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Salzburg, Austria

"No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and a pocket full of film." - Robert Adams
​
"Tea first, then photography..." - Philip Lee Harvey

From an Article written by Philip Lee Harvey

Simplicity vs Story Telling in Photography

12/4/2016

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Picture
Paul Strand while looking for his photographic voice, stumbled upon what would later evolve into "Straight Photography". In the constand battle with the mainstream art world, photographers were trying to justify how photography could be art. Most people saw it as a science hence no ability was required on the part of the photographer. So long as you understood the scientific process you could capture nature. This lead to the Pictorialist movement where photographers would heavily manipulate their images to add artistic flare.

Straight Photography was a movement to go back to the unaltered photograph as art. The simple play on light, shapes and tonality should be enough to make a work of art. I see a great deal of photographers turn to simplicity as a way to describe emotions with objects and light. The image above is just such a photograph. Post processing is very basic on this image with a simple, underexposed image of a stairwell. The main protagonist is light and shadow. There is no story to be told. 

The old wrought iron railing, stone steps and the imperfect wall are the only things visible in the image. The light was coming through a very small window in the tower that was built as a monument to the Great London Fire. It is about 400 steps to the top and things get very dark up the stairs. I was not after the telling of a story, nor was I interested in a grand gesture to make the picture. I wanted to capture an emotion. Dark, sturdy, timeless and imprisoning.  Photography can do that. A simple image with a mirage of emotions.
Picture
On the other end of the spectrum you have the story telling nature of photography. There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. A photo that is taken in 1/60th of a second can transmit a story by allowing the viewer to fill in the before and after of the image. Or, as in the case of the image above, it links two seperate stories onto single story board. 

The Muslim mother and daughter taking an image of a military guard under inspection. The daughter seems to be hiding behind her mother, looking over he shoulder at the cell phone being used as a camera. In the photo there is a gate that seperates them but the photograph forces the viewer to see the cultural divide more so than a simple gate.

The two photographs are essentially the same in that they are the same size, shot with the same camera and by the same photographer on the same day. The facinating thing is that the two images could not be more different in styles, message and content. The fact that I can tell both using the same medium still amazes me. 
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    Patrick...confirmed film & digital photography addict.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from left-hand, Ant Jackson, Skley, mikecogh, Helen.Yang, TheeErin, Dean Hochman, CJS*64, DaveR1988, FootMassagez, Loco Steve, dmytrok, Christiaan Colen
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants