One shouldn't need to agonise over it, but it could be helpful to be clear in one's own mind about the differences between 'taking a photo' and 'creating a photo'.
For example, one cannot create a photo without first taking a photo. The process of taking a photo I would describe as the recording on the camera's sensor or film, of whatever scene is in front of the lens and within the angle-of-view of the lens.
The choice of the scene to direct the camera toward, the point in the scene selected for maximum focus, the amount of DoF chosen in accordance with selection of F/stop, the choice of a precise moment to press the shutter, and the choice of many other variable camera settings, especially when shooting in jpeg mode to take advantage of the camera's built-in processing capability, are all acts of creativity at some level, however basic.
Those who wish to apply greater levels of creativity, will tend to shoot in RAW mode and selectively process the 'captured image' or 'taken shot', sometimes removing distracting and unwanted objects in the scene, raising shadows, darkening highlights, increasing vibrancy and so on.
A painter begins with a blank canvas and adds to it. That might be considered as the purest form of pictorial creativity. A photographer begins with a recorded image, and if he wishes, he can spend as much time creatively modifying that initial recording as a painter spends in adding to a blank canvas.