者普世的信息。藝術家安得烈亞斯．古爾斯基（Andreas Gursky）以及攝影師安德烈．柯特茲（André Kertész）的例子顯示批判論斷普世性的複雜性。

This article explores whether photography can be considered a “universal art form.” To do so, it follows two lines of enquiry: the possibility of including photography in the category “art” (and considering photographers as “artists”) and the capacity of photography to be “universal.” After touching upon photography’s emergence in contemporary art in the 1970s, I investigate its technical and scientific nature, based on the necessary use of a camera, so as to demonstrate the universality of the process of photography. However, photography is carried out by a “photographer,” who may be an artist or just a photographer and who can choose to explore personal and cultural specificities or a universal message. The examples of the “artist” Andreas Gursky and the “photographer” André Kertész demonstrate the complexity of making critical judgments regarding universality.