David Präkel's article about photograpy is something that one should definitely take a look at when starting with photography, especially because it gives a very detailed, but not to long introduction to the more technical parts about photography.
Personally, I had some struggles when reading the text at the beginning of the term because I couldn't imagine that something as basic as composition or different frames could really be that important.
But now, as I've already worked with the camera a bit and as I've started shooting for my project I feel like the things that Präkel describes in his article seem much more logical and easier to understand for me.
Composition
I'm not going into the rules of composition anymore, because I've already talked about that in a separate post a while ago, but I do want to talk about the general analysis on composition that Präkel did in his article.
'Composition is the process of identifying and arranging the elements to produce a coherent image.' I feel like this is a perfect definition to start with because in a few words it basically says everything. Composition is all about creating harmony. Präkel compares learning composition to learning a language and I feel like although this might seem like a bit of an odd comparison it is a very good one that really helps to understand the process.
When you've learned a language you don't constantly think about it while talking, and it is exactly the same for composition. When taking pictures you don't constantly think about the composition.
Präkel says that 'the aim for the photographer should be to become fluent in the language of composition.' Learning a language isn't easy and it takes time until you're perfectly fluent, but the key to success is a very simple rule 'learning by doing' and this is also the case for composition.
I've noticed that when we went to Falmer village to take pictures, not once did I actually think about composition while taking my pictures, but when I looked at them on the computer afterwards I actually started to analyze the composition in each picture.
Furthermore, Präkel argues that composition needs 'emotion to feed on'. Only with emotion can we actually realize what we see on the picture in front of us, if we didn't have these emotions to analyze the picture everything would pretty much be the same, and we probably couldn't differentiate between the importance of different compositions.
To analyze the composition in an image, one first has to break it down into different parts: line, shape, form , texture, pattern and colour. But composition doesn't mean looking at each of these factors on their own, but combining them in the right way to great a kind of balance and harmony in the picture.
'Composition is the mental editing process a photographer applies as they work on an image to make its message easier for the viewer to read.' I feel like, this is a very important quote especially as I'm working on my project. When I started thinking about what shots I would do, I also thought about composition and how I could use it to get the viewers focus on the people and their phones without always having them right in the middle or in the foreground, and as I'm still planning to do my pictures in black and white I also thought a lot about how I would use the light, to make the pictures look good and easily recognizable even without colours. But, in the moment of shooting, I didn't think of any of these things, or maybe I did unconsciously.
What is most important in this last quote, for me and for everyone else working on a photographic essay is probably the fact that he says that composition is just making your message easier for the viewer to read, because what I want to do in my final project is have different shots that get people's attention and at the same time clearly show the message that these shots contain.
Before I finish this post, I just wanted to mention that in the article, Präkel also talks about different points of view and different perspectives, which has been a very important part of my thinking process when I started to develop ideas for a project. I thought it could also be interesting to just photograph everyday objects or situations from a different point of view or a different perspective, and although I didn't develop the idea further because I found another interesting topic for my project, I feel like Präkel's article has really influenced and inspired me in many ways.
Space
In another chapter of the same book, Präkel emphasizes the enormous importance of space in relation to composition. He says that: 'Composition is the process of organizing space.' Thinking about space in composition, is thinking about the proportions in the picture as well, and asking questions such as: how big do I want the subject to be? how much of the background do I want to be visible?
Präkel dedicates most of this chapter to the use and the importance of different frames. Size and location in the frame are essential thoughts you have to carry out to get a good composition and a kind of balance in your picture.
Two frames that are probably most common are the horizontal and the vertical frame. And although Präkel also talks about the square format and the panorama, I'm going to focus on the first two now, because I feel that these are more useful to me, for my project.
The horizontal format is often referred to as 'landscape' format and thus it is usually not used that much in portrait photography. This format makes it easier to include space behind or in front of the subject.
The vertical frame on the other hand, is rather defined as the 'portrait' format , and it often creates an exaggeration in the foreground-to-background depth in a photograph.
Finally, Präkel also mentions balance, which is another of the main components of a successful composition. I found it particularly interesting that he mentions a mini test that is often used in paintings to find the balance in a picture. 'The test in painting is to draw a vertical line down the center of the image and look for a balance between the two sides.' And although he says that this might not necessarily help photographers, because often they don't want to create a complete harmony but actually want to have some kind of imbalance in their picture to get the viewer's attention, I feel like keeping this test in mind can nevertheless be useful when you want to create a balanced photograph.
Application
In another chapter of his book, Präkel focuses on the application of composition in different forms of photography.
Thus he argues that for the landscape photographer it can be harder to find a good composition because he can only control certain aspects of the image and has to wait for others (as for instance, the right light).
In still.life photography, on the other hand, the photographer has complete control over every single detail in the picture and thus one could say that this might make it easier for him to find or create a good composition.
Also one might not think about it in the first place, composition also plays a major role in portraits, and Präkel argues that especially photographing the human bodies gives the photographer the possibility to experiment with light, shape and texture. But he also mentions that photographing more people together can be challenging, because the way each of the people reacts to each other and interacts with the others, strongly affects the atmosphere in the image.
Präkel also says that composition is a very difficult task for the documentary or action photographer, because obviously they can't control where or how their subjects move.
Präkel concludes with, what I think is the most interesting part about this chapter: the use of composition in advertising!
Contrary to composition in photography as art, in advertising it can be used quite differently and the photographer basically also hav to think about what happens to the picture after it is taken, is someone going to add text? Will it be published in magazines or online? etc...
And this is also the reason why these images often look incomplete or imbalanced before the editing process begins.
Reading:
David Präkel - Basics Photography Composition
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