In class this week we are looking at the art of framing and composition. Below are artist who use these photography elements to draw attention to their subjects.
Bernd and Hilla Becher
A German couple who started photographing together in 1959. Their body of work is well known for their grids of precise black and which photographs of industrial site known as typology. The positioning of their images isolated forms whereby the subject was easily identified. They documented these architectural forms for over 40 years.
The artistic couple were very particular in how they constructed their photos. Every part of the process was considered down to the size and relationship between negative and positive space. Their body of work is exact emanating precision and thoughtful painstaking attention to detail. A feat in itself considering they used large format cameras, producing medium-contrast gelatin silver prints. Each structure centered against an empty sky and filling the frame. The arranged their photographs in grids or sequence them in monographs.
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| Title: Fördertürme (Winding Towers) Artists: Bernd and Hilla Becher |
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| Title: Water tanks Artists: Bernd and Hilla Becher |
In these photos you can see that all the structures have similar forms. The most amazing thing about their work is the scale of photos that they took and how the photos were composed. Without the instant digital images which we use today they like many artists of their time highlight how skillful they are.
Diane Arbus
An American photographer. She learned photography from actor husband Allan Arbus. They successfully worked in fashion and advertising however Diane soon branched out on her own. While living in New York she created an unique body of work capturing unusual images of people which formed the interesting character portrayal of New York at the time.
Diane Arbus' approach to photography reflected a surreal portrayal of subjects noted as being raw, unapologetic and sometimes hard to look at. Her work pushes the boundaries of street photography opening doors into worlds which were either overlooked or hidden. Her images were really interesting, not your typical pretty portraits. I like how her subjects appear at ease, free to be or act how they want. This is obviously due to the rapport that she would of built with her subjects. Her images can feel quite confronting, uneasy, intrusive and in your face and then in the same way, spellbinding. If you're interested in delving deeper check out this
video or awesome blog by
Eric Kim.
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| Title: Boy with Grenade Artist: Diane Arbus |
Diane Arbus is noted to be a photographer who didn't follow the rules of photography. Her photos are printed in square format, which give an air of formality. However her photos often are anything but. This photo of the young boy seems to be composed casually. His pose is relaxed, clothing is not sitting on him properly. Composition wise you could say theres a bit of rule of third happening but it is as though it is not executed well.
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| Title: Circus Fat Lady and her dog troubles Artist: Diane Arbus 1964 |
In this photo Diane Arbus has composed her subject in the middle. It echos symmetry which can be seen in many of her photos. The close crop of this photo emphases the scale of the lady which is reinforced by the size of the dog sitting on her. It is also shot straight on to capture every detail of her subject.
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