> A camera is a rather limited tool
It's also a very common viewpoint but not true, as there are countless methods in which photographer can prepare for a photo. A quick argument: video is a stream of photographs. Do you think that movies can never capture reality as an artist would ;-)
Today's photography decline and digital method's popularity raise show - iny my opinion - that the trend is stable. Average person practices the most approachable form of art available to them. Shift from painting to photography happened not because it's subjectively better but objectively easier.