Artistic Choice

When learning any new skill, everyone begins by learning the basics so there is a foundation to build on, and that is certainly true for photography. One of the things a new photographer has to learn is how the different elements of a photograph work together to draw the attention of the viewer. These are things I still struggle with, especially when taking street and candid photography. In addition to paying attention to what is in the background, a short list of things you have to consider is what is in focus, relative brightness, contrast, and when dealing with color, saturation. When photographing people, faces and eyes will often be the first thing a viewer will look at. And of course, there is the often allusive application of “good composition.” In short, as a photographer, you have to ask, is everything working together to form a cohesive photo, or are there elements working against each other?

Below are four versions of the same image, three in color, one in black-and-white, and the first two images are the same, only displayed in different sizes.

Personally, I love this photo. I’m not saying it is objectively good, I’m just saying it is a favorite of mine.

I’ve actually spent a lot of time looking at the above photo trying to understand why I like it. I eventually came to the conclusion that it is the expression and posture of the girl standing middle, right of center. When looking at a small version of the photo it appears as if she is looking at the man in the exaggerated cowboy costume, and judging him quite harshly. It’s priceless.

Also, her face stands out because she is facing away from whatever is drawing everyone else’s attention. It begs the question, “What is she looking at and so upset about?”

Now, I realize this first comparison is completely lost when viewing on a smartphone, so I recommend reading this on a laptop or desktop, but when viewing the larger version below, it is obvious she is actually looking at someone behind the cowboy who is not in the frame. You also quickly realize that her face is not in focus, and the attention of the viewer shifts to the cowboy, who is in focus, is the largest object in the photo, wearing a dark outfit compared to everyone else in the photo (contrast), and looks a bit odd (as was intended because he is a school mascot).

For me anyway, I was curious why, in the smaller photo, when the cowboy had so many things drawing attention to him, why my attention kept returning to the girl. Sure, it would initially land on the cowboy mascot, but it always returned to the girl.

So, I decided to run a couple of short experiments.

In the image above, the only change I made was to apply a color correction that I often apply to the sometimes over-saturated colors coming straight out of the camera. In this version, the girl’s dress is slightly desaturated, and immediately she drew even less of my attention than before. My attention is drawn primarily to the cowboy and the man standing next to him. In comparison to the girl’s dress, the color corrector did not desaturate the light blue teeshirt of the man in shorts, and sunglasses standing next to the cowboy. Now that my attention is drawn to him, I notice the brightness and contrast of the reflection in his sunglasses. His face is also mostly in focus.

So, in the first image, what drew my attention was the saturated color of her dress combined with her expression. And, because of the smaller size of the image, her face being out of focus was not as noticeable.

In the last image below, I converted the photo to black-and-white. Now, I still notice the girl and her expression, which is cute, but it rests on her only for a few seconds and now my attention is primarily drawn to the reflection in the sunglasses, and secondarily to the cowboy mascot. The reflection is high-contrast. What was blue in the color photo, is now stark white in contrast to the black rims of the glasses, and even though there are lots of other highlights in the photo, the reflection steals the show, continually pulling my eyes to his face. The girl’s expression still adds to the story, it is just no longer the primary element.

The change in viewer focus between color and black and white is an interesting one. I often hear that in photography unless the photo is about the color, a photo should be black and white. This short study makes me think that perhaps I took this too literally. If color helps tell the story you want to tell, then use color. If a black-and-white photo tells the story better, then use it instead.

So what is my point?

My point is that new photographers need to learn that a photograph is not just a photograph. After a photograph is taken, the choices of the photographer change the message of the photo.