Formalism

Formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the way it is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world.

Formal/visual elements

Light – how the light source, which can be natural or artificial, is positioned in relation to your subject.

Line – anything that stretches between two points in your photo. 

Repetition – using repeating shapes or a repetitive pattern inside the frame as part of the composition.

Shape – Shape is generally considered two-dimensional, while Form is three-dimensional.

Space – the direction the subject of the photograph is moving in, or even just looking in.

Texture – the visual depiction of variations in the color, shape, and depth of an object’s surface.

Value/ tone – the lightness or darkness of an object.

Colour – dominant colors are the warm colors, e.g. red, yellow, and orange, and cooler colors are the receding colors, e.g. blue, green and purple.

Composition – how a photographer arranges visual elements within their frame.

Analysis of an image taken by Alexander Rodchenko in 1925, ‘Fire Escape’

Examples

Technical

Lighting:

Type of lighting – Flash (two point lighting)

Technical

Lighting:

Type of lighting – Flash (two point lighting)

This is photoshoot. I did it in the studio with artificial lighting. I attempted to get certain aspects of the photo in focus and others not. This took a while as I had to do it with manual focus.

Edits

Aperture is used to control the exposure (how much light is let in the camera) of an image. It controls the exposure by expanding and shrinking. The larger the hole, the more light is let in, meaning the image will have a small depth of field and be blurry. However, the smaller the hole, the less light is let in – resulting in a large depth of field and a sharp in focus image.

When using aperture it can be confusing because a small aperture actually means the aperture hole is wide, and vice versa for a large aperture. A large aperture means the aperture hole is narrow. This can be seen on the image below.

Images taken with a wide aperture:

Images taken with a narrow aperture:

My photos taken with different apertures:

• 

• 

• 

When comparing these images as you can see how the aperture can affect how in focus the image is. The image on the left is all out of focus and blurry suggesting the image was take with a aperture of around f2.8. The middle image is also blurred and out of focus but less than the first image this suggests that the image was taken with a small aperture around f4. The final image is the one which is most in focus but was still taken with a small aperture of f5.6.

Formalism is the visual aspects of a piece of work, and how it is formed rather then the meaning or connections it makes in the world.

The visual and formal elements consist of  line, shape, repetition, rhythm, balance, light, space etc. Formalist photography focuses on how the photo is structured; are the lines all travelling in the same direction? Are the shadows deeply contrasted or blended? What shape does the image have (3D/2D)?

Some examples of formalist photos:

Lines and light

In all these photos there is a sense of the lines leading you in a certain direction (the leading lines direct your eyes naturally around the image). It could be sharp lines, like the first image, soft curved lines, like the second, or rounded lines, like the last. The shadows surrounding the lines can also tell you about the light. Whether it’s natural or studio lighting. If it’s natural, the placement of the shadow can give an idea of the time of day.

Repetition

There is also repetition of lines in these photos. Repetition is usually hidden, or shown clearly in some formalistic images. In the last image, the steps create a dramatic rhythm in the photo, going downwards. The repetition of shadows slowly gets smaller too, and gives the impression of something disappearing.

Texture

These photos hold great texture, as there are multiple patterns, curves and shapes within the objects that are being photographed. The first image’s texture is very geometric, and it looks like the texture would feel hard, and cold. However the texture in the second photo has a softer feel to it as the texture is less harsh and is bumpy.

I analysed an image to show the formalist elements in a famous image by Andre Kertesz of a street photo in Paris.

Formalism is the identification of a formal set of rules and order that photographers agree are imperative in the making of a photo. These consist of visual/artistic elements, such as lines/shape/form/repetition, and also the elements which are specific to photography as a medium, such as focus/frame/shutter speed. Knowing these key terms and how to use them allows us to equip them to analyse images taken by other artists and use a universal language to discuss them. When a photographer typically identifies a ‘mistake’ in their image it will refer to a misalignment in their ‘following of the rules’ –  e.g. out of focus, subject cropped, blur etc.

Looking at Threshold Concept #8 from Photo Pedagogy, we can see that the idea of this set of rules is becoming rather outdated as photography expands its capabilities as a medium.

The above image shows where we have annotated an image based on the ‘photo literacy’ – outlining the shape, texture, depth, tone etc. This gives us as viewers more of a way into understanding the image at a greater depth and grants us the ability to explain it to others through the universal language we have established.

 
What is photography the art or practice of taking and processing photographs. However, what does photography mean to people who enjoy it and for the people who take photos for people to enjoy. David Campany wrote a book called “On photographs” he says in the book that “Photographs are often thought of as ways to hold things still, to calm the flux of a restless world. They allow us to gaze at fixed appearances, for pleasure or knowledge, or both” what this mean is that many people can enjoy photography in many ways like learning something from a photograph or just simply enjoying the photo someone has taken because of natural beauty, meaning behind the photo, or what the photo means to that person.  
Editing in photography is more common now then it was 50 years ago this is because of technology advances, however editing photos could be seen as a false art, a photo has been edited to look better than the real thing, however. When artist paint they can overdo things like make the sky bluer or paint a house smaller or bigger than the real thing so editing can be seen as the photographers view on what they want to show the world.  
 

Over the years photography has gotten increasingly better cameras have gotten better and smaller than cameras from 50 years ago however some photographers seem to like the aesthetic of older cameras then newer cameras. This is strange but also its understander because. Some people like holding on to the old thing which is completely normal but is industrial always developing and getting better and better when there’s a big portion of people that stick by old cameras.  

 

In photography there are different types of photographers some like taking pictures of nature, some like taking photos of people, some like taking pictures of citys or towns, and some like to take pictures of everything this is good because photographers can be more divers in there work, say if they started to not want to take pictures of nature they could start to take pictures of people they can take photos of mostly anything there mind comes to. So I guess this could be a reason why people love photography because it can be different everyday if you want it to be or it can be the same its up to the photographer. 

Still life photography is taking pictures of objects that are arranged in a way that gives it narrative, still life photography is based on the Latin ideology Memento Mori (remember death). experiencing still life photography gives opportunities to use lighting, composition, textures in your photography.

Vanitas is art showing the shortness of life the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. Best known of vanitas still life art.

Memento Mori is an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death, Memento Mori originated in ancient Rome where slaves used to accompany generals in victory parades and whisper Memento Mori to remind them of their mortality.

Still life art has existed since the 17th century to modern day, but in the 19th century, artists adopted still life photography.

Richard Kuiper

Richard Kuiper is a still life photographer who uses luxury items and utensils to show off their wealth, for example he uses:  shells from the East Indies, priceless glassware from Venice, porcelain from China, silver and gold from Antwerp.

Aperture is the adjustable lens opening that controls the amount of light allowed into the camera. Aperture is used whether you want the background or foreground in focus.

for example if the aperture was f32 the lens would not let a lot of light in because of the small lens this would mean the foreground and background would be in focus, if the aperture was f1.4 the lens would let a lot of light in because of a wider lens this would mean the foreground is in focus but not the background.

Depth of field

Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and furthest elements in a scene.

Photos consist of visual and formal elements much the same as any art, however photos their own specific ‘grammar’ focusing on more technical photography exclusive elements- flatness, frame, focus, time, ect. Often when technical “mistakes’ are made in photography they are seen as art and then utilized. “formalism” focuses on the design, light and form over subject matter.

As seen is this photo by Aaron Haines it is not about the subject matter being the stairs, it is about how it is taken making it visually interesting. The stairs act as a repeating pattern down towards the stair well and framing it, making it the focal point of the image. Whilst the photo is monochrome, tonally the ground at the bottom the stairs is the darkest whilst the stairs are lighter creating contrast and further framing the stair well, it also helps create a sense of depth as we expect darker things to be further away.

The elements of formalism:

In these annotations we were picking out visual and formal elements. Based on this table focusing on visual:

Formalism

The simplest way to describe formalism in photography would be that: The Design, Composition and Lighting are dominant over Subject Matter. The photographer becomes a visual designer whenever a frame is captured. In camera cropping concentrates on the desired subject while eliminating everything else.

Photographers have to impose order, bring structure to what they photograph. It is inevitable. A photograph without structure is like a sentence without grammar—it is incomprehensible, even inconceivable.
​
— Stephen Shore

Examples of formal and visual elements are: line, shape, repetition, rhythm, balance. To capture a ‘perfect, beautiful’ photograph usually consists of (for example) making sure the camera is in focus and that the lighting and frame is ‘just right’. However, a vast variety of photographers think that sometimes not trying to think too hard about how you are photographing something and making ‘mistakes/breaking the rules’ creates a beautiful perfect photo too. For example not being in focus and having a blurred picture:

This image was taken by ‘Rolf Sach’ who creates several pictures which are blurred. This is a form of art even though it doesn’t abide to how a photograph should be taken.

Rolf Sachs’ blurred journey through the camera’s eye – BBC Culture

The formal/ visual elements:

Light: Which areas of the photograph are brightest? Are there any shadows? Does the photograph allow you to guess the time of day? Is the light natural or artificial? Harsh or soft? Reflected or direct? How does light fall across the objects in the photograph?

Line: Are there objects in the photograph that act as lines? Are they straight, curvy, thin, thick? Do the lines create direction in the photograph? Do they outline? Do the lines show movement or energy?

Repetition/Shape: Are there any objects, shapes or lines which repeat and create a rhythm or pattern? Do you see echoes or reflections within the image?

Space: Is there depth to the photograph or does it seem shallow? What creates this appearance? What is placed in the foreground, middle ground and background? Are there important negative (empty) spaces in addition to positive (solid) spaces? 

Texture/ value tones: If you could touch the surface of the photograph how would it feel? How do the objects in the picture look like they would feel?
Is there a range of tones from dark to light? Where is the darkest part of the image? Where is the lightest? Are the tones in the photograph balanced or does the image tend towards darkness or lightness overall. How does this affect the mood or atmosphere?

Colour: What kind of colours can you see e.g. saturated, muted, complementary, primary? Is there a dominant colour? How would this image be different if it was in black and white? Does the use of colour help us understand the subject or does it work independently?

Composition: How have the various elements in the picture been arranged? Does the image seem balanced or unbalanced? Is it possible to superimpose geometrical shapes on the image to better understand the composition e.g. a pyramid? Has the photographer used the Rule of Thirds?

We annotated Rut Blees Luxembourg Night Photography. To do this we used a table to pick out visual and formal elements: