Positioning a point

What is a point? Freeman M : 2007  informs us that a point is the most basic of the design elements in photography. he goes on to say the point must be a very small part of the total Image but will highlight its own significances by contrasting with its setting in some way for instance by its colour or tone. In the photograph below the bird is an example of a point

In a photograph with a single point the main compositional question is where  should that point be placed? ther are three possible placement zones and they are :-

• Dead centre - this is normally static and uninteresting and is the go-to composition for some picking up a camera for the first time
• Slightly off centre - in the photograph above the bird is slightly above the centre giving the photo a feel of lift and movement
• Close to the edge -  this is definitely the most eccentric of the three and would require some justification elsewhere in the photograph to bring balance to the shot

These three placements are illustrated in the photographs below.

The life belt is very clearly the single point in the photograph as it meets the required characteristics of size and contrast.  In the first photo the life is dead centre and because we have nice symmetry and rule of thirds going on it is not the most boring composition ever but by off setting from the centre as can be seen in the second shot we have added a little bit of tension and made the photo slightly more interesting. in the third image I have moved the life belt right to the edge of the frame and the photo no longer seems to make sense. there is no balance and the viewer is not receiving any communication as to what they should be looking at.

Reflection

This exercise seems quite simple on the face of it but in 6 years of taking photographs no-one has ever shared concept this with me. As I looked back through some of my old photos I was gratified to see that I had stepped away from "Central composition"  quite early but this was through instinct rather than instruction. with all of the compositional exercises I realise that I am being taught to look at the world differently, in two dimension's through a frame. Shore S, 2007 identifies flatness as one of the attributes that make up the depictive level of a photograph. he states that "When three dimensional space is projected monocularly on to a plain, relationships are created that did not exist before the picture was taken." (Shore S, 2007: P42). It is these relationships that photographers can see and use to compose stunning images. I am quite literally seeing the world in a different way to the point where I am sourcing a small camera to carry with me to enable me to exploit and develop this new way of seeing.

Multiple points

The aim of this exercise was to set up a still life by combining an unfussy background with 6 to 10 similar sized objects. A fixed camera on a tripod and shot down at the background. The idea was to control composition by arrangement and recording the still life as each element was added. You can see the results below

This was much harder than I had imagined. I had several false starts and I am not hugely satisfied with the end result. The main challenge was to arrange the still life in an interesting way without forming a regular pattern. I did enjoy setting up the shoot.  I made the decision to shoot tethered. This gave me the opportunity to view each frame before placing the next berry.

The second part of the exercise was to draw a sketch, indicating the ‘lines’ that relate the objects, and any basic shape or shapes that they form.

Reflection

I am somewhat perplexed as to the artistic merit of still life photography. When I encountered  Peter Fischli and Davit Weiss work “Quiet Afternoon” (Cotton, C 2004: P114) I was outraged. The question “how can fine art be precariously staking vegetables and then taking a photograph of it?” kept bouncing around in my head and enraging me. This made the exercise even more difficult for me because I really didn’t like the pictures I was producing. They reminded me of more of Fischli and Weiss’s work “The Sausage Photographs” (Tate.org.uk, 2006).  Perhaps this level of anger is generated by my logical brain trying to understand or make sense of this new language of art. Perhaps the more I learn about art and the art world, the less annoyed I will be at this type of picture.

What I can take from the exercise is not to concentrate on a single point to the exclusion of all others when composing a photograph. If multiple points are present in the composition they will exert forces on each other and may make the photograph feel awkward or unbalanced, or may draw attention away from the message you want to convey to the viewer. Conversely If you are aware of the multiple points in your composition you can use them to balance ( or add tension )  or emphasise certain areas of the photograph.