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The
Art of Photography
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the lens of a
Looking through
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in
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USA.
in
except
his
equipment
element
in
unique vision
Published simultaneously
Canada.
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a trademark of
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in
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Includes index
1.
Photography,
Artistic.
I.
Time-Life
to
Contents
Introduction
Principles of Design
57
75
The
Principles at
Work
113
145
TIME INCORPORATED
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Introduction
There
is
no question
that
photography
is
many, a profession
for
some, a
tool of sci-
artist,
of
phy
is all
That
is
about
creating a picture."
book
is
about:
creativity
f-stops.
vocabulary
of technol-
one
is
to,
good deal
but
other.
ma-
In this
volume there
terial,
is
how some
of
fundamental
the
how
they operate
place
among
artists, but,
or novelist.
information
camera
or typewriter,
artist;
they
ment, as Carl
Mydans once
said, simply
and enables us
to turn to
what photogra-
approaches
to art,
many
from the
individual
dutifully
con-
One
which appears
in this
by show-
to explain
ing
sure, sim-
and seeing
will
great
of the
To be
to
made
also put
rapher
it,
until
will
free
"one
is
to make better
As Carl Mydans
you
hands
where
is
an extension
of himself.
creativity begins."
in his
There
is
The Making
of a Fine Photograph 12
22
Revealing Texture 24
Portraying
Form 27
Recording Color 28
The Elements on
Display:
Shape
30
Strong Patterns 34
Sensual Textures 36
Vivid
Forms 38
Arresting Colors
42
in
Combination 48
RALPH WEISS
Scenario
city with
than
1:
A businessman
a camera
sit in
in his
his hotel
is
half a continent
until
new hobby
for
photography.
On
even more
sparking off cars and buildings, and a gentle wind is riffling flags and coats.
Strolling toward the heart of the business district, he keeps his eyes alert
for promising subjects. Many sights tempt him: a cluster of street signs
mounted on a single pole; a newspaper vendor with narrowed, cynical eyes;
a moving van debouching desks and chairs; a helicopter clattering over the
roofs of the city. But each of these subjects seems too limited.
His attention is arrested by one huge new office building. Gleaming and
stark,
looks more like a machine than a place where human beings spend
their days. At the ground level is a long, empty arcade, bordered on one side
ternoon, the city
is
is
it
aim
his
camera upward
or he could shoot
these approaches would express the great scale of the office building, but he
is
it
is
the
trees that interest him. Surrounded by the stern, rectilinear strength of the
building, they
seem
very
frail.
There
is
bit
ri-
going
to
help him
feel
compelled
there.
impulse
first
Then he decides
across. A picture that displays the building as well as the trees will communicate the irony of outdoor organisms surviving in an air-conditioned,
flick of
Having decided
problem
if
in
to
of reflections in the
in,
likely to
of the trees
on the
other side of the glass; they could be eliminated with a special polarizing
ter,
but he
at
a switch.
itself. All
is
he has to
fil-
beginning to taste
do is make sure that
term
the glass
be
some
reflecting
is
will
virtually invisible,
appear
ing will
in
more
visible.
still
The added images will make the picture more interesting. Satisfied, he adand exposure and shoots the picture, certain that will be
one of the best he has ever taken. He is mistaken.
it
result
not at
is
pointless. For
one
all
shadowed lobby, they have practically no dramatic impact; they are upstaged by the more brightly
arcade and the reflections of the outdoors. And these reflections are confusing. Cars and trucks that
he failed to see when he looked through the viewfinder appear to be driving
right through the lobby. There is a reflection of another tree
outdoors that
visible
In
the
lit
blunts his point about the irony of importing nature into the alien world of a
modern
is
leafless, setting
The
just
of
list
when
seems
defects
the
woman
in
for
up distracting questions
growth.
endless.
did not notice the dim reflection of another building at the far right-hand side
of the picture, or
why he
marble column.
mat
verticality?
in
The
too,
2:
How
he throws
Late
in
it
in
first
light is
streaming
the afternoon a
is
as the
still
for-
in
it
honor
the wastebasket.
scene
his collection,
Scenario
is
many
lower
in
of the
the sky,
by. He,
same reasons
and a
shaft of
this
picture
hoped
to
He does
trees.
if
he
is
occurs
to
is
in
first
photographer, he
not just
between
this building
It
and these
some
essential opposition to be
comment on
a strong
and cities
15
less tree
and an
office building
across the
street; the
EDWARD WESTON:
itself.
all
away from
he wants
flavor of
to
make. But
in
purpose.
the picture
if
office building
for his
at
communicate the
will
He
By eliminating
he gains, because the specific location of these trees is now obscured. They could be anywhere, in any
city
broadens the meaning of his picture.
a valuable ambiguity because
Assessing the other reflections, he decides that the leafless, outdoor tree
should be eliminated too.
strikes him as confusing and inappropriate. He is
concerned with a conflict between living plants and inanimate buildings. The
thrust of his theme would be blunted by a leafless tree suggesting some state
of half-death. He decides to skip that tree and the arcade.
The reflected cars, on the other hand, are pertinent to his statement about
at
all.
it,
it
It
natural versus
man-made
things,
and he decides
to include
black column
them
itself.
It
in
the pic-
would be
downward
to
show
of the building
Musing on
of the
it
the
across the
street.
this similarity of
lobby (except
and woman)
comes
is
to him.
pitch black
in
If
the interior
the picture,
the straight
Now he
will
tell
a skyscraper.
is
realizes that
rendered
in
if
everything
in
it
16
will
elements demand a vertical frame for the picture, and he turns his
camera. Next, he moves around and tries different camera angles, seeking
the best arrangement of the various parts in the scene. He tries centering the
vertical
MINOR WHITE
A
photographer while creating is a blank
how can we describe
mind specially blank
it to one who has not experienced it?
"Sensitive" is one word "Sensitized" is better,
because there is not only a sensitive mind
he sees,
order
to
know
it
trees
in
seems
camera angle
looming
the bottom
in
allows the
It
top of the building across the street to be seen, so that the viewer's attention
will
be held
Correct exposure
will
make
as
if
at different
will
they alone,
in this
and he plans
to
woman must be
very
fire of
life.
any degree
light
make
All
position
wall,
cut
will
off
the mirror
image
of the
sun
in
the glass
flare,
streaking
image with a star pattern of light. But now he steps a few inches to the
a bit of the reflected
right to see what might happen to his pictorial scheme
image of the sun were included. The effect is both interesting and disconcerting. Because he intends to obscure the fact that reflections are present
in the picture, the sun will appear to be behind the trees. Yet this apparent
the
if
be impossible
position
will
the trees
from the
make
that light
is
falling
on
is
will
way
front.
It
frame a
city.
And
of the picture,
yet,
it
will
will
be located
central point
At last he
is
every chance
for
success.
more than
lives
off.
up
When
to his
It
17
scape, a
little
clump
of trees offers
In
its
scrap
of
shade
gloomy
to a solitary
city-
woman.
AARON SISKIND:
is
a world of powerfully
matter. Yet he
His failure
produced a picture
ed on one vital factor: intelligibility. The second picture is much clearer and
more comprehensible than the first. The first picture is a babble of many
meanings that drown one another out. The viewer is unsure what to respond
to and can only guess at the photographer's intention. What went wrong?
The photographer started out with a good idea: to convey the incongruity
of trees growing in a modern office building. But he indiscriminately piled all
sorts of ingredients together and hoped that the camera would automatically
extract the meaning he sensed was there. He did not forge visual or thematic
links to connect one ingredient to another and unify them.
The photograph accords about the same amount of importance (or unimportance) to arcade, glass, lobby, woman, trees and reflections. The arcade was
included because he realized that
made the building look big. The reflection
of the office building across the street was included because he vaguely
felt that
would make the picture more interesting. The reflections of the
cars and the leafless tree were included because he never saw them in the
first place
and he also missed the dim reflection of still another office
building that showed up in the shiny marble of the column. In short, he never
really figured out how to integrate all the elements of the scene, and the
it
it
result
is
incoherence.
predecessor did
sitting
of the
not:
He
clarified his
We
in
and
photographer is working
in
instant of exposure, he
is
of the
He examined
era the
building,
its
flections.
concentrate on the act of image-recording rather than on the process of picmany cases, a large number of shots are advisable, but
quantity alone cannot assure success. It is the carefully thought-out pho-
ture creation. In
its
sorts of exploration.
jectin
short,
its
maker's message.
skillful
He examines
meaning
to him.
will
his feelings
He examines
all
And he
in
of
selection
is
only the
characteristics,
and
selection.
initial
step, of course.
and
visual
arrangement
Meaning,
for
19
will
identify
it
as an apple. At
mean-
is is.
he
is
pressed
But intuition
es that are
is
to rationalize,
is likely
shaped by experience
common
photographs
he
that
if
to
say only,
"It
respons-
it
ed meaning
his
20
and
he
negative response
will
is
appreciate
so strong.
its
expressive power,
if
only
because
is or should
significant document, a penetrating
statement, which can be described in a very
simple term
selectivity. To define selection,
be a
that
it
should be focused on
its
To me, photography
in a
fraction of a second, of the significance of an
event as well as of a precise organization of
forms which give that event its proper expression
I believe that, through the act of living, the
discovery of oneself is made concurrently with
the discovery of the world around us which
can mold us, but which can also be affected by us. A
balance must be established between these two
worlds
the one inside us and the one outside us.
As the result of a constant reciprocal process.
both these worlds come to form a single one. And
it is this world that we must communicate.
is
as are those
raphers
try
who view
harder to
pictures
strip
away
perhaps
familiar,
in
their
photography. The
response
to a subject
so,
veal their personal ideas. Different photographers might have depicted the
ways.
One
bench as an
island of repose.
But
feet
if
any interpretation
is
actions
in
art
denominator
for
all
art in
terms
of
re-
common
mind to despair.
Even though the essence of art may never be pinned down, there are some
broad guidelines to creative photography. They stem from the analytical approach described above. The photographer must consider the meaning of
his subject, its visual attributes, and various schemes for organizing its elpractical
ements. There are no absolute laws of esthetics to bind him, aside from the
one requirement that these three considerations contribute to an intelligible
whole. If this requirement is fulfilled, the picture will do honor to its creator
art.
The
art,
to a
art of
depends on
al
because
plest
tical
"stop."
In
daily
ice; a
means
red light
there usually
life,
is
no
for
is,
it
face indicates
the
is
ver-
will
turn a
if
tall
aimed
building
pli-
dimensions
As long
ers for a
hammer,
slip
pli-
on the ice or
his per-
many nonrepresentational
able to find
shapes
evidence
is
in.
it
until all of
the
in-
numerable ways of organizing that evidence, in the case of most seeing there
are four traditionally useful approaches
to visual information. In the
terminology
that
is,
shape,
an object; texture,
surface characthree-dimensional
aspect; and color. The photographer
its
considers
all
four.
22
in
a scene. This
whether
it
is
in
is
because any-
photograph
or a
shapes on
How should
make
it.
as a bound-
either side of
at
an unexpected
may be
He
echo
a tantalizing mystery).
that
in-
chose
versions of its
23
Revealing Texture
Once he has
a photographer
much
like
an explorer
what
details
holds.
it
object to
man
becomes
walked
whenever
held,
short,
in
Sri
that.
crucial only
it
must be touched.
The textures
go unno-
may be
very interest-
fvVWV
if
sights
if
all
possibilities of perception
its
are to be realized.
is
by
thing
in
jagged,
glossy or any-
between.
employed sidelighting
surface, emphasizing
He could have chosen
to rake
its
to
across
its
pitted texture.
using frontlighting to
make
As
effect, or
the surface
is
the
case
aspect
sents a greatly
ative opportunities.
24
of
enhanced range
of cre-
"
'A*
26
Portraying
form
In art,
is
Form
it
human vision
number of
can
overlapping of
far
show the
to
clear:
is
it
is
only reveal
its
makes
A gradual progression
to light, leaves
the rock,
no doubt as
the
way
it
was formed
at the
27
Recording Color
Color might
seem
diately evident of
to
components
the
all
of
color-blind,
of
ever-changing
the fact
is
tints of
the
ocean? But
usually pink
pink
or
where
in
it
'
*
-
all
may assume
under
a tree,
'
a greenish cast;
light;
where
it
may record
all
pre-
such sub-
color changes.
white, or
perhaps a
little
yellowish. But
left
and the
and stains on
beige background.
its
subtle
be
regarded solely as an object of shape,
texture and form;
exhibits another asIt
is
not, then, to
it
28
'
'.TL
emMuSr.m
is
not pink at
conceptions,
L '6
'
is
detectable by the
VBHH
7b see what a difference color can make in the
perception of an object, compare the photograph
above with the black-and-white close-up of the
rock's texture
on pages 24-25.
In
the picture
* A' *s
29
The Elements on
Display:
Shape
for
texture, form
all
these
own view of
the object he is looking at. No law dictates that all of these approaches to
seeing must be acknowledged in one
picture any more than all the instruelements according
ments
every
in
to his
moment
of
else.
by too explicitly identifying the ominous shapes and thus distracting the
viewer's attention from the photographer's purpose.
proaches
disregarding
way
all
superfluous aspects of
angelo, who,
much
was once
it
like
Michel-
The pipes
in
site offered a
wide choice
of
tempta-
machined
30
rounded
He settled
texture, their
to
ject or
how
see-
one
visual
at
cogent selection
consideration of them
order to reject
all
but one.
all
if
care-
only
in
SEBASTIAN MILITO
Pipes. 1970
shape of a Dutchman's-pipe
seems
essentially
opposite,
PAULCAPONIGRO Two
32
Leaves. 1963
33
Strong Patterns
shown here
in
silhou-
on the opposite
from texture, which
page
Pattern differs
because pattern
does not necessarily imply a third dimension, as texture does
kind
is perhaps because pattern is a
of order and our minds seek order in the
also displays repetition,
It
consciously or
rounding scene.
been
multiplied
regularity
is
If
a single
many
shape has
immediately apparent.
If
the
who
GEORGE TICE
34
Tree
No
19, California,
1965
WILLIAM GARNETT
Caineville. Utah.
1967
35
Sensual Textures
Revealing texture
substance
in
that takes
a subject gives
it
it
a dimension be-
in
texture
only
in
emerges
at its
most sensuous
grain emulsion
film
fine-
reality of
the original.
STANLEY R SMITH
36
them
f^KaC^Cotorc.
979"
37
Vivid
Forms
Framing
into
AARON
SISKIND
Form,
like texture, is
Feet,
quality; to reveal
1957
it
a three-dimensional
in
a two-dimensional
photographer must be
picture, the
the depth
way
36
in
that light
a subject
above
and shadow
fall
alert
convey
all,
the
across a
scene
contours.
statuesque image
hand, form
own
intrin-
an object's contours.
The human feet above were deliberately removed from their anatomical context to arrive at an image that attempts
no literal communication but is simply a
striking
arrangement
of solid objects.
Sculpted by
BARBARA MORGAN
Pregnant, 1940
IRVING PENN Ha
40
<
JOHNBATHO BacheOcreJaune.
A
glistening highlight
and
the curvilinear
1977
of the
shaded interior.
Arresting Colors
but
also
it
subtle judgments to
demands
much
all
do
vio-
in
its
Colors can provoke an emotional response: The bright reds and oranges are
generally associated with heat or pas-
same
color
wash
to
in
a pic-
ture
light:
can
interact
on a point
slightly
wavelengths
behind the
of blue or
retina; short
green
slightly in
As a result, red objects in a picture appear to be nearer the eye than objects of blue or green in the same picture.
Reds are said to "advance," blues and
front of
it.
greens
to
When
"recede."
blues or greens
sult is
eye
in
in
a photograph, the
re-
tries to
in
focus, as
42
LISL
DENNIS
Beds
The use of only a lew colors creates a subdued
mood in this portrait of Nobel prize-winning novelist
Andre Gide. sitting pensively in his Pans study
beneath a mask of a 19th Century Italian poet The
monochromatic mood is the result of the scene's
uniformly warm colors and the effect of lamplight on
the film The photographer used early Kodachrome
film, which produced unusually warm tones
when exposed under incandescent lights
vibrant contrasts
must make
to
43
ERNST HAAS
Hardangerfjord. 1959
In a view of Norway's Hardangerfjord taken on
a windless autumn afternoon, darker blues of the
nearby coastline seem to move toward the
viewer, while the pale colors of f/ord walls farther
off seem to fade away. This phenomenon, linked
to atmospheric conditions that normally wash
out objects, imparts a sense of limitless, cold
distance to the photograph
45
Umbrella
at a
Sea. 1978
46
An elegant
and glass
commuter traffic on
REINHARTWOLF
Tudor
City,
New
York,
1979
47
in
Combination
what
him want
phy
and
how
concepts
pictures work
and how
to
make them
it
is
to take
to
evoke a
seen through a
camera viewfinder, the scene composed
of the finished
itively
flat
sual element,
more
Far
sideration
sic
of
is
likely,
will
vi-
elements, and
may
exhibit several
any one
cord them
base
in
of the
some
his decision
elements or
to re-
combination. He must
on his judgment
of
in
that
made
the viewer
photograph.
Whether he comes
to his
decision
intu-
and how
picture,
response
similar
color or
its
be irreducible
will
of the
subject.
the following
pares away
all
same
time
approaches
like
sky's
46
Algeria.
1973
49
MINOR WHITE
in
become an
and shape in this picture,
Utah has
abstraction ot texture
50
A picture
on a bedroom window
tapestry out of a mixture of pattern
Positioning his view camera about
of frost crystals
makes a
and texture.
(right)
PAULCAPONIGRO FrostWindowNo.2.
1961
SHI
HARRY GRUYAEPT Man
in
Prayer,
Ribboned columns
the eye
of terra-cotta roof
downward to another
tiles
lead
vibrant pattern
53
What
the
Visual Elements
54
shapes
In
ROBERT PERRON
56
Principles of Design
69
Rhythm 70
Perspective 72
Christopher Street,
New
59
Principles of Design
Design
photography
in
is
sometimes thought
That idea
ture to
phy
as
in
every
art
and
craft
of the
design
is
is
of,
mistakenly, as a repertoire
outsides of buildings.
photogra-
In
it
it
It
that
thing"
It
is
quite
would be
structure
complex
difficult to
is
is
also complicated.
picture
to a viewer.
flat
is
something
object that
not, that
is
"some-
sum up
in
words.
Good design
in
photography
is
any
grasp
design
is
not so blank at
just
becomes a study
and texcharged with subtle dynamics of balance between light and shade, tension of line and form, that may or may not be intended to convey a precise
meaning, but that through its design operates independently, uncaptioned, as
it
is
all.
Instead
it
of pattern
ture,
Assuming that every picture needs some sort of structure to achieve its purhow does the photographer bring about this organization? Most likely he
will make a number of broad design decisions without even being aware of
them. Simply using a camera is one such decision: It will form an image in
perspective
that is,
will make distant objects appear smaller than near
ones, and will make parallel lines seem to come together as they recede from
the camera. Most photographers take the perspective-rendering camera for
pose,
it
it
granted. But there are design alternatives, such as montages, in which distance need influence neither the size of objects nor the convergence of lines in
the
to expect.
it
60
yond the ordinary uses of film and printing paper by sandwiching negatives for
composite pictures, creating photograms without camera or lens, or imposing
various other sorts of organization on his work.
They,
in
mous number
of
design options
for
it
choosing a background, for instance, or establishing a new relationship between two objects by making them look closer together than they really are.
The selection of a lens allows him to control the effect of perspective and alter
the relative sizes of near
included
in
and
far objects,
of material
player's hands to make them seem disproportionately large; a long lens can
make cars in a traffic jam seem crammed together by rendering them almost
the same size.) By adjusting the lens aperture, the photographer can either
keep almost every part of a picture in sharp focus or extinguish some unwant-
This
list
of
his
image
and
no all-purpose answer,
for the deployment of elements in a picture depends on the intention of the
photographer and on the techniques that are available to him. But in striving for
is
It
way
the picture
parts
variations
number
of other characteristics,
seem
in
or similarities
among
its
and perhaps a
and patience of
size, orientation
depending on the
training
Principles:
may seem
other characteristic
the
to
proportions
familiar or surprising.
triangle or circle.
if
out of what
whatever.
rious;
if
visual
we seek
when
it
is
when
it
is
of night
physiological preferences
lieve,
in
nature
waves and
of the
may be
the
phases
always
to
seek
to
of the
less explanatory,
organize visual data into the most simple, regular and sym-
these theories
triguing possibility
in
may possess
a measure of
If
truth.
in-
the ingredients
which
in
every picture
can be supplied
and tension. By
and balanced
but not in too obvious a way.
should be precarious and varied enough to
be interesting, but not so precarious as to be irritating. Yet even this more
complex formula fails on close inspection.
would sacrifice a great deal of
the expressive power of design. For instance, an unbalanced structure might
well be the best design for a picture whose intent is to disturb. Strange prothis
in
is
one
that
It
It
62
is
clear, orderly
as
in
the
example
of the pianist's
photography have
into
Yet for every allegedly ideal arrangement, innumerable fascinating exIt is safer to say that good design is any organizational
communicates effectively.
good design usually requires cautious, conscious decision making. As he grows more experienced, he will learn to organize the elements as efficiently and perhaps as automatically as shifting gears in an
automobile. This was the case with the photographs on the following pages,
taken by Wolf von dem Bussche. His fundamental design decisions remained more or less constant throughout: He used a 4 x 5 view camera
scheme
that
For a beginner,
comprehension and
interest
in
63
Principles:
but
In
one mode
often
of
organization
will
in
a relation-
ship of
is,
on the face
ject;
if
it
of
it,
an uninspiring sub-
it
would prob-
dem
by setting
his
exposure so
that the
shad-
owed areas
within
it
it.
In
technique
because guy
it.
Manipulation of position,
light
and
The pole
is
placed
front
and cen-
smoke
64
rising
it.
of
66
Principles:
Balance
Some
signs
an
image
for instance.
subtler,
may
it
result
accords each
al
and
according to
demand viewer
attention
And these
by
to equilibrium
how balance
in
is
achieved,
evokes a
it
and
this
in
the
suit
the pho-
In
right,
Almost
interest.
of the picture
all
is
taken
much more
angular house
is
which
wavelike chalk
is
line.
intriguing
This size-versus-
3nds
in
nitely
not static.
At
a standoff that
left,
visible
is
through a
apartment window,
is
New
York City
a frieze of silhouet-
ark
in
sliced
shadows
of Central
it
turned
struck surface
was
all
that
was needed
to
67
66
Principles:
Proportion
When
a line
is
between them
ratio
a proportion. Similarly, a
elements
in
relationship that
may depend on
qualities
and com-
sual
dynamics
skyscape
matter to work
ratio of
vi-
sliver of earth
to
earthbound subject
(The
balance of the parts, and their dominance or subordination, are other considerations, although proportion can in-
left,
the
in
fluence either.)
that
radi-
zon
at left.
It
is
enormous sky
and the dirt road
makes
the windmill
leading up to
it
appear so
isolated.
right.
This contrast
colors: blazing
cool blues on
colors leads to
of
it,
the
Principles:
Rhythm
meaning
a flow with a
implies
it
recognizable pattern.
In
art
The
of time.
are
vi-
exist
as
moves
viewer's attention
picture,
in
the
same way
tennis or chopping
that playing
wood
is
easiest
to
orga-
component
is
nounced
but
is
of the
70
Principles:
Perspective
to shrink with
seem
parallel lines
converge toward
to
space
sion of three-dimensional
tograph.
line
supplies clues
It
While a camera
illu-
a pho-
object
convergence, texture-
interprets as indications of
in
size,
depth
constructed to pro-
is
on
this sort of
The
straight-on
call
depiction or suppress
it.
for
example,
cause
it
The landscape
at left flaunts
perspec-
house
and fence, the converging lines of the
fence and utility wires, and the loss of
detail
and
in
foreground
ting
In
behind
New
York harbor
(right),
it
is
to
tense color
it
as the pictures
center of interest
pilings
in
and twin
final
clue anchors
poking up
72
image
to the
of the
left
Statue of Liberty,
of the sun.
73
Principles:
Many
effective
74
of
sunshade
in
in
the foreground.
become an element
Uniting
all
in
the design.
these elements
is
the soft
The shapes
into
of the people,
as they await
It
falls
a unified composition.
78
Special Object so
HAROLD ZIPKOWITZ:
77
Responding
to the
Subject
a sense, photography
sion
the basis
is built
of picture taking
It
responses,
all
a sports
buff, yet
And each observer could well have other responses, depending on the weather, how well he slept the night before, and so on.
ing
an expression
of strain
wife,
game
that
is
made
to
seem
very far
away by
the use of
in
in-
The ex-
by making a time exposure that traced the routes followed by the linemen.
own
Thus they end up with snapno discernible viewpoint, landscapes that include distracting elements, or pictures of events that seem random and insignificant.
shots
portraits with
Such lack
of direction
is
one
of the
most
easily
make
response, always asking himself what he feels about a subject and how he can
convey
his
assessment
in
that
come unconscious
When the original
this
goes unnoticed.
book was published in 1971 the following
pages contained a series of tests performed by 1 7 photographers demonstrating the role played by human response in the photographic process. In the first
test, a group of professional photographers was asked to take pictures of a
single inanimate object
a wooden mannequin (depicted in an intentionally
neutral manner on page 77). This assignment was a sort of laboratory experiment, for none of the photographers had ever seen the mannequin before, and
they were given no suggestions about what to express.
In a second test, other photographers were asked to capture the essence of
"the city." Here was a subject that the members of this group had all seen
is, in fact, home for most of them, and they were expected to have a
before;
definite at-home feeling in responding to
Yet few subjects could be more
challenging in the sheer range of visual possibilities.
In the third test, still other photographers were asked to express "love." Instead of responding to a concrete object, as in the first two tests, these people
were dealing with an intangible concept.
For this revised edition, some of the results of the original tests have been
retained, while others were discarded; in their place nine new photographs
appear here for the first time, reflecting changes in photographic approaches
or human attitudes that have occurred since the book was first published. Attitudes toward the city, for example, have changed so much that all the photographs in that section (pages 92-101) were newly assigned. To express love
(pages 102-112), four new assignments were made and two were retained
from the original edition. For the mannequin section (pages 80-91) no new
assignments were made. In all three tests, as the results show, none of the
is,
it
edition of this
it
it.
photographers
failed to
have a response.
Still,
of
of
and 2
and
perception and
also affirm that
photography.
79
Responding
to the
Subject
Assignment:
Your assignment
quin and, using
picture that
to
is
it
in
A Special Object
manne-
take this
make a
you creatively and
a situation,
will satisfy
to the viewer.
was designed
out
fitted into
it
was
bility
City's
show how
the countryside to
into
easily
to
photograph
Times Square
in
it
New
York
whose
location
jangled,
portance
response factor
of the
was selected as
because
ject
man
picture
in
taking,
of
its
the sub-
and
gender,
represented a visual enigma
whose identity and meaning were undetermined. And, in fact,
evoked remarkin
life
it
it
point
figure
came
quin
assignment.
chosen
for this
to her.
this
of
quality,
bouquet
chrysanthemums, as though
of
to
become one
with nature
Having decided on
this
presentation,
proper quality
of light:
with distaste.
mannequin
in
a decidedly unconvention-
al
way. Despite
it
was somehow
mined
life
first,
60
to
within
to the
its artificiality,
alive,
imitation
she thought
human
of taking the
form.
of
At
mannequin
and
the universe.
phers viewed
it
and, as
all,
the answer
in
seeking
she mused on
She want-
paper.
seam-
was aimed
princi-
two
in front. In this
is
removed from
pearance
an
air of
of
a living creature,
inner peace.
filled
with
MARCIAKAYKEEGAN.
1971
31
RICHARD NOBLE.
82
1971
Responding
make
mannequin
at
first.
Looking
nated by
resemblance
their
cruder. Overall,
Noble
placing
tried
a chair as
in
in
if
mannequin did
into
it
any
of
it
its
to
various situa-
seem
to
slumped
but the
fit
naturally
resemblance
decided
in
were drunk
not
sprawled on the
by
it
to a corpse,
to
how he narrowed
this
basic
Noble recalled,
"I
'
had
sion on
Would
it
He
came
with
it.
The only
from a skylight
in
as he put
it,
"would look as
you
if
just
looking
it
"The picture was not technically perfect by any means," he confessed. "The
blood is too dark, and the sheet looks
washed out in places. Usually, my work
want
is
it
be
in
shot.
his
to
the
about
had
workable dimensions,
film
had
in
that,
to
it
sheet, arranging
make
response down
made up my mind.''
Noble wrapped the mannequin in a
studio.
training
and he
was
Army
to real feet,
the bathroom,
films
fasci-
tionsin bed,
remember
camp when
in
it
to
seen
mannequin seemed
began
A Special Object
the
at
was
chest?
to the Subject:
didn't
is
and death,"
83
Responding
A Special Object
to the Subject:
quin
it
"It's
a mockery
thing
press
can
of
He decided
imagine.''
to ex-
by photo-
it
But
in
every setting he
was
surreal quality
dawn
the
to a
desired
tried, the
He arose
lacking.
mannequin
driving
of
at
mood
strange
to his picture
Then
occurred
it
to
but he
convey
to
still
his
ness
of the
it
girl
it
in
her living
seemed "faked
it
had the
girl
quin, but
something was
asked her
to
ure on the
floor.
he decided
'
Brown
missing.
Pleased with
to blur the
He
fig-
this effect,
motion
slightly,
seem more
even less
At
last,
alive
so.
everything
grotesque position
seemed
of the
to
fit
the
mannequin, the
84
DEAN BROWN.
1971
85
86
Responding
moved
liked
its
had been
it
scendent meaning.
in his
It
remained an object
human being
into a
ment with
make
or to
it
com-
ject in a strong
began
knew
repeatedly
to notice the
it
was
the feeling
place
in
it
time.
old,''
in
mannequin's age.
he said, "and
was probably
It
will
"I
had
for:
The
the opening
Turner
fitted his
camera
reduce perspective
distortion in architec-
up and down
same
results as the
tilts
and mo-
a tour de force
He posed
of techni-
and swings
of a
film re-
mains
the im-
in
fixed position.
age on the
film
shape. Turner
can
It
shift
moved
the lens
color
move
longer
This
35mm
with a
last
a feeling of time.
is
probably
He would use
picture
in
like
Special Object
wrong
the
own
in
tion to create
its
cardboard
tural
it.
Seeking a way
flect itself
head
to the Subject:
in
a step-
the pattern to
filter.
Turner
mannequin
against white seamless paper. Then he
and cut
hung a black curtain in front of
cal ingenuity.
the
it,
it
he printed them
riety to
slightly
in
identi-
displaced
the pattern.
87
RICHARD STEINBERG,
88
1971
Responding
of
coming
to
sensing that
his first
response might be
re-
sult of
he described
look at this
in
dummy and
come
alive,
maybe he has some kind of supernatural powers that we can never see, because he exercises those powers when
or
he
alone
is
size that
my's
secret
But
thing
in
some
it.
if
to talk
mumbo-jumbo language
want the
appears
"I try
would be able
to
to think
truth
not
to
what some-
come
think
and evolution
a tree that
about the dummy's mother
was alive with cells, generative powers,
branches like ganglia, and bark with the
pattern and grooves of variation and life
torhythm. Somebody carved it, put
gether and rubbed
I
it
it
wood
was
into a replica of
but the
is
a transformation of a piece of
dummy
is
also untransformed.
not a replica.
He
He
is still
A Special Object
life
we see
his
from thick
And so
gram a
life
show you
an
organic layering
to thin, the
organic
and pattern
flow
that our
life.
dummy
has
have rejected
it
of
its
to
its
self
wooden
from
floor
left
camera loaded
he exposed at
made
be
"It
part of a
to the Sub/ect:
seconds He
film (giving
tree
was
the negative
ly
was contact-printed
onto copying
transparency.
film,
direct-
yielding a positive
He toned
the transparency
middle and
it
made
the picture
Responding
A Special Object
to the Subject:
shock when he
made by
they're
imitation
When
began
work with the mannequin, remembered a scene from a movie that saw
when was a young kid: A boy was looking in a store window where a mechanized mannequin was putting on some
kind of act; other people were watching
people
people.
to
this act
it
It
"I
of fear
in
My
in
plan
initial
was
to
I'm a
"I
with a
girl
have a
know, where
mechanical person.
decided
one
my
of
suits
nequin by
working.
being
fright-
itself.
But
my
idea
still
wasn't
make
this
off,
and suddenly
90
girl
actually
viewer, so
work?'
frightens her.
It
it.
ened,
pretend
to
reacting to
this girl
is.
play a
it
person
real
Sometimes
game
in
it
all
came
together."
DUANE MICHALS.
1971
91
Responding
to the
Subject
Your assignment is to make a photograph that holds for you the essence of
of
jammed
the
tivity.
city.
It's
vital,
This challenge,
al
an
the city
infinite
is
vast
dimension
into just
man-
lives,
to por-
the city
all
of fascination in
its
at
one frame,
92
Chicago's hurly-burly
Avenue as being
"too
much
of
He
dis-
Michigan
the city as
to show
handsome buildings that Chicago possesses in abundance. Since he
saw as a workaday place, he asked
only the
it
himself,
"What
is
an aspect that
In
searching
for
reflects
commerce?"
his picture, Plowden
alent of the
tray
Stifling
found
had loved
rived,
New
to
he saw the
portrait of the
cast, so
Windy
was
City,
but
still
not
knowing
mous
silhouette
a clog of
traffic,
city
looming
in
Responding
was
Sheila Metzner
son River
dow
in
of her
The City
to the Subject:
but
the image
was
photograph
to
in
her mind's
New
home,
York
Metzner says,
City,
was born
signifies for
my
"is
lith:
many
seen
in
it
times, from so
so
many
many
lights,
so
different parts
Empire State
think of the
feel
most a
it
has a certain
life
to
it:
it's
al-
for her,
it
90mm,
light
lights
go on
at
all
once; they go
on gradually."
was
At last Metzner
satisfied,
and shot
reproduced here
finder
camera and
sent
to France, to
it
made
have a
print specially
owned
ized
in
Quadrichromie, produces
prints that will not
rich,
full-color
friend."
Because
tween the
in
black and
she carried a
film,
105mm and
300mm. With
light-sensitive
pigment
color, plus
color
in
one
pigment
one
for
for black.
the transparency
is
each primary
Each primary
transferred to
emulsions exist
there
much
in light
that
is
"a
is still
some
light.
was such a
94
and
in front of it,"
moment
subtle
"because there
exchange involved be-
line
weeks
is
Responding
to the Subject:
The
graph
at right,
filled
the photo-
and explored on
his intuition
in
City
to spot
the assignment.
and
a picture that
"It's
ful-
way
difficult
eye as he traveled
to
and from
home
his
on the side
of
levels.
where
if
part of
what
to work,"
photograph
present
in
the
scene
being isolated
in
a photograph,
is
it.
That's
is all
about:
to
is
often
record of
how
If
it
To apply
the
city,
96
"There's a unique
geles.
but
Sunset Boulevard
here:
ing a stretch of
Angeles
that
in
Los
his
way
little
gaudy,
love
sense
in
it's
consistent
Los Angeles."
GRANT MUDFORD,
1981
ROBERT DOISNEAU.
98
1981
Responding
lived in
in
and
1912,
is
to the Subject:
The City
some
about
to form.
Doisneau spent
works on
shoulders
is "all
the time
put
in to
and
walk,
to
feel free,
Doisneau got
his assign-
ment to shoot the city, Paris was shrouded in rain clouds, and Doisneau was dismayed. But then he decided to turn the
to
weather to his advantage, and use
show how rain can act "as a mirror of the
sky and reveal another aspect of man."
Believing firmly that a photographer
it
shopping area
crammed with boutiques and markets.
went on
At last
Louvre
"but nothing
came
of
done
it."
Museum
luck! That
soaked, and
this
all
makes
the image."
of the
re-
be gone."
At the time
for centuries,
his
to Saint Paul, a
was
taking shape.
the Louvre
neau noticed a
family
group running
for
that
Doisneau admits
that
the image
is
there,
normally
must not
came
ture,
am becomes
miss
When
it.
man
a tiger!
that
knew
99
Responding
The City
to the Subject:
(right),
Luigi Ghirri
hundreds
hours
of
in
Ferrara, Italy
to
study of Paris,
for
for
a book
a survey of the
cities
and
spirit
than
relative. "But,"
shooting the
to portray
"a
city, Ghirri
web
of
de-
tangled
connections.
Nobody sees
To
It's
a layer cake, a
notebook compiled
find a
a city simply
in
strata."
It
ily,
been so
ent time,
Ghirri
100
felt
that there
was
in
the
before,
Ferrara
still
window
in
the
he says, "the
interesting then,
it
and the
came
all
home
light
of a
had not
ivy
was
together,
it
realized."
a Renaissance
was
a single image
it
structure, plan
in
arts.
had
in
capital of
realized that
was
became
"I
in Italy's
cided,
As he walked
tle
between "suspended time and presbetween the renaissance casan antique jewel
and the anony-
mous touch
of
today
in
101
Responding
Subject
to the
Assignment: Love
Your assignment
graph
that
is to
make
communicates
photo-
love.
It
mannequin
the
this instruction
could not
who
dealt with
freely as those
or the city
a response. But as
itself is
it
turned out,
markable variety
of
at
has!" he says.
"It
lable,
to
could observe
many
at
sorts of
all
hand
human
was close
own
One day, riding up
situations
apartment building.
it
stirred
him most
tion.
with the
ger
eager
all
too
to
of youthful love.
LEONARD FREED.
1971
103
Responding
to the Subject:
Love
When California photographer Lou Stoumen agreed to take the assignment his
first
in love.
went
"Lovers
to find
it
is,"
some
in
he reflected, and
a Santa
some images," he
Monica
"I
made
some more.
go out
in
the street
and spend hours there. I'm like a fisherman. go to a bend in a creek where
think there ought to be a big one."
I
On Stoumen's
next
trip into
the street,
to a park,
"I
like that,"
wasn't expecting a
group
each
104
little
to-
other, casual
and
He
first
did not
like
the setting
in
which he
fol-
felt
was
a situation
in
which
his
men
in
view, Stou-
emerge from
"I'll
As the picture
a fortunate
like."
at right
shows, he chose
who
his subjects were, but the photograph he took clearly reveals the close
bonds of affection between them. "The
"was
that
each
of the three
kinds of
good
stuff.
This
went out
after
but
it's
is
what
found."
LOUSTOUMEN,
105
Responding
to the Subject:
Love
The two women in these pictures, Margitte (shown at right in the top far-right
frame) and Charlotte, are sisters, and
photographer Starr Ockenga immediately thought of using them to illustrate the
theme of love because of a closeness
between the two she had noticed while
making other pictures of them before this
assignment. "To me, they had an alterego quality," said Ockenga. "There was
almost a transfer of personality. Because
thought
they were so visually similar,
that might show in the pictures."
Ockenga photographed the sisters unI
"I
think
ness
in
ed
that to
also
come through
wanted
to eliminate
in
and
want-
the pictures.
what
their cloth-
To create
this
photographer
first
frames
of the
slightly farther
of the bodies.
bottom But
like
the
way
the
head
sits
When
Ockenga
match the
them
106
made
Responding
Peter
Love
to the Subject:
photograph
to
of
were
required
day
just
about
some
in
five hours,
shop where
the
come back
to
Magubane
did,
at 11
and there
at last
and
Puff,
Tiki,
he met
and
Sa-
aboard
train of children's
their specially
contrived
Magubane accompanied
his pets
on
tainment
for
McGriff and
parade
which
the cats and enter-
their daily
108
far
the urban
too distracting.
"They
first
came
finally
locating him
waited
and
known but
well
thoroughfare not
for
all
On
minutes.
in
warm
too
this
way
warm
in
the shade.
at all.
people
himself:
sants
would
And
if
it's
He gives them
the
enjoy.
about 20
them out
to
for
sort of treats
In fact,
to his
He feeds them
ice
cream, crois-
people would
he talks to them as he
own
children."
nagerie an extension
of his
own
family
-stroll.
PETER MAGUBANE.
1981
109
Responding
"I
human
is
one
of the great
miss
it
result of
some tough-minded
analysis of
the assignment.
"I
was looking
young
for in
Love
a family with a
child
ily,"
Caribbean countries.
"I
hoped
in
that they
would be demonstrative."
At the beginning,
Webb
of different situations,
lot
recalls,
"I
was
worked in
and can get
I've
to feel relaxed
never going
initial
to
fit
in,
in
the pho-
began to
open up and play with each other, and
did not worry about me. They were pinching each other, and mimicking, and there
was a funny tension. There was an agwas a
gressiveness about the kid, but
love."
loving aggressiveness.
tiveness, greed.
thought
of
doing some-
who worked
in
someone
a hospital, or a psychiatric
smacked
too
much
of
enough of true
Then, as Webb was mulling over
lively
"I
four-year-old boy.
thought
it
it
such as a picture of
people greeting each other at an airan opportunity arose for him to
port
photograph in the home of a family with a
other possibilities
>**.
what
to the Subject:
might be easier
"I
ful
love
should
not
to find
about play-
be too balanced.
back
of the
couch."
Responding
to the Subject:
Love
an
in
effort to
She went to a
photographed
dresses
capture
this quali
bridal fashion
show
ai
on weddii
fiances and mothei
girls trying
for their
been separated
Then she four
out about a New Jersey housewi
who loved animals and was particula
devoted to a baby macaque monk
named Sam. Miss Arbus asked perm
sion to photograph her at home, ai
day
the
in
their lives.
woman
agreed.
intentionally
wi
placi
veilii
reflection
ulating
to
catch a flavor of
Most
"total ordinariness
The one
that
at left,
It
snapshot
of his wife
and youn
of a child."
The Importance
of
"When"
Suspended Animation us
126
136
116
Family. Luzzara.
Italy.
1953
115
When people
mean
the time
talk
it
about time
takes to
in
make
a picture
in
cause the photographic image must be recorded on film over a certain period of time, however brief or extended. This chapter will consider time in
another context: how a photograph can convey an idea of time to the beholder. The duration of exposure need not matter.
Photography explores the dimension of time from one extreme to the other
from the billionths of a second recorded by nuclear physicists studying evanescent atomic particles to the billions of years analyzed by astronomers
can answer many of the
tracing the birth of the universe in star pictures.
questions about time: When? How long? How frequently? (in some cases all
in one picture). In the intermediate, more comprehensible ranges of time,
which most pictures represent, photographers have found various ways of
expressing time, partly for its own interest and partly because the sense of
time influences the response of the beholder. Only three of these ways will
It
be taken up here, and all relate mainly to the question "When?" First, the
concept of suspended time: the picture in which the clock seems to have
stopped. Its intent is not to specify an exact time, and its answer to "when" is
pictures in
ambiguous. Most landscapes, still lifes and formal portraits
are examples. Second, peak time:
which there is no indication of motion
the so-called decisive-moment picture, which precisely specifies a particular instant and is as climactic and unrepeatable as the photo finish of a
horse race. Third, random time: the picture of a before-or-after time, am-
which indeed
biguous again, like a sidelong glimpse of ordinary life
spends most of its time between high points.
Some other, less conventional ways of thinking about time are included in
such as stroboChapter 5, and there are of course still other approaches
scope images and movement-blurred images, which can be made to answer
the questions "How long?" and "How frequently?" The pictures that follow
are widely disparate in subject and technique, as well as in the attitudes
about time that they bespeak, and yet they have a common denominator.
They are all reportorial in that they convey fact rather than fiction. What they
show
is
in
each,
reality is
it
rected, the people painstakingly yet normally posed, at their impassive ease;
116
they obviously belong together. Strand later described the mother as "that
pillar of serene strength," and the picture itself is full of self-sufficient serenIt is a tableau, as artfully staged as the groups of marble-white living statuary that used to be unveiled with fanfare at the circus. And like those
tableaux,
is symbolic, representing a concept that transcends the moment
at which the picture was made. It is replete with emblematic details facial
ity.
it
resemblances, bare
masonry that
feet,
were doing before Strand gathered them for the portrait outside their home
in Luzzara, Italy, and whatever they did when he let them go their ways, this
family is captured forever to represent the unity of matriarchal families.
these people share in a kind of immortality.
used out-of-date equipment when he took the picture is,
oddly enough, relevant to the suspended-time picture. When Strand spoke of
the portrait, he recalled that "the photograph was made with a 5 x 7-inch Home
Portrait Graflex, purchased in 1931, that was still of unimpaired usefulness to
While time stands
The
still,
lens, a Dagor 12-inch, was stopped down to f/32, probably." His exposure was presumably about 1/30 second. "The Family" could have been
photographed in almost the same manner a century ago, had existed then. In
me. The
it
posed
in
ways
that
suspended time simply because technical limitations made difficult any other
was possible with skill and luck to freeze a peak instant or a
scheme.
random moment, but such pictures did not become easy to make, and therefore attractive to experiment with, until the advent of fast films and small cam-
It
eras
in this
century.
attention.
among
it
is
to
be placed
in
time.
117
Suspended Animation
made
if
more
pictures as
this,
William
there
is
not
in
tures
suspend time
clear clues to time, and the first
says is that
was made at night,
offers
thing
at
it
that
it
it
It
a street scene
cisco, as
it
most pic-
in
happens
its
city
and
San
it
make
contents.
is
Fran-
a mod-
can
city in the
emblematic
mid-20th Century. So
standing
tionless nighttime
for
it
is
dormant, ac-
such places.
it was made,
the street might have been alive with
activity, the truck might have moved,
the light in the double doorway at right
might have been switched off except
none of that matters.
in
all
suspended
to
mmmm
118
WILLIAM GEDNEY
Street at Night.
119
In the lifelong
German
pose as
In
crew
is
recorded
in stati
AUGUST SANDER
120
Laborer, 1927
DC
1976
121
MARTINE FRANCK Le
Castellet, France,
1976
122
'
frorr
BRUCE DAVIDSON
Mother and
Child,
1968
123
THOMAS BROWN
Kitchen, 1968
(he
any meal,
in
almost any
home
of
its
kind.
124
this
distinction
camera;
time
in
all
peak
or a
sample
random mo-
an instant
to
time
is
moment in
among
fix,
Such
with the
nalists
used
reporting
phers
126
came
arresting of time
If
conquer."
where
his,
of
arrest,
era.
to
will
suggests
the
at either
moment
dynamic ones
page and
time,
the telling
suspended
can be
almost any
this
instant.
approach
While jour-
principally in
tesz, Cartier-Bresson
soon sought
Bill
Brandt
extract
meanings and
only
to
newsmakers
but ordinary
people.
an idea.
A
Seizing an instant in flight, Henri Cartier-Bresson
has caught the fugitive image of a man in mid-air
127
MICHAEL SEMAK
Chance
Italy,
1961
moment,
if
the
moment that
HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON
Spain. 1933
129
ANDRE KERTtSZ
Among
at
In this
glimpse of
Italian
seminary students
MARIO GIACOMELLI.
131
1965
a
the figures of father, bride
and
Its
dark form creates a silhouette against the lightcolored wall, and its curving shape contrasts with the
strong vertical lines of the doors. "One always has to
be open and ready for moments of accident and
improvisation." says Koudelka. "They can create the
richest experience of all."
IAN
BERRY
When
saw a composition
it
all
together
had been
and the head of the boy at the left would not have
been separated from the black band at the top."
134
JACK SCHRIER
'67,
Montreal. 1967
135
In
decisive-moment picture.
tograph.
switched
moments, they
their attention to
awareness
another kind
They took to
photographing those random moments
when nothing much seems to be hapof
pening
life's
of time.
non-events. Instead of
tion of
in
real world.
ple's faces
and
split their
subjects
in half
realists,
merge
lieve,
at
a photograph
As often as not there is something jarring, even irritating, about such a pho-
136
its
The "decinew
And
if
to
at life
to take a picture.
moment,"
of the
like
phers
frame, or they
moment
pho-
in
sive
line,
it
what the
first
balance,
is
tography
tilt
off
which
photographer intended.
Ambiguous and
to try to
honesty.
in
deprive a picture
of
"I
is
to
in
pho-
moves
in
perfect images."
ROBERT FRANK
Bar
1955
137
GARRY WINOGRAND
138
their positions
139
140
ARK COHEN
originally
caught
his
eye
India.
1978
Strolling
at twilight,
143
NAZIFTOPCUOGLU
The Innovators
One
148
Picture from
Many
150
Dimension 160
166
II
Seashells, 1981
The Innovators
Innovation
is
the rejuvenator of
any
whether
art.
of movie scripts,
go stale. A good innovator, of course, should be thoroughly versed in
the fundamentals of his craft. But in challenging old standards and exploring
new approaches, he may help the art retain its vitality. This has been true in
photography from the first and is still true today, as resourceful and imaginative photographers continue to experiment with new ways to express them-
fresh ideas,
begins
field,
it
to
it
selves
in
pictures.
Many photographic
ple by surprise.
In
innovations
seem
baffling at
first
photography that enables them to recognize what they see. The need for this
shared understanding is illustrated by anthropologists' experience with people
who have had little or no contact with modern technology. When scientists visit
a remote area, they sometimes try to befriend their hosts by taking their pictures with instant-developing
film,
and
offering
if
uncomprehending
looks. Nothing
experience has given them the ability to interpret tones or colors on a piece of paper
a photograph
and recognize in it their own likenesses. In the same way, though on a
in their
much more
so
far
sophisticated
level,
not know, at
first,
The pictures
how
in this
some
of
to react to
of
what a photograph
is
about that
we
simply do
them.
of innovators
For example, the striking abstract design on the preceding page started with
an ordinary picture postcard a photograph of seashells. The photographer
bought 200 copies of the card, and taped them together in a swirling pattern.
lines rising to
rolling of
waves
Man Ray
again.
turn
The
latest
of
AARON
SISKIND:
Rome
Hieroglyph
1963
8,
graffiti left
own
feelings
and
language
of photography
has been extended." Aaron Siskind wrote,
"the emphasis of meaning has shifted
from
what the world looks like to what we feel about
"
the world and what we want the world to mean.
reactions. "As the
whom
and
alive.
And so
in
subject matter. The pictures were not just reports of rocks, but expressions of
Siskind's own thoughts and resomething far more personal and subjective
actions to them:
minds and
There
is
"I
began
to feel reality
was something
in
our
feelings."
in
most
of Siskind's later
it
it,
niques. They
parts; they
to
images from bits of torn paper, flowers, fabrics and light itself.
draw upon all areas of human experience to suit their own
In short they
purposes. And in each case in which the photographer has succeeded, innovation once again has expanded the art.
to create striking
try to
149
One
Picture from
The boundaries
creasingly being
Many
of
an actual object or
happened
at
a certain time
and place.
demonstrated both
tations.
sion of
The power
reality,
The
limits
izes
he
is
its
power and
is in its
its limi-
gripping
illu-
flat
real-
surface,
tions,
to
have
of
Does a pho-
be flat? Does
one image in a sinto
it
be limited to
gle frame 9 Must the event photographed
to
it
tions: a
duce,
is
to
enlarge his
photography's outer
own concept
of
limits.
RAY
K.
METZKER
151
Challenging Traditions:
One
Visit.
Picture from
Stockholm,
Many
Swed
summer with
152
Two photographs
EVON STREETMAN
153
Challenging Traditions:
One
Picture from
Many
154
REEDESTABROOK
18 North
Mam Street.
Providence.
Rhode
Island.
1969
155
Challenging Traditions:
One
Picture from
Many
^lr
IMIlNl
-**
Y
TETSU OKUHARA Woman
156
with
PATRICK NAGATANI
157
Challenging Traditions:
One
Picture from
Many
and
II,
1980
PAULBERGER
62.
1977
159
Challenging Traditions
Dimension
in
find their
own
to
pho-
in
a studio
number
of individualists
are borrowing
some
many
hoky, that
puns and
jokes. But
all
own
affinities with
sculp-
used.
also looks
It
back
to a 19th
Century
Cameron
to illustrate
a difference.
photographers hoped
there
is
real.
But the
advertisements.
bereft of
160
genuine
fiction.
try to
in
created
deceive. Their
light
we
He wrapped sheets
ideas.
for
and illuminatic
of white photograpl
Strips in Cylinder
and Tom
Cylinder.
1979
161
JERRY McMILLAN
162
Texas, 1978
it
ROBERT CUMMINGS
TOM DRAHOS
SANDY SKOGLUND
Radioactive
165
Challenging Traditions
An
office
number
But a
of inventive
The
instrument.
du-
lize
is
not
age
source
of a likely
into
it
of
photogra-
a picturemaking
office copier
is
a kind of
and a
lens, but
it
is
camera
that can-
must be brought
is
made
to
it.
to control
setting.
Depth
of field is
for
and documents,
plicating letters
severely limited,
directly
and
for
reproductions. Within
artists,
how-
the
Copy-machine
many
have developed
artists
different techniques.
Some
Copy
limits,
of
com-
per
an inch above
silver
within
means
instantly by
site, right).
create
back
document glass (oppolight
subjects
in
still
combine
use
166
uti-
picture.
and
172).
single prints to
Still
make
others
a larger
in this
skill
are unnerv-
serendipitous
art.
Series, 1971
167
Series.
1979
SONIALANDY SHERIDAN
Flowers, 1976
169
Flowers, 1979
170
lines,
^^
For this composite image, the photographer
used a black-and-white copy machine from the late
1950s. It has a movable camera mounted on a
Hat bed that is rolled back and forth on runners. The
Jl
image
of flowers
and leaves
ways
JOAN LYONS
1978
171
SUDA HOUSE
172
What's a
Woman
to
Do?, 1979
The
Principles at
Work
In
ANDRE KERTESZ
Satiric
Dancer. 1926
175
The Principles
at
Work
In Pursuit of Excellence
Over the
altar of
a church
in
100
lire
package
is
of ciga-
art critic
is
the great-
in
the world."
being made.
The photographer, whenever he looks through his viewfinder or examines
his negatives in the darkroom, must choose one picture out of all the possibiliand
ties; he must be able to decide which exposures are better than others
understand, intuitively or logically, why. If he cannot employ principles of photography to recognize excellence, he can never make a good photograph
ally
except by
luck.
approached the
difficult
in
may
in
pho-
number
of characteris-
such as
one or more of the basic components of vision
shape, texture, form and color
and the components can be arranged within
the picture frame to generate visual interactions that suggest such qualities as
balance, rhythm, proportion, dominance and subordination. In the humorous
photograph of a Parisian cafe dancer on the preceding page, for example,
Andre Kertesz employed the contrasts between dark and light to make an
abstract design at the same time that they focus attention on the dancer and
the pieces of sculpture that flank her. The witty parallels between the dancer's
pose and the sculpture were also deliberately set up to create a sense of fun,
satirizing the exaggerated shapes and gestures of the statues, for arrangements of visual elements can be (and generally are) manipulated to show a
certain response on the part of the photographer
that is, his interpretation of
the meaning of the subject.
The photographer also may indicate his intent through his representation of
a sense of time
a cleverly seized instant of action, for example, or a randomly
chosen moment
or he may achieve his purpose by his basic approach to
photography, choosing either the orthodox idea of photographs as small, flat
objects that depict reality by recording light on film, or some newer scheme
such as scratching on raw film, a process that does not depend on light and
tics.
It
exhibit
disregards
All
reality.
map
of
photographic possibli-
ties.
176
blindly into the unknown. The map can indicate a useful way to a destination,
even though cannot set an exact course.
The history of photography is full of attempts to specify more precisely the
best course for making pictures. Two of the most prominent schools of thought
have been the so-called pictorialist and purist approaches. The pictorialists,
it
shared the
artistic
concepts
possessed of a grain of sense or perception, [he] will never rest until he has
acquainted himself with the rules that are applied to art
and he will make
his constant and most anxious study how he can apply these rules to his own
.
it
of interest
And
reality.
their technical
procedures
employing
The
their
images
unlike
excesses of the pictorialists, adopted a comThey insisted that a photograph show what
human
vision
space (humans do
ly
in
of course,
full
of
sweeping landscapes
that delin-
eate every texture and tone, and calm portraits that reveal each pore
in
the
subjects' faces.
Both the
pictorialist
and
purist
tems
of
map
of options.
Here
tury,
working
spell of
of routes
in the 20th Cencommunication in a variety of ways. Perhaps the creative thrust behind each picture can only be described by the mysterious term
genius
but the fundamental principles exhibited by the pictures are both explainable and universally available.
its
is
177
The Principles
at Work: In Pursuit of
RICHARD AVEDON.
178
S/c//y,
1947
Excellence
surrealistic
in
Paris Gigantic
FRANCO FONTANA
Presences. 1979
179
Fine.
1952
In Pursuit of
GARYL PRATHER
The picture opposite violates familiar proportions
with a vengeance, reducing a man to a mere
speck, dwarfed by two looming gram elevators.
But by turning the elevators into areas of
blackness, the photographer has ingeniously
made the presence of the man apparent, even as he
cuts him down to size There is only one path
for the viewer's attention to follow
Excellence
The photographer saw only wonderfully cleanlined shapes when he came upon a roadside
stable one rainy day while driving north of San
Francisco. The glistening roofs appeared to float.
He stopped and waited for the rain to let up Then,
shooting in sunlight and exposing to darken
everything but the roof, he changed the stable into
a structure of angles and planes that seems
perfectly self-sufficient as it hovers in a void.
181
BILL
182
BRANDT
Halifax,
1937
The Principles
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
Artistry
in
admits no
limits of
1904
183
In Pursuit of
Excellence
OTTOSTEINERT Pans
Pedestrian, 1951
of radiating lines
184
A dazzling study
of form
is
presented
in
the
the ring
ready
to
LENNART OLSON:
185
The Principles
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
Lace pinned
JOHN PFAHL:
186
California,
1978
ANTANASSUTKUS
187
In
Pursuit of Excellence
DAVID
188
MOORE
DC
1956
ROMANO CAGNONI
Soldiers,
1968
189
In
Pursuit of Excellence
ANDRE KERTESZ
190
Melancholy
Tulip,
1939
In
Pursuit of Excellence
EGONSSPURIS
Inertia,
1968
193
of Steps. 1903
The Principles
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
of a stairway
MAXWALDMAN
Nuns
M,
195
of his subject
portrait,
EDWARD STEICHEN
196
The Principles
BILL
BRANDT
Coal
Se,
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
In
Pursuit of Excellence
second
light is
camera But
GEORGE TICE
/Aspen Grove
in
Colorado. 1969
199
The Principles
GJON
MILI
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
200
Greeting. 1911
above
201
In
Pursuit of Excellence
choosing
random
to
left.
to
be a
subject
an
effort to
lb
203
The Principles
at
Work:
In
in
Pursuit of Excellence
Light
diamond-shaped frame
of light
halved
into light
204
PAUL HILL
Girl in
Striped
Shirt,
wall.
in
205
The Principles
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
is
the rear
window
of the hearse.
by being framed in
And the
third is the
itself,
implication of death
206
1951
207
The Principles
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
DUANEMICHALS
In
same
object
is
"Is this
us 7 "
may
refer
208
filled
with
soda pop.
BART PARKER
Untitled,
1979
209
210
In
Pursuit of Excellence
Friends. 1963
at
between
the
Entitled
Madonna,
and
211
In
Pursuit of Excellence
Soft locus
and
in
photographed
the burning of
Rome
pose
of the
women,
hostility.
GEORGE H
212
and place
W EUGENE SMITH
213
ZDENEK VOZENILEK
214
Winter
in
Prague, 1961
The Principles
at
Work;
In Pursuit of
Excellence
city of
scene.
GEORGE KRAUSE
Fountainhead. 1969
by
this
The Principles
at
Work:
In
Pursuit of Excellence
Chair,
1979
216
Bibliography
Visual Elements
Van Nostrand
Cray,
Prentice-Hall, 1967,
Design A Problem-Solving
Approach Van Nostrand Reinhold. 1967
Gibson. Ralph, ed Contact Theory Lustrum Press.
Garrett. Lillian, Visual
1980
Kepes. Gyorgy
ed Education of Vision George Braziller, 1965
Language of Vision Paul Theobald, 1967
ed Module. Proportion. Symmetry. Rhythm
George Braziller. 1966
tLyons, Nathan. Photographers on Photography.
Prentice-Hall,
1966
Concepts
for
1980
'Taylor.
John
FA,
in
the
Weismann. Donald L
Human
Press.
George
of Art Bobbs-Merrill,
1968
Photographic Images by Sixteen
Artists/Photographers Akron Art Institute, 1970
N Uelsmann Philadelphia Museum of Art
Aperture, 1970
Lyons, Nathan, ed
Aaron Siskind Photographer George Eastman
'Into the 70's
'Jerry
House. 1965
The Persistence of Vision Horizon Press. George
Museum
International
of
1979
The Criticism of Photography as Art:
The Photographs of Jerry Uelsmann University of
1970
"Ward, John L
Florida Press,
in
tAlso available
in
paperback
paperback
Acknowledgments
for this book was prepared by Karla J.
Knight For help given in the preparation of this book,
the editors are particularly indebted to Martus
Granirer. New City, New York, who served as a
special consultant The editors also wish to thank the
The index
New
York
City,
Wynn
Bullock,
City,
Harvey Lloyd,
Rochester.
New
New
York
City;
Marilyn McCray.
New
York
Camera. Lucerne,
Switzerland. Walter Rosenblum, Professor,
Brooklyn
College, New York, Joel
Art,
Department of
City; Allan Porter, Editor,
219
KlCIUr OrGQItS
COVER Ken
Credits from
left to right
,f
dem Bussche
64-71 Wolf
Text Credit
Chapter 1 12. 16. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Marginal
quotes from Photographers on Photography.
edited by Nathan Lyons, copyright 1966 by PrenticeHall, Inc
Jersey,
in
Englewood
Rochester,
220
Cliffs,
collaboration with
New York
New
George Eastman House,
Fil
Hunter.
21
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art,
New York,
gift of
InQGX
Numerals
in italics
Cameron.
Abbott. Berenice, quoted. 20
Abstiact designs, in photography. 43,
50-51.56, 148-149. 7 75, 176. 780787, 784,
788
Ambiguity, suggested in
photography. 116, 720-727, 136.
137-144 See also Random
moments in time
elements
20.21,48 See also Design
29. 48, 60, 61
76;
of.
19-
Aperture, 61
Arbus, Diane, 1 12, photographs by,
112. 210, quoted, 112
of,
38. 63.
Design
Art, definitions for.
21
B
Balance. 20, 62, 67,69, 176
asymmetrical. 66-67. 69, creative
use Of, 15. 1 7, 59, 60. 66-67. 722,
134-135. 136, 783, 276. framing
for, 75. 1 7, 734. 276, lack of. 62-63.
770-777. 136. 137-144
Batho. John, photograph by, 41
Beaton, Cecil, photograph by. 203
Benares. India, photograph of. 743
Berger Paul, photograph by. 759
Berry Ian photograph by, 734,
quoted. 134
Blakely, George Curtis II, photograph
by. 747
Blurring. 61. creative use of, 85, 1 16
143. 144, 184.200-201. due to
motion, 116, 184.201
Bracketing of exposures. 1 7
197
BrassaT. 1 26
Brown. Dean, 84. photograph by. 8485. quoted. 84
Brown. Thomas. 124, photograph by,
724
Bussche. Wolf von dem, 63. 64,
design studies by. 64-74.
photographs by, 59. 64-74
182.
rangefmder. 94,
50,63
160
166.
Catamo,
37
Julia Margaret,
Candlelight. 87
photograph
Elisabetta,
Chicago, photograph
of.
by.
757
of.
92-93
768
68
188.
balance
in,
7,
20, 59,
60
photograph
of,
New York
City.
59
62
Cohen. Mark. 141, photograph by
747, quoted, 141
Color, 22, 28, 42, 1 76, copy art. 1 66
768-7 72, creative use of. 42-49. 5253, 56. 65. 86-87. 95. 744. emotion
evoked by. 42. emphasis in
Daylight color
film,
56
Fotodynamics. 201
Framing for balanced design. 75, 17.
734, 276. for unbalanced design,
136. 137-144
Franck, Martine photograph by. 722.
quoted. 122
Frank. Robert. 136, 137. photographs
by. 737. 142.202.206-207,
quoted, 136
Freed, Leonard. 102. photograph by.
702-703; quoted. 102
Fresson Quadnchromie color
process. 94-95
Freund. Gisele. photograph by. 42
Friedlander. Lee, 140. photograph
by. 140
Frith. Francis, quoted. 177
Arrangement
light, 799
Dinesen. Isak, 797
Documentary photography. 149
Doisneau, Robert, 99. photograph by
98. quoted. 99
Dominance in design, 48-49. 62, 63,
64-65,69. 176
Drahos, Tom. photograph by. 764
Drawing, combined with
photography, 170-171
Diffusion of
Electronic flash.
72,
747
See also
Flash lighting
Italy),
100-707
Esthetics, definitions
for,
21
Overexposure, Underexposure
Gedney.
46
Grand Erg Occidental Desert
Algeria,
photograph
of.
48-49
H
Haas
Ernst,
photograph
by.
45
45
72
photography
Daguerreotypes, 78
Davidson, Bruce, 122. photograph
by. 723
1 76; creative use of, 3841. 48-49. 52. 54, 56, 785, defined.
22, studies of, 26-27. use with color
and shape 48-49. use with color
pattern and texture. 52. 56, use
with texture. 54
62,
Christopher Street,
City,
69
quality
Color
Filters.
of,
film
by.
752
49
Flash lighting, 747, 144
Electronic flash
Floodlighting,
See also
39
190
Focal length, shape affected by. 22
Fontana, Franco, photograph by, 179
221
95, quoted,
149
Kline. Franz,
94
90-91.208, quoted, 90
Gjon. photograph by, 200
Sebastian. 22, 30,
photographs by, 23-29, 37, quoted
30, studies of visual characteristics
Mill,
Milito.
23-29
Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo, 148
Montage, 60
Moore, David, photograph by, 788
Morgan, Barbara, 39; photograph by,
39
by,
in,
72-73, pictonalist
63. 64. 78
Light diffusion of, 799, reflection of.
198, wavelengths of, 42
Lighting, 61 candlelight. 87. creative
use of. 13. 14, 75, 17. 18.32-33,
48-49, 55-56, 66. 74, 95, 734-735,
767, 766-167, 769, 180-181. 795,
197-199, 203-205. 211, effect of
weather on. 787. flash, 747, 744,
form revealed by, 26-27, 38-41,4849,54, muted, 724, sidelighting.
24-25, 27, 762, texture emphasized
by. 24-25, 36. 37. 50, 762, time of
day affecting. 12, 13, 14, 75, 17,
35, 44-45. 48-49
Line dominance established by, 6465. perspective established by, 72
Long lens, 22, 61, 789
,
of,
96-97
N
757
photograph
767
photograph
photograph
City,
of,
94-95
82. quoted,
by,
83
by,
276
by,
objective, 20, 21
18,
78, subjective,
19,20,21,78-80,87-772. 748.
149. 150
Meatyard, Ralph Eugene.
photograph by. 27 7
Me Nobody Knows, The (musical).
photograph
"Men of
of,
200
(Sander),
720
Metzker, Ray K photograph by, 757
Metzner. Sheila. 94. photograph by.
,
222
727
Plowden, David, 92; photograph by,
93. quoted, 92
Polarizing filter. 12,48-49
Portrait photography composite,
Of,
758, decisive moment in, 729. 732733, personality revealed in, 706707. 797, 796-797,203,204,270,
273, purist approach to, 177;
suspended time in, 775, 116-117.
toners,
166, 169
in
color
copy
214-215
Prather, Gary L photograph by, 787
Print, contact, 89, 159
Printing paper, 60
of,
photography, 68
177
Random moments
78
Starr, 106;
photographs
106
Painting
combined
in
with
imitation of,
77,
272
76,
in
photographs
737-744,202
Rangefmder camera, 94
Ray. Man. 148
77,
787
Schner.Jack photograph
735, quoted, 134
Sartre, Jean-Paul,
Sculpture,
in
by, 734-
765
Seeley,
George H
photograph by.
212
Selection of subject matter, 12-13,
74-75, 16-21.22,30,48
Semak, Michael: photograph by, 728,
quoted, 128
48-49,
of,
205
19, 22, 176, creative use of.
22-23, 30, 37-33, 48-57, 53, 55,
737, 733, 748. 775, 176, 787, 782
795. 203; defined, 22; lens focal
length affecting. 22, repetition of,
34-35, 53, 70-77, 756, 788-789;
studies of, 23, use with color and
form. 48-49, use with color and
Shape,
Sheridan,
by,
Soma
Landy, photograph
769
Reality in
photography
Reflections, use
36
altered. 75,
photography, 1218
in
Rhythm
Response
of
photographer, to
subject matter, 19-21, 78-80,87772, 149, 190, 211, 212, 215, "The
City" as subject, 79, 92. 93-707,
"Love" as subject, 79, 102-112.
"Mannequin" as sub|ect, 77. 79-80,
87-82,83,84-88,89,90-97
Response
of viewer, to
67,78. 149
Reversal color
design, 61 -63,
62, 67,
photograph by,
"Mannequin"
film.
200
69, 72
Skoglund, Sandy, photograph by,
765
Slow-speed film, 36, 183
Smith, Stanley
Panning, 200
Paper, printing, 60
Parada, Esther, photograph by, 758
Paris, photographs of. 98-99, 727
photography
photography,
Peter, 108;
83,84-88,89,90-97
Mark, Mary Ellen photograph by,
732-733, quoted, 133
Meaning as element of photographic
analysis. 19-20, 21,22,60, 62,
Photojournalism, 126
Pictonalist school, 177,272
Place de I'Europe, Paris, photograph
Purist school,
Ockenga.
in
272
Rubin. Gail, photograph by, 44
photograph
by, 108-109, quoted. 108
Mannequin, as subject for six
photographers. 77. 79-80. 87-82.
Design
New York
767-7 72
Okuhara, Tetsu photograph by, 756.
quoted. 156
Olson, Lennart. photograph by, 785
Overexposure, 7 78
Scott,
Prague, photograph
by, 766-
73
Perspective-control lens. 87
Pfahl. John, photograph by, 786
Photogram, 61
Photograph, analysis of. 12-21. 22,
23-29. 48, 60, 61 1 76 See also
art.
Nesbitt, Esta.
Magubane,
Powdered-mk
720-723
Potassium bichromate, 94
MacLeay.
197.203,204,210.213
Kodachrome. 42
63
1
76, creative
use
of,
in
response
Suspended
time,
photography,
183. 216,
7
suggested
in
118-125,
photography,
75, 116,
in portrait
75,116-117.720-723
787
Symmetry. 34. 67,
Tice,
74,
127
87, quoted.
moments
87
in.
Underexposure.
274-275
w
Waldman. Max. photograph by. 795
Wavelengths of light 42
Webb. Alex. 111, photograph by,
7 70-7 7 7, quoted. 111
Weight, visual, of sub|ect matter, 61
66-67
Weiss, Ralph, photograph by,
Weston, Edward, quoted. 16
783.276
Time of day
17,
7 7
34
Vantage
point,
emphasis
738-739
Wolf, Remhart, photograph
by,
47
223