What makes a fine art photograph such?

The eye of the beholder.

I think it’s a combination of many things, the most important of which is what PupnTaco articulates. I am particularly touched by art whose subject is the human state, done in black and white, which more or less forces a person to look at the subject matter. It’s hard to get good candids but well worth it if you get just the right ones.

I think it is the same thing that elevates a drawing into art. The photograph is evocative of a time, a place, a moment, and it makes the viewer think.