Art Photography: Introduction to Concept
July 21st 2006 00:20
Looking back through this blog’s previous writer’s articles, I found some very informative and comprehensive posts, including using patterns, the rule of thirds and lines and shapes to enhance your shot.
Keep these concepts in mind and you will be well-prepared to take technically proficient shots. Much harder to learn, and even harder to teach, are the conceptual foundations of art photography.
It does not hurt to think about your purpose in addition to camera setting and compositions. Perhaps there is something in particular that sets your blood on fire—provocative portraits, intense black and white nudes, exotic flora, sweeping landscapes, realist street life—whatever it may be, explore it. Make it your goal to learn as much as you can about it and explore your theme through your photography every way imaginable.
Ansel Adams was an environmentalist, and his striking photographs of California’s Yosemite Valley are his records of what the national parks were like before human intervention and travel.
Robert Doisneau captured empathetic and often humorous depictions of Parisian street life which were reflections of his life and time.
Think about our time now—political tension, nuclear weapons, mass marketing, the Internet and digital age—maybe you have a statement you wish to express or an idea you wish to challenge? Patricia Piccinini's 1997 installation of Protein Lattice is a confronting statement of tissue engineering.
Before you find yourself filling a blank memory stick with shots, ask yourself “why am I taking this?” and “what am I trying to say?”.
Keep these concepts in mind and you will be well-prepared to take technically proficient shots. Much harder to learn, and even harder to teach, are the conceptual foundations of art photography.
It does not hurt to think about your purpose in addition to camera setting and compositions. Perhaps there is something in particular that sets your blood on fire—provocative portraits, intense black and white nudes, exotic flora, sweeping landscapes, realist street life—whatever it may be, explore it. Make it your goal to learn as much as you can about it and explore your theme through your photography every way imaginable.
Ansel Adams was an environmentalist, and his striking photographs of California’s Yosemite Valley are his records of what the national parks were like before human intervention and travel.
Clearing Winter Storm by Adams (1942)
Robert Doisneau captured empathetic and often humorous depictions of Parisian street life which were reflections of his life and time.
Kiss by the Hotel de Ville by Doisneau (1950)
Think about our time now—political tension, nuclear weapons, mass marketing, the Internet and digital age—maybe you have a statement you wish to express or an idea you wish to challenge? Patricia Piccinini's 1997 installation of Protein Lattice is a confronting statement of tissue engineering.
Piccinini's Protein Lattice (1997)
Before you find yourself filling a blank memory stick with shots, ask yourself “why am I taking this?” and “what am I trying to say?”.
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