The Formal Elements

INTRODUCTION

There are seven formal elements of photography which consist of: Line, Shape, Light, Repetition, Space, Texture, Value/Tone, Colour and composition. However in every photograph sometimes it can be challenging to find all seven elements. For example Martin Creed is a very well known artist for using light in several ways. To get inspiration for my photos I started off by looking at Martin Creed’s photograph of his paper ball, which personally I found very peculiar as it’s such a basic photograph but has several formal elements. However as it’s in black and white it allows more contrast to be shown which enhances the photo in several other ways. I then went on to try to recreate his photo which I feel worked to a certain extent.

PAPER SHOOT

BEST IMAGES

Light- The light in these photos are artificial as we used a torch to add harsh lighting to these photos rather than a soft natural lighting, which I feel enhances the texture of the paper. We can also chose the angle in which the light is coming from therefore we can adapt where the shadows are.

Line- I adapted the lines of the paper in different ways such as folding the paper in vertical lines as well as scrunching the paper up and then unfolding it to make a pattern of unorganised lines.

Repetition- In several of my photographs the lines and shapes are repeated this is due to the way I chose to fold them.

Shape- The shape of the paper is adapted throughout the photos as I decided to keep the paper flat whereas sometimes i decided to keep the paper scrunched up.

Space- As you can see I have rarely left space between the angle of the camera and the paper its self as I chose to take macro photos rather than distant photos.

Texture- The texture of my photos look very rough and uneven.

Colour- In my photographs I have chosen to adjust them to black and white as I feel that it enhances the photos and shows more details.

Composition- I decided to place the paper in the center so the photos didn’t look uneven.

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