All photographs, paintings, drawings, sketches, sculpture, poetry, music, and dance are art. Whether the piece in question is emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically engaging art that makes me curious and wanting to see more, or leaves me feeling indifferent to it is another question.
Do I think this single photograph of the two dogs is good art? It is good in the commercial and shallow sense. It is a well made photograph that captures and communicates an instant in the lives of the two dogs but it doesn't really engage me very deeply. If they are your dogs or you are partial to the breeds of the dogs depicted you will likely feel differently.
The argument about whether photography is an art form is a curious one. Why should it not be considered a form of art? Because machines are involved? A violin and a piano are also machines.
Is it because it can be theoretically reproduced ad infinitum? If so does that mean any musical performance music that has been recorded, any story or poem that has been put into type or distributed over the internet, any movie that has been reproduced means that the particular piece loses its status as art?
In the end whether a work of art is perceived as Art is entirely dependent on the person who encounters it, and that depends on who they are, what they know, and how they live their lives.
