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So by this definition adding lights or a reflector to open up the shadows, or shooting wide open with very limited depth of field would be altering the scene as observed, therefore not a photograph but art.

It seems that we seem to have forgotten that  back in the glory days of film, images were altered in the darkroom, with burning, dodging, different papers, developers, solarization, multiple printing, filters etc. I am not sure why we care about how the image was created unless one is in some competition which has some arbitrary rules, even then does it really matter. A photograph is nothing more than a two dimensional representation of any observed moment. We all see through different eyes, interpret that observation with unique brains, I may not be fond of over manipulated images, but we all express ourselves in our own way, so if the image was created with a camera in some way it is a photographic piece of art to me.