A photograph has a quality that makes it different from the snapshots in your family photo album, or the snapshots you might take of your friends at a school event. Snapshots are the equivalent of Snickers — quick and satisfying at first, but not very interesting in the long run. Once you have looked at a snapshot, you do not need to look at it again for a long time because you have seen everything it contains. On the other hand, a photograph is like a full meal, with many complicated courses, and a wonderful desert. It is something we can return to often and each time, find something new and surprising.
A photograph (as opposed to a snapshot) has some or all of these qualities:
- Planning. Photographers talk about “previsualization,” meaning that they imagine what it will look like in black and white before they press the shutter release.
- Spontaneity. Sometimes, the photographer is at the right place and time to capture a truly memorable image. Don’t be fooled. The photographer captured that image partly through luck, but also through training, and an ability to recognize the image when it presented itself. (We say that the photographer has a good “eye.”) In addition, the photographer probably had a general idea of what kind of image he or she wanted, and waited for it to pass by.
- Emotional content. Just because you don’t feel anything when you see a photograph, don’t assume that it doesn’t communicate anything to other people. A photograph uses a visual language to communicate emotion, and like any language, it needs to be learned.
- Ideas. A photograph can ask questions or make statements just like an English essay. It communicates ideas with the same visual language it uses to communicate emotion.
- Depth. Some images are like visual Snickers: good for a quick kick. A photograph (like a good meal) has complexity and depth. We feel new emotions or perceive new ideas in it each time we return to it.
Now, for Today’s Lesson …
Pick an image from these images taken by students in previous semesters. It needs to be an image you like, one that appeals to you for some reason. Use the sheet I pass out to do the following:
- Sketch the image, reducing it to what you feel are the most important elements. Do not sketch the entire image. This should take you just a couple of minutes per image. The sketch should take up about a third of the page.
- Identify the center of interest. Each photograph has a visual center of interest. Draw an arrow to it on your sketch.
- Describe the image. Pretend you are writing for someone who is blind who wants to know about the image. In other words, go into some detail.
- Describe what you think the photographer felt or thought when the image was made. This should take about two or three sentences. Explain why the image carries that emotional content for you.
- Explain why this image appeals to you.