Photography: the Art of Composition

 

I have written elsewhere on my own approach to photography. I am flattered that someone has actually been inspired by my photographs and wants to know more about how I go about creating my images.

One aspect of photography that I feel confident talking about is composition.  I’m told I have a ‘good eye’ for composition and I think I have developed that aptitude further over time. Composition is the art of framing your images – what is in the image? is it close range? aligned with other elements? minimalist?  full of detail? There are many facets to composition and below is a list of the elements that I am mindful of – in no particular order.

1.      Perspective. Altering perspective can make a fairly mundane image into something much more interesting. Consider taking the photograph from different angles – up above, down under, over, beside; think about height and depth

2.      Context. Context in a very real sense is everything. A chair beside a table is not especially interesting. A fancy office chair beside a path in a public park is a much more interesting subject – it prompts so many questions. Why? Who? The chair in a park is in fact out of context – that’s what makes it interesting. A car in a café likewise - not something you normally see. Be on the look out for normal things in unusual places!

3.      Look everywhere. When you walk let your eyes roam up, down, left to right and back again. There are possible pictures everywhere. Walk with childlike vision – linger in places you wouldn’t normally; look at everything more closely. Look for patterns – on leaves, in the sky, on fences. There is magic in the mundane. Zero in on the normal.

4.      Don’t shy away from eyesores. There is beauty in chaos and mess. Mess is not always ugly. It can provide stunning unexpected abstract perspectives.

5.      Light.  Light is always changing – natural sunlight changes from morning to afternoon to dusk to night. The same scene can look quite different at different times of the day. Don’t just dismiss something or a place because “I have photographed that before.” Things look different under different lighting.

6.     Juxtaposition – look for unlikely companions. The minaret of a mosque looks great in the same frame as telegraph poles – likewise the telegraph poles! It makes both objects look more interesting.

7.     Boundaries and edges – keep an eye on the edges of things. Boundaries and edges always mean there’s a change of texture or mood. Eg shore/sand, grass/path, sky/horizon, fences/nature.  

8.      Light on water. This applies to all bodies of water – ponds, lakes, rivers, the sea. Light changes the colour of water and often bounces/reflects off it in interesting ways.

9.      Old and new. Similar to juxtaposition because there is inherent contrast between things that are old and things that are new.  Easy to spot in the architectural landscape. Similarly people – babies with the elderly for example.

10  Move your feet. I read once that the best photographers are those who use their feet! Don’t be afraid to change the angle just a couple of steps to the left, or a few steps further back. Or move to the side of the subject and take it in profile. Look for the best or most interesting angle.

11  People: unposed is nearly always better.

12  Architecture/Built Environment Many towns and cities display infinite variety in their buildings. Old/new; small/large; religious/ secular; residential/commercial. Isolate the details of what defines a building and take close-ups – gutters, gables, steps, windows, etc

13  Animals are always a great subject but are often hard to catch unless they’re asleep. It  requires a lot of patience.

14  Layers. You will be surprised how often the visual world presents itself in layers. Sand/sea/sky is an obvious one. Footpath/hedge/house might be another. Ground/trees/sky…..

I hope some might find this list useful. Please leave a comment or question below if you’d like me to elaborate more on any of these points.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anthrogeography

Back in 2008 Clay Shirky flagged the en masse arrival of the digital photographer in Here Comes Everybody. I’ve been thinking again recently about my daily obsession with walking the streets and taking photographs. I take photographs and I’m therefore a photographer, but I’ve never been comfortable with that tag. To me photographers are people who have fancy equipment, have studied or mastered the art of composition, know how to compensate for poor light, when to focus close-in or retreat to the panoramic level and so on. I can do some of these things – as far as a top of the range digital camera will allow – but the fact is I’m not really interested in mastering the technical side of photography. I take photographs sure, but I take them mostly for other reasons, and technical excellence is low on my list of priorities.

I have been looking for a word that better describes what I do. It could be something as simple as a visual diarist. It feels like what I do is a cross between photography and anthropology so perhaps I’m an anthropographer? And guess what? The word exists. Anthropography is “The branch of anthropology that deals with the actual distribution of the human race in its different divisions, as distinguished by physical character, language, institutions, and customs.” While that is close, that is just part of what I do. Then there is the similar related field of anthrotography:

"Specialising in the science researching the origins, history, and development of biological characteristics, social customs, belief systems, and indigenous linguistic variations of humankind. The anthrotographer takes photographs for the purpose of sharing knowledge and spreading joy."(https://aspicyphoto.wordpress.com/what-is-an-anthrotographer/) It seems to be a less accepted term than anthropographer and may have been invented by someone trying to do what I am exploring – exactly what it is I do with photographs.

Let’s look at the elements of each of these disciplines and see how well they describe what I think I do – or not.

• the actual distribution of the human race in its different divisions, as distinguished by physical character, language, institutions, and customs

I do take photographs of people of different cultures, and try and emphasise different physical characteristics. For example:

I also try and try catch glimpses of different cultural practices: 

Drinking Kava

I try and capture examples of different linguistic traditions: 

Bislama Language of Vanuatu

• The anthrotographer takes photographs for the purpose of sharing knowledge

This has been a significant drawcard for me. Based on the assumption that your photos are shared with others – an essential element of the whole process – I was intrigued early on just how much random information I picked up from others’ photos, and what others could teach me about my own. It is common practice to ask the online community for assistance if for example, you don’t know the name of a bird or flower that you have photographed. Inevitably in time someone will provide the answer.

• The anthrotographer takes photographs for the purpose of … spreading joy.

This can be the joy of learning; the joy of sharing photos of a shared experience, or joy in and of itself:

The anthro prefix in these fields of endeavour denotes the study of humanity. But what then with photos of landscape or nature? 

There’s no evidence of people present – deliberately so – so the anthro tag does not apply to all I do. So something that denotes observation of earth or nature needs to be part of the description. ‘Geo’ seems an obvious candidate but geographer is already taken, and I don’t want the anthro aspect completely sidelined. So what about anthrogeography? It does exist according to Google, but it seems to have been superseded by anthropogeography - a branch of anthropology dealing with the geographical distribution of humankind and the relationship between human beings and their environment. The relationship between human beings and their environment. This is getting closer. But I want a term that encompasses observation of humans and the environment or natural world not only in isolation, where they exist independent of each other, but also how they interact with the other.

While trying to decide what it is I do I realise that it’s about

1. people
2. places
3. the mutual impact people and places have on the other

And a final aspect that others have been quick to point out about my photographs – what happens when people leave the scene: the process of neglect, incremental change, and slow decay. It is a significant theme in my work but I think it can be included under the third point above.

Anthropogeographer sounds clumsy to me, and if anthrogeographer has been superseded I could reclaim it and redefine it. Or I could start brand new with geoanthrographer, but it’s difficult to pronounce.

“So you’re a photographer Michael?”

“No. I’m an Anthrogeographer.”

“What’s that?

“Someone who photographs people and places and how they interact.”

“Ah…interesting…’ J

I don’t expect to start a new movement. I could perhaps be accused of being a wanker. But I really do want a term that makes it clear that what I do is not based on an interest in photography as a technical discipline. I am much more interested in where photographs can take you; how one might use them to create a dialogue between us about the nature of existence. So for now, I’m a anthrogeographer! (This may change ;)

The Wonderful World of Flickr

Because I have suggested that an online facilitation group have a look at my blog I thought I'd better post something! So - just a couple of resources:

1) a video I created recently about how to find Creative Commons images using Flickr, and

2) an older more general resource about Teaching with Flickr.

My Flickr site.

Why I Post to Flickr

“Sharing a photo by making it available online constitutes sharing even if no one ever looks at it.

This “frozen sharing” creates great potential value. Enormous databases of images, text, videos, and so on include many items that have never been looked at or read, but it costs little to keep those things available, and they may be useful to one person, years in the future. That tiny bit of value may seem too small to care about, but with two billion potential providers, and two billion potential users, tiny value times that scale is huge in aggregate. Much creative energy that was previously personal has acquired a shared component, even if only in frozen sharing. “

Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus

The Sun Goes Down on 2009

The Sun Goes Down on 2009
Originally uploaded by mikecogh

I initially refused to accept the invitation to join the Flickr 2009/365 photos pool. I thought there would be no way I could keep up with posting a photo a day. After a few days mulling it over I decided what the hell and launched into it. I can now say categorically that it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

I had no idea what good would come from it. Over the course of this year, and because of my involvement in this project I have:

• Become a better photographer
• Opened my eyes to the world around me in a way I imagine children do naturally all the time, and in a way I can’t remember doing for a long long time
• Have enjoyed hundreds of photos from fellow group members
• Made many ‘Flickr friends’, as a result of sharing the minutiae of our daily lives
• Experienced the cycle of the seasons as I watched the photos change from summer to winter and back again over the course of the year
• really appreciated the support and tips from other group members
• used Flickr has a visual Twitter and more readily turned to Flickr rather than Twitter to know what was going on in my network
• eagerly looked forward to my daily walk with my camera to not only get needed exercise, but to take that daily photo
• learned so much about other places I have never seen
• Learned to look forward to every day as an opportunity to catch that special or unusual sight or moment
• Learned that images can connect people with very few words
• Learned that if I took the time to comment on others’ photos then people would reciprocate
• Eagerly Looked at Flickr every day for responses to my photos
• Become more assiduous with tagging and naming all photos

In short, I now appreciate the world around me more than I used to!

I would like to especially thank those who regularly dropped by my
stream, and offered me so much support and encouragement, and information about their lives. To name a few - @konarheim, @dibytes, @siavogel, @azmichelle, @carlaarena, @beedieu, @suehickton, @susanvg, @JanBran, @bgblogging, @windsordi, @lynnjake58, @loonyhiker, and @gibsongolfer. And of course Alan at @cogdogblog for getting this ball rolling in the first place!

I will stay on as a more passive member of 2010/365, and free myself from the commitment to post a photo a day. As much as I have loved it, it has been a significant time commitment that I would now like to allocate to other tasks. But I will be there peeking around at your pix :)

Thank you everyone so much. It has been an absolute privilege to be part of this project and part of your lives.

All the very best for 2010, and keep on Flickring. I will.