Project 5: Photography I The Frame Exercise 4: Line

For this exercise there are two parts: firstly, to take a series of photos with diagonal lines, which lengthen the frame, and can either lead to something within the frame or straight out of it, and often convey perspective; secondly, to take a series of photos which use lines to flatten the frame, with horizontals to disguise depth or with close-ups to create more abstract compositions. 

I will include more photos than usual in this exercise because, having take quite a number of both types of photo, I’ve learnt a lot about composition by visually researching my own photos. I will include some photos that I would normally discard because they have taught me something about composition. As there are quite a lot I want to include, I will make only brief notes on each one, identifying my main learning point.

Initially I was quite pleased with this photo, but, reading the course materials, I can see the way the diagonals lead the eye away from the house  

This composition seems better. The diagonals are still present but in a more horizontal plain, and also the flower beds seem to lead the eye around the photo and towards the house.

Here, the diagonals created by perspective lead to the people at the other end of the path. The path is elongated and the people seem very far away.

This photo helps me to see how an image can become chaotic. The diagonals on the left lead into the distance as above, but on the right the arrangement is quite different, so the central path becomes a demarcation between the different elements. The triangular topiary in the middle distance seems to block the eye from travelling further towards the horizon.

Here, the effect of the topiary is quite different. The diagonals lead to a point within the frame that is hidden. It makes me wonder what I might see if I were to follow that path. The topiary triangles seen from this angle seem to help the viewer along the path towards its hidden destination. 

An extreme version of this triangle dominating all the other parts of the picture, whilst not being a pleasing focal point.

Another example of a diagonal path that leads intriguingly to somewhere unseen. If I was trying to promote these gardens I might use an image of this sort (though not this particular image) as it would encourage the idea that the hall and gardens are a venue with lots to explore, making it a good day out.

This photo has quite pleasing dimensions but it doesn’t highlight any of the features within it. What am I trying to show someone with this photo? It’s a pleasing image but doesn’t really say anything.

I like this image of the random horse sculpture. It looked as though the horse can be planted up so that it looks like it’s made of leaves. I cropped this to a more square frame to cut out extraneous details and allow the geometry of the gardens to lead the eye to the horse, which is, I’m sure, what the garden designer had in mind here.

I include this image because of its wrongness. The wall in the background is so much more vibrantly coloured than any of the things in the foreground that the foreground disappears and my attention collides with the solid wall, then shies away.

As with the second photo of Sewerby Hall, the diagonals of the Hillsborough Library building shown here are set on a horizontal plane, and also having the building fairly low in the frame seems to add stability to it. Here the diagonals add interest and evidence of human activity, but without the more disturbing feeling that sone diagonal compositions have. It would be better if the van went and parked somewhere else!

Another confusing image. My eye is trying to travel down both paths and the view feels split and confused.

I like this composition. The different angles seem to lead to one another and lead the eye around the image, and not away from it.

This is quite a complex image, showing the various levels of the road, paths and beach. Again, the lines all point into the distance, leading to a feeling of space and depth.

This image, taken very close to the one above, has quite a different feel about it. It points more into the sea than the beach, coming from a feeling of more confinement as the walls create the frame.

A few steps further on, the composition is different again. The single wall seems to add force to the diagonals reaching into the distance and the lower position gives the view of the distant windmills a few miles south. 

These three photos show me how much opportunity there is to create a very different feel to a composition even whilst staying in virtually the same place as I took the photos. All three would meet the criteria for indexical images, showing virtually the same view, and yet are very different in their feel and focus. So much editing is done before the shutter clicks.

Here is another example of a diagonal line leading out of the frame; however, the building on the cliff towards the left edge of the image somehow seems to put a break on the eye’s progression out of the frame. In order to create a photo of this stretch of beach huts it’s not really possible to take a horizontal view as it would only be able to show a small number of the beach huts unless I waded out into the sea. In situations like this, where a diagonal might be required but not desired, finding an element that acts in the same way as the building on the cliff could be helpful.

This is an odd photo and I dragged it back from where I’d quickly binned it because I’m curious about how these lines work. The diagonal of the very prominent railing in the foreground leads right to its horizontal part, which is on the same line as the water breaks. From there the diagonal shoreline is parallel to the foreground railing. If the railing was a desirable focus this could work well. It seems like it could be the right composition in a different context, but really doesn’t work in this case. That is interesting to ponder.

In the last of the diagonal photos, one that I think works well. The diagonal line of the shoreline leads the eye towards the white cliffs of Flamborough in the distance, lit up by the angle of the sun. The diagonal gives the sense that these cliffs are some distance away, and yet the quality of the light enables them to be a strong focal point. 

Moving on, the following photos use lines to flatten the image. This first one shows two walls, one behind another, but they look almost as if they’re one wall.A diagonal has sneaked into this photo too, and it adds interest to what would otherwise be a rather mundane image of bricks.

Here the fences are clearly separate but the angle suggests very little space between them.

Here I’ve zoomed in to take a photo of part of the side of a building. This emphasises the abstract and patterned design of the building, and the sense of the building as a whole is lost.

I have a passion for drains! Their symmetrical lines and the water and debris below have fascinated me for most of my life. Here, there is some depth of field due to the reflections in the water, but the image is still quite abstract.

Again, there is some depth suggested by the way the light touches some of the pieces of this pylon, yet its true height is not apparent from this angle.

When I compose a photo, I need to consider whether I want to make it true to life or exaggerate its depth or flatness. Again, all possibilities can be indexical, yet the editing has happened before the photo is taken.

This pile of building materials again becomes less obviously what it is by taking a close up and partial view. I guess building materials don’t always look very interesting, so an image like this, where the subject matter is not completely disguised, yet is seen in a different way, could be used as an eye-catching editorial photo.

Here the almost parallel lines make the horizon seem much closer than it is.

Another close horizon, where the beach looks more expansive than the sea. It’s very easy to create illusions and misconceptions with a bit of thought to composition.

Here, the geometric planting allows for flattening of views as well as the lengthening of views I noted above. Seen in this context, the topiary that posed so many challenges in other compositions sits well within this context.

These two images are close ups of water cascading down ornamental steps in the Sheffield Peace Gardens. The front-on view flattens the appearance of the steps to such an extent that they virtually disappear. Do these photos tell the truth?

Similarly, the parallel lines of the pergola and park bench above, zoomed to an extent that removes their context, give few clues as to what they actually are. This ability of the camera, and the photographer using it, to create abstracts from reality challenges the idea that photography is more representational than other methods of creating images.

In this photo of raindrops on rumpled plastic there are many parallel diagonals. Perhaps because of its abstraction, this image seems to be at odds with some of the ‘rules’ noted in the course materials, and evidenced by my observation of my own photography. The diagonals don’t lead the eye out of the frame. Could this be because there are many of them? Or perhaps it’s because the photograph isn’t of a landscape or obvious subject. Note: I’ve increased the contrast on this image and the one below.

The final image in this series. It’s a detail of a cubicle wall in a pub. It has a strange effect on the eye as the diagonals show perspective shrinking towards the centre left. In our society we are more used to reading top to bottom, left to right, and so this image that looks as though its lines would converge some distance to the centre left of frame is a bit uncomfortable.

This process of taking, and then researching, my own photos has been surprisingly instructive, and I feel that I’ve learned more by doing and reviewing than I have often learnt by studying the work of others. Both are important, but my familiarity with my own images, and what it was like to compose them. helps me to learn practically as well as in theory.