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, such as line, shape, repetition, rhythm, and balance.
FORMALISM IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographs are ideological constructs, a different way of saying that they don’t simply show us what is ‘factual’ or ‘real’. However, on the other hand and argument could be that photo literacy in part depends on an understanding of the formal or visual elements, some of which are acquired from the visual arts.
Superficially, it might suggest an ability to “read” a photograph, to analyse its form and meanings.Photo Literacy is therefore a specific type of understanding that combines visual, linguistic, emotional and physical acuity.
Walker Evans began to photograph in the late 1920s, creating snapshots during a European trip. When he retuned to New York in 1930, he published his first image. During the Great Depression he started to photograph for the Resettlement Administration.
Harvey-Regan first constructed a montage of Evans’s images to make new forms of photography. He began to cut up various objects and putting them back together in a different form.
Darren Harvey-Regan, Beauties of the Common Tool, Rephrased II, 2013 Fibre-based handprint, mounted, wooden frame with museum glass
ANALYSE DIFFERENT ARTIST PHOTOGRAPHY
WALKER EVANS
DARREN HARVEY-REAGAN
These are 2 different photography artist that have similar style in photography, however Darren Harvey-Reagan was inspired by Walker Evans’ work. Both images have a a basic layout of one simple object with a neutral background. The shape seems 2D however Evans slightly elevates his images to create a slight shadow. The photos are balance due to the objects being placed in the centre and the image having equal strong lighting. Harvey-Reagans work is slightly different and unique as he takes apart the objects photographing them differently or creating an un-usual object with the parts.
This means not using flash; instead its having lights constantly lit compared to the flash being activated when taking the picture. When using continuous lighting you use a slow shutter speed for example 1 second. Usually the photograph will have shadows and the camera is set up on a tripod. When experimenting i used a product table for my objects with an infinity curve in the background. Continuous lighting is often referred as ‘low key’. This is an example:
Flash lighting
Flash lighting is the opposite of continuous lighting. It creates less shadows and needs a high shutter speed, when using flash lighting its more efficient to use a tripod to keep the camera in place and steady. This is known as high key.
The photo on the left shows constant lighting compared to the one on the right which uses flash lighting. There are less shadows and gives a clearer view compared to the one on the left.
Walker Evans was an American photographer and photojournalist well known for his work for the Farm Security Administration, documenting the effects of the Great Depression where he spent two months on a fixed-term photographic campaign in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Much of Evans work from the FSA included photographing using a less developed camera. He said that his goal as a photographer was to make pictures that he took “literate, authoritative, transcendent”. Many of his works are still in the permanent collections of museums and have been the subject of retrospectives at such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the George Eastman Museum.
In Evans later life he was a passionate reader and writer, and in 1945 became a staff writer at Time. Shortly afterward, he became a professor of photography on the faculty for graphic design at the Yale University School of Art. In one of his last photographic projects, Evan completed a black and white portfolio of the Brown Brothers Harriman for publication in “Partners in Banking”. This was published in 1968 to celebrate the private bank’s 150th anniversary. In 1973 Evans used the new Polaroid instant camera for his last piece of work, the company provided him with an unlimited supply of film, and the camera’s simple design made it much easier for the aged photographer to get the hang of it.
Darren Harvey-Regan
Darren is a famous English photographer who’s work has appeared in exhibitions and publications internationally and is part of the permanent photography collection at the V & A Museum in London. Darren experimented with Blurring the boundaries between photography and sculpture. Armed with an MA from the Royal College of Art, and fascinated by the work of heavyweights such as Cy Twombly, John Baldessari and Bill Watterson, the sensitive and mature curation of his exhibitions is fundamental to the meaning of his work.
Albert Renger-Patzsch,
Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg Germany and began making photographs at age twelve. After military service in the First World War he studied chemistry at the in Dresden. In the early 1920s he worked as a press photographer for the Chicago Tribune before becoming a freelancer, in 1925 he published a book called the Das Chorgestühl von Kappenberg (The Choir Stalls of Cappenberg). And then soon later he had his first museum exhibition in Lübeck in 1927. His second book followed in 1928, This is his best known book and it is a collection of one hundred of his photographs in which natural forms, industrial subjects and mass-produced objects are presented with the clarity of scientific illustrations. During the 1930s Renger-Patzsch made photographs for industry and advertising. His archives were destroyed during the Second World War. Later In 1944 he moved to Wamel, Möhnesee, where he lived the rest of his life
Karl Blossfeldt
Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer and sculptor. He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things, He was inspired, by nature and the ways in which plants grow. He believed that “the plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure.” Among his contacts at the Berlin Arts and Crafts School was Heinz Warneke. From 1923, he was professor at the United State Schools for Fine and Applied Art in Berlin.
Formalism describes the position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form (in other words the way it is made and it’s visual aspects) rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world.
formal and 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.
These elements are often used to describe and analyse photos
Example
Here we are aple to see the image in the middle being analysed around the outside. Some points made were:
Lots of contrast
Darker tones
Repetition of circles
Curved lines
The center being the area of focus
Some other analysis concepts can be fond on the sheet below.
Technical includes; lighting, aperture, shutter speed, IOS and white balance. These are all things that are able to be adjusted by the photographer.
The visual area includes; colour, tone, texture, shape, form, pattern, line and space. These are all aspects that can be seen by the viewer.
Contextual includes; adding value or context as well a general knowledge about the image.
Conceptual includes; meaning, reasoning, thought, notion etc behind the work.
Studio lights are any form of lighting equipment used by photographers, often when working in a photography studio, to enhance their photography. Most professional photographers have different light kits they use depending on the situation they find themselves shooting in.
studio lighting set up.
Flash lighting
Flash or strobe lighting, on the other hand, is intermittent light. When you fire the shutter, the flash fires, quickly lighting up your subject and then turning itself off. Flash lighting can be a simple speed light, like the one pictured above, or a more powerful strobe. Flashing lights minimises shadows.
This image is a photo i took experimenting with flash lighting.
Continuous lighting
Continuous lighting in photography occurs when you turn the studio lights on, they stay on – like a video light or a flashlight. You can power your studio lighting up or down, based on what you need, but they produce What You See Is What You Get lighting, continuous lighting will allow you to photograph simultaneously.
This photograph is a photo i took whilst experimenting with continuous lighting.
THERE ARE 2 TYPES OF STUDIO LIGHTING: CONTINUOUS AND FLASH LIGHTING.
CONTINUOUS LIGHTING
Continuous lighting is when you turn on a light in the studio and it stays on. Due to the high lighting it may cause shadows in your image. Usually on a camera you would use a slow shutter speed, a slower shutter speed (1sec) can sometimes mean you can make darker images more brighter. In the studio a tripod is used to stabilize the camera and to take the image in the same place, same height etc.
FLASH LIGHTING
Flash lighting is when you fire the shutter, the flash fires, and quickly lights up the subject and then turning itself off. Flash lighting causes less shadows due to the high speed of the flash, usually you would use a fast shutter speed (1/120sec) so less light is entered. Using the camera with flashing lighting you can either use a tripod or hold it yourself, it depends on the kind of picture you are taking and whatever is easier for the photographer.
BEST STUDIO STILL LIFE IMAGES
These are my best images from my photoshoot in the studio. I selected these as my best images because they have the best lighting and are the most in focused. In Lightroom classic I will try to enhance the contrast on the coloured images to create a more vivid picture. These images show the different lightings shown, the colourful images used continuous lighting and the basic ones were taken by flash lighting.
Formalism within photography is mainly the focus of how the picture was created or design of it, for example the photographers choice in lighting, where the camera is placed, what setting, colours, which creates this amazing image. Its focusing on the looks of an image rather the context behind the image.
Things people look for in photography when they are aiming towards formalism is how unique the picture may be. For example:
it seems simple but has used a lot of visual elements, which are useful in attracting peoples attention. The repetition of lines within the side view of the image, and how the whole image is like looking down a circular tube, with a smooth look of material on the ground with patterns. and even lighting within the middle. And casual people at the end it sets a scene visually. And how it has used simple but bright colours which works well.
Key things formalism aims for:
Light: is there a good even use of light? Where is the light? How is the light used.
Line: Is there a use of lines within the photograph?
Repetition: Is there any repetition of shapes? For example buildings, lines?
shape: What shapes where used, and by what?
Texture: What materials where captured in the image, how smooth, rough it looks?
colour: What colours where used? Bright or dark? and what contrast was used for the image?
Composition: Did the photographer use all these elements to create a good picture?
Flatness: If it is 2D or 3D, which is observed by the viewer.
Frame: Does the image use edges?
Focus: What part of the picture would the photographer want you to focus on? Where?
An interesting feature this photographer used for his picture was a “frame within a frame”, What I mean by this is the photographer used the dark buildings on the side of the image as almost like a frame for the image.
Imagine looking at an image a photographer has taken. The first instinctual thing to do is to look at it and see what it is, where is it, how was it done, all the visual elements of the image. The next thing you would do is to figure out what it is, when it was taken. the reason behind the image ect. Its interesting to see how there is a natural order in which we view images, instead of looking straight for the context of an image and its background for example.
With an image in photography there are “rules”, (like the visual elements) which are all used to create a unique image in that specific moment. These rules are said to be broken in photography but that’s what they where made for, except for breaking the rules without knowing it. Almost as if you took a picture with a big light and dark contrast, except if you swapped the light and dark areas round the image would look horrible.
Walker Evans & Darren Harvey Regan
Walker Evans
He was an American Photographer and photojournalist, who was known for his best work on documenting the great depression. With a goal in mind to create pictures that are “literate, authoritative, and transcendent”. He was born in St. Louis, missouri, and a father who was an advertising director.
Evans took up photography in 1928, with an assignment in 1933 in cuba names the “crime of cuba”. This captured street life, the presence of police, beggars and dockworkers in rags.
Already you could understand the skills of Walker Evans through his use in his angles to show shadows, and how he still keeps the background of the beggars environment, showing the rich environment with a poor beggar asleep (during this period the great depression was around).
Darren Harvey Regan
Graduating at the Royal Collage of Art Darren Harvey’s work has inspired and confused people, appearing in exhibitions and has work as part of the permanent photography collection museum in London.
Darren Harvey’s work is mainly abstract which includes inanimate objects, or “things”. You can see the odd shapes he uses within a rock, which is normally seen with bumpy round features. The photographer uses good lighting and normally has his photographs included on top of something, bringing all the attention to the object.
The concept of a rock is very blunt at first sight. But the features Darren adds to his photographs (mainly of rocks), giving a newer look and nicer eye catching view, almost hypnotic, especially with his editing features it looks modern, as if it where a one in a life time amazing rock.
This is a picture I took with simple, common objects that anyone can find, and placed them where I wanted. It seems simple but thats the point. The use of circles, lines, and even shapes creates a weird but unique look, if you really think about it, this exact picture and form of the picture, and even lighting wont ever be recreated to this exact image ever again.
Photos have formal and visual aspects. For example, lines, shapes, colour, repetition and colour. In addition, photos have their own form of grammar. For example, frame, time, focus and flatness.
How different elements of formalism work
Light– The brightest/darkest area of the photo, shadows, natural or artificial, harsh or soft, time of day.
Time of day appears to be golden hour. Natural soft light. Brightest area at the top of the image.
Line– Objects in photo that act as lines, straight, wobbly, thin, thick, direction, can outline the image (frame within a frame).
Straight thick lines creating direction to the background. The vertical lines on the edge of the photo create a frame within a frame effect.
Repetition of triangular shapes separating all the colours of thread from all being mixed together. Repetition of the same object.
Shapes– Rectangles, circles, more.
Repetition of rectangular shape, in the middle window and the wood. Either side of the rectangular window there are 2 diamond shaped window which creates contrast.
Space– The depth, empty or solid space, foreground, middle.
This photo has a lot of space in all areas. The person on the boat which breaks the space almost seems insignificant and is surrounded by the almost empty space.
Texture– texture of materials in photo, eg bricks, glass, sand
The texture of the image has deep layers. The rocks create a sharp texture and you immediately think of how it would feel to touch or stand on.
Tone– feeling, mood atmosphere of photo.
The tone in this image is sad and dark. The monochrome colours further accentuates the sadness of the image. Also the models stance reflects that he is sad.
Colour– Balanced, saturated, muted, primary and secondary, dominant colours, monochrome.
The selective colour of this image is saturated and primary. However, the background is muted and monochrome. It is unbalanced colour.
Composition– Arrangement, layering, balance, rule of thirds
The dog is mostly in the right third. The dog is arranged at the top of the cliff to show he is important. The background is shown in the other two thirds
Continuous lighting is the opposite of flash – the lights are constantly lit instead of only when the shutter is pressed.
This photo was taken with the key light on the right of the image, no background lighting.
A Key light is the primary source of light in your images. The colour, strength and shape of your key light will affect the entire composition.
is an example of when we used a colour sheet over the lights to create a more colourful image
this is an example of a high concentration of backlighting
Backlighting involves having the main light source for a photograph behind the primary subject – this can create some interesting shadows and also eliminate ambiguity if the photographer wishes to.
A reflector is a tool that helps a photographer manipulate the light by providing another surface for the light to bounce off of. We have used reflectors in the studio however I don’t have a photo of it.
In photography terms, reflected light is light that reflects off the subject. This is most often what the camera records to make a photograph. Regardless of the light source, light is altered by whatever it reflects off. Rays of light reflect, or bounce off, objects just like a ball bounces on the ground. This reflection of light is what enables us to see everything around us.
Flash lighting
Flash lighting involves the use of a bulb that flashes when the shutter is pressed. This creates a high key light source and eliminates shadows. It is also mostly paired with a fairly high shutter speed.
The key light on both of these images is on the Right hand side, however I’ve edited the image on the right and turned down the exposure to create a stronger shadow.
This image is was taken with a fast shutter speed therefore is high quality but isn’t my strongest image as the still life on the left is cut out.
This image and the image above both have a bright Key light, creating a lighter image.
I like this image as it is close up, yet high quality as i took it by zooming in.
I like this image as there is a clear focal point and the level of control is high; the image is very central. This image was taken using a blue gel sheet covering the key light.
The lighting in this image is fluorescent causing a darker, over saturated image.
