While it is certainly true that people are born with inherent differences, it is the height of arrogance to proclaim that some are gifted with the golden touch, while others are forever doomed to live the mediocre and drab life of the non-artist.
Agree 100%. I take a lot of interest in sports, sports psychology and junior sports development. In a lot of ways, sports ability is seen to be similar to artistic ability. Many people think that you've either got it or you don't. While some people do have a natural edge (and admittedly, you need a bit of this to make it to No. 1), the ones who make it to the top are invariably the ones who dedicate the time and effort, show up to training, enjoy what they are doing and have the desire to succeed.
Don't be fooled by the world's best who make things look easy. Was Tiger Wood's success due to natural ability, or because he’s up at 6.00am, takes a four-kilometre run followed by gym stretches, then half-an-hour for breakfast, two hours on the driving range, nine holes of golf, lunch, two more hours on the range, another nine holes, some pitching, dinner and bed? Despite all of his natural ability, look at how a few disruptions has impacted on him at the elite level. Natural ability, while important, isn't as crucial as most people think. But it gives everyone a good excuse for not being pro golfers, footballers, soccer players, worlds best photographer etc...
One of the contributors above asked the question about scientific studies and whether people can learn or develop ability as artists. Another interesting exercise would be to round up the world's leading photographers and ask how much time they dedicate and the lengths they go to capture THE shot. Pressing the shutter button is probably the easiest part of the process. The hard part is the 3am wake up to get into position before dawn, the weeks on end in hides, the treks into remote locations, the trips to dangerous places (such as warzones), getting up close with deadly wildlife etc etc is 95% of the effort. The reality is, virtually anyone could do this if they wanted to. The person who you think has "artistic ability" in most cases is simple the one who just gets out there and does it. Most of us don't want to to go outside our comfort zone (eg I hate early mornings and would rather be snug in bed than outside pushing the limits of photography), which is why most of us linger in the realms of mediocrity.