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Welcome
This
is the first issue of a website devoted to approaching photography as
an
art form that (mostly) embraces the traditional canons of drawing and
painting—which is to say there is an emphasis here on line, shape,
color, light, perspective, texture, and so on. We appreciate that there
is much more to photography than that, but an awareness of traditions— from
Lascaux to Rauschenberg—may be useful to beginning and intermediate
photographers as they explore and experiment. There will certainly be
treatment of the craft and technical aspects, but our focus will be on
composition in the very broadest sense of that term. There
are two basic questions we will pose—What do you point your
camera at? and Where do you stand?
When one addresses those questions many of the other decisions
are fairly well determined. We invite you
to explore this issue and tell us what you think.
—FLG
Shadows
Advice on lighting and exposure abounds,
in books and on the web, but there is surprisingly little discussion
of shadow, other than the recommendation to expose for the shadows
and print for the highlights. Ansel Adams' Zone system says to place
the shadows in Zone III. I suppose much of that is useful, but it
doesn't strike me as particularly thoughtful; it assumes there is
a recipe or process to follow when shadows form a significant part
of an image. There are many situations when the midtones are essential
and I'm quite willing to let the shadows go black if I have to. In
this issue I'd
like
to
explore the
use of shadow.
Let us begin by noting the distinction between (1) a shadow as a
shape or form, (2) shadows that provide texture or depth to an image,
and (3) areas that are dark (in shadow) because they receive less
light than other areas. The image above might be used to illustrate
all three, but that would be a stretch. It seems to me that only
the third is pertinent here. Are the shadowed areas in Zone III?
Some of them are, but many are totally black. Is that a flaw in the
image? I don't think so. Shadows can cause problems for the photographer
when they fall in the wrong
places,
or when
the
exposure
is not right
and there is no detail at all in large sections of a print (that's
why Adams recommends placing shadow areas in Zone III), but that
is not the case here. Shadows can create discontinuities that break
up a form, as we'll see in
an image
below, but they may also give definition and depth to a subject.
CONTINUE
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No.
1 April 2006
Photography
is not simply a craft
or art, but a means of seeing and thinking
about our world.
We plan on publishing
semi-monthly, with each issue based on an
important aspect of composition—like the treatment of
shadows here—with images from our own work and from
a few contributors. There will be links to other photographers
and
artists,
and an
activity or assignment whereby
one might practice and gain at least an understanding of the
several dimensions of using shadows, or whatever is the topic for
that
issue.
Our primary audience is anyone
seriously trying to learn how to make better images. If photography
is not your passion (or at least one of them) we suspect there will not be much
here for you. We
invite
participation
from instructors and students, and expect to feature the work of both
in subsequent
issues. We
anticipate the emphasis and perhaps the breadth or depth of our treatment will
change over time, as we get a better understanding of the needs and preferences
of
our audience.
We are going to use this website, very frankly, to experiment with a variety
of instructional and presentation capabilities, including audio and video conferencing,
threaded discussions, podcasts, and as much interactivity as seems appropriate
for the topic. We're still in the process of setting up some of that software,
but we hope you'll be able to participate more extensively by the summer months.
We have some
prejudices and you might as well be apprised of them now.
You are unlikely to see images featuring sunsets, birds, insects,
cute
pets, or rock stars and celebrities here. There is
more emphasis and space given to black-and-white images than many
people are used to; black-and-white is not better or purer, it's
just different and equally worthy of attention. We believe that
much
can be learned
from studying
other images, including painting and drawing, as well as the nineteenth
century photographic images that make up the History section of
this website, and throughout we will make reference to art and
photography we see as relevant.
One of the unanswered
questions implicitly raised by the very existence of this site
is whether photography can be taught. We have argued both sides
of
that issue,
without resolving it. But photography can be learned, and that
is the proposition to which we are dedicated.
The
image in the title graphic is of the ruins of Lowry pueblo, near
Cortez, Colorado. The one on the left is of a hallway in Mexico.
That image, and the spiky plant at the head of this column were
taken
by Alison Jones and are copyrighted by her. You can find more of
her work at www.alisonjonesphoto.com. |
