Chapter 13: Line Harrold, South Dakota Lines serve to define length, distance and shape, indicating boundaries and separate forms, textures and colors that move the eye and create the illusion of depth—like railroad tracks to the horizon. Physically, they can be many or few, take many shapes, have thickness and depth, length and texture with […]
Chapter 11: Key The terms “low key” and “high key” are often used in photography. They refer to photographs that are overall bright or dark. “High Key” images are predominately light or white, like a white cat sitting on a white sofa. “Low Key” is dark and somber, a black dog in a dark tunnel. […]
Chapter 9: Geometry Artistically, form and geometry are interconnected but distinct creative dimensions with unique expressive roles. The previous chapter on “form” was about creating a three-dimensional sensibility on a two-dimensional substrate, usually an electronic screen or paper; the object was to create the sensibility of depth. “Geometry” in the context of creative expression, deals […]
Chapter 5: Elements of Composition In pictorial art, composition relates to how visual elements are organized within a frame. Through the centuries, both Eastern and Western artists developed guidelines to help them maintain a viewer’s attention. Aspiring artists and many in the public appreciate that the organization of elements within a frame influences the viewer’s […]
Chapter 4: Everyday Beauty Searching for opportunities to compose elements within a frame in ways that fed my aesthetic hunger, I frequented scrap yards, construction sites, abandoned buildings, empty fairgrounds, railroad graveyards and antique shops. As a consequence of creating order out of visual chaos, I was experiencing beauty in unconventional places and subjects. It […]
Chapter 3: Fine Art, Expression, Contemplation In the early 1950s, when I was introduced to photography, the debate was raging as to whether or not photography could be considered an art form. In January 1955 Edward Steichen launched an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City entitled, The Family of Man. […]
They apply to everything, not just families This image conjures for me an imagined family, perhaps two or three generations of farmers. The decaying barn speaks of a generation when the field was plowed with horses that, along with feed, seed, tools and machines required a shelter that didn’t require plumbing or heating. And wood was […]
Who do we listen to? What are the messages we’re receiving? “Makin’ your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got…” Cheers (Theme song) Messages coming from others— You could… […]
Inside and outside, it’s the place where peace resides Nothing in all creation is so like God as stillness. — Meister Eckhart, Christian mystic Coming across this quote, I noticed that stillness has been and continues to be one of the prominent themes in my photography. When I go out with a camera, the word […]
In pictorial art, composition relates to how visual elements are organized within a frame. Both Eastern and Western artists through the centuries developed insightful guidelines to help them maintain the viewer’s attention. Aspiring artists and many in the public appreciate that the organization of elements within a frame influences the viewer’s experience of an image. […]
Contemplative Photography 