PROJECT 2: VISUAL SKILLS
Exercise 1.2 point
Today I have explored the exercise of point which has left me with several more questions than I started with. Partly I am beginning to see that there is an intuitive element to good composition and that balance in the frame, if that is what we are trying to achieve, is not something that comes out of a technical photography manual necessarily. As Michael Langford points out ‘ There is no one formula to judge the success of a photograph’ (L. Michael,1997:16).
So then what is it that creates an interesting and engaging image that optimizes the frame and creates an image that has ‘punctum’ rather than just a mediocre effect? It seems that one has to get to know the way that people perceive the images that we make and images in general. This idea just expressed also comes from Langford (Basic photography, 1997).
These are the first ‘point’ images for allocating the point in different parts of the frame. They have a respectively different feel depending where the point is.
The sequence below I took on the street using the arrival and passing of people to engage more the context of the point in the frame which, as I hope is obvious, the road signs. The remit of not to be too obvious and yet needing to have the point visible, is something of an interesting challenge.
Here are five of the images of the point exercises that I have visually dissected into viewing points. I think that although this is true for the most part, there was one occasion where the viewing points came up in a different order. I think this was a pre-programmed response, knowing what elements were in the picture and being drawn to the most appealing. This process happens in a split second. The process of contact, perception and cognition seem to be a rapid succession of events that are
Images looked at from other sources for study. (Triodos bank newsletter, 2016)
Other photos that are not mine to be added to this exercise.
Conclusion:
Some observations are already in the above text. To add, I found the exercise revealing. I think what I have learned here is that there is a pattern in the way that the eye moves and the mind responds to visual imagery. In these photos above, one sees that there is not always a great deal of harmony and the eye moves chaotically around the frame, usually using the points as a landing base but not always. The eye traces around the frame looking for relationships between objects and this is partly how we interpret the meaning of the image. The context therefore is important and the different elements within the frame need to be in relationship to each other in some significant way for the image to have impact.
Langford.M,(1997) Basic photography, Focal press,Pg 16.
OCA log level 1 Photography 