Formal Elements

A visual element is any characteristic that can been seen in a photograph. This can include, line, shape, space, repetition, texture, colour and tone.

Jaroslav Rössler

My paper experiments

Jaroslav Rössler is a photographer who works with paper to create interesting formal elements in his work. This is achieved by the folding and cutting of paper to create shapes. His work includes a lot of tone which I tried to build in my own paper images by photographing my designs on white and black backgrounds. I also created the visual noise seen in Rössler’s photos by turning up my cameras ISO when shooting my photographs. This helped to create grain and texture within my pictures. I believe that my photos taken on the black background were more effective due to the stronger creation of space within the photos. The negative space may have also been enhanced by a more harsh and artificial light as opposed to the natural light I used in my shoot.

Gradient Overlay Experimentation

Final Edits and Presentation

For my final composition, I worked with my photos on the black background due to them being more successful. This worked well as it allowed me to create a triptych display. I altered my pictures to have the sepia effect which is seen in Rössler’s work. I also adjusted the green colour balance of my images to make them more accurate to his work’s colour palette. To display my photographs, I arranged them in a purple grid as this is a harmonious colour to the sepia tone and therefore does the images more justice. This also helps to add my own flare in comparison to my very Rössler based work. As well as colour edits, I worked on creating more dramatic value by upping the contrast and exposure of the photos in photoshop. The use of leading lines also helps to highlight the dark and light tones.