The Art of photography

WhattheCameraSees:TheVisual

Elements

Revealing

Texture

Oncehehasdefinedasubject's

shape,

aphotographer—muchlikeanexplorer

whohasmerelysailed

aroundthe

coasts

ofanewcontinent—maynextconsider

whatlieswithinthatshape,whattextural

detailsitholds.Toallowthesurfaceofan

objecttoremainterraincognitasounds

inconceivable,andyetday-by-day

hu-

manperceptionoftendoesexactlythat.

For
texture

usually

becomes

crucialonly

whensomething mustbeheld,walked

on,slepton,eaten—inshort,wheneverit

must betouched.

Thetexturesofbillboards,raingutters

orsuspensionbridgesarenotofpress-

ingconcern,sotheyusuallygounno-

ticed,althoughtheymaybeveryinterest-

ingifonebotherstonoticethem.But

photographycannotaffordsuchover-

sightsifallitspossibilitiesofperception

areto
be

realized.

Eventhoughphotographicimagesare

flat,theycanevoketexture,whichisby

itsnaturethreedimensional,withremark-

ablesuccess.Modernlensesandfilm

can
capturethefinestdetailsofasur-

face,andavarietyoflightingtechniques

canexploit,or
evensimulate,anysortof

texturalquality

—

jagged,glossyorany-

thinginbetween.

Forthepictureatright ofthesameob-

jectwhoseshapewasexploredonthe

precedingpage,thephotographerhas

employedsidelightingtorakeacrossits

surface,emphasizing
itspittedtexture.

Hecouldhavechosentouseothermeth-

ods,eitherincreasingthemagnification

toachieveanextremelycraggyeffect,or

usingfrontlightingtomakethe
surface

looklikepolishedmetal.Asisthecase

withshape,thediscoveryoftextureas
a

distinctvisual
aspectofeveryobjectpre-

sentsagreatlyenhancedrangeofcre-

ativeopportunities.

Thesamestill-unidentifiedobjectwhoseshape

wasexploredonthepreviouspagesisnow

studiedforitstextureAlightplacedofftoone

sidethrowsshadowsonthesurface,showingits

irregularlypittedcharacter.The

photographer

has

asyetpresented nocluetotheob/ect'sdistance

orsize;andthissortoftexturecouldbelongto

anythingfrom

a

moonscapetoanorangepeel.

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