Formalism is the study of art based on analysis of its form, the way it is made and what it looks like. Formalism photography is where the design, composition and lighting are dominant over the subject matter, and concentrates on the desired subject while eliminating everything else, to make the subject the main focus. Paying attention to the formal elements will help you emphasise the most critical aspects of the shot.
The seven formal elements are commonly known as:
– Line
– Shape & Form
– Pattern
– Tone
– Colour
– Texture
– Space
Walker Evans:
Walker Evans is a self-taught, American photographer who is best known for his black and white images. Black and white photography removes any distraction of colour and helps the viewer focus on other aspects of the photo, such as the subject, the textures, shapes and patterns. Therefore, as Walker Evans aimed to capture daily life events and objects, this makes the photographs have more feeling to them due to the lack of colour. This is an example of Walker Evan’s photography where he took photos of tools from everyday life.
Darren Harvey-Regan:
Darren Harvey-Regan, born in 1974, is a British photographer and graduate of the Royal College of Art. His work has appeared in exhibitions and publications internationally, and is part of the permanent photography collection at the V & A Museum in London. Darren’s photographs are focused towards natural objects, sculptural forms and geometrical shapes. He is well known for his sculptural images, but as we can see here, he also uses tools as they are interesting to photograph because they’re simple but creates a main focus on the image as there is no other distraction and the photo.
Beauties of the Common Tool, Rephrased II, 2013
Try to keep your Formalism post separate from your post about Walker Evans and Darren Harvey-Regan. Try to include a more thorough exploration of formal / visual elements with examples and photos of each.
For your Walker Evans and Darren Harvey-Regan post: Try to add a more in depth exploration of their work. If you look into Darren Harvey-Regan more, you will find that he used Walker Evans’ photos and made his own montages from them.