The Art of photography

W.EUGENESMITHUptoandincludingthe

instantofexposure,thephotographerisworking

inanundeniably

subjectivewayByhischoiceof

technicalapproach(whichisatoolofemotional

control),byhisselectionofthesubjectmatterto

beheldwithin

theconfinesofhisnegativearea.

andbyhisdecisionastothe

exact,climactic

instant ofexposure,heisblendingthevariables

ofinterpretationintoanemotionalwhole

Theworkingmethod

ofthesecondphotographerwasacomplexprocessof

explorationandselection.He

examinedalloftheobjectsbeforehiscam-

era—thebuilding,itscontentsandits

surroundings

—

andexploredthemean-

ingsthatmightbeattachedtothem.Duringthisperiodof

observation,

manypotential

picturesbeckoned

—

thetrees,thearcade,thewoman,

there-

flections.Thenoneidea—

theparadoxoflifewithinasterileskyscraper

—

seemedricherandmorecompelling

thananyother.Whateverwasirrele-

vantordistractingheexcluded.Whatremainedwas

carefullypositionedin

his

viewfinder

so

thatitsimportancewasevident.He

tunedthemixofthese

elements,likea

musicianseekingachordwhosenotesblend

perfectly.And

whenhewassurethateverypart

wouldfittogetherandcontributeto

the

whole,hetookthepicture.

This

analyticalapproachisnotuniqueto

photography,butitisapplicable.

Photography

is

a

specialartinthattheexplorationand

selectionmustbe

doneeitherinadvanceofpicture

taking,beforetheshutter

istripped,oraf-

terwardinthedarkroom.Itisas

thoughacomposerwereto

conceivea

symphonycompletefrombeginningtoend,

pushabutton,andpresto!Anor-

chestra

wouldplaythemusic.Theveryease

withwhichfilmcangenerate

anentirepicture

hindersmanyphotographersfrom

developingtheirskills.

Theymaybemisledinto

believingthatalltheyhavetodoto

guaranteeat

leastonegoodpictureistakeagreat

numberofshotsofasubject,

andthey

concentrate

ontheactofimage-recording

ratherthanontheprocessof

pic-

turecreation.

Inmanycases,alarge

numberofshotsareadvisable,but

quantityalone

cannotassuresuccess.Itisthe

carefullythought-outpho-

tographthatcommunicatesits

maker'smessage.

In

analyzingapicture,the

skillfulphotographerperformsthree

different

sortsof

exploration.Heexamineshis

feelingsandthoughtsabout

thesub-

ject—inshort,

itsmeaningtohim.Heexamines

allthevisualattributesofthe

scene,seekingthosethat

willbestconveyhissense

ofthemeaning.Andhe

considersvariouswaysin

whichthechosenvisualelements

canbearranged

inthe

picture,sothatthemeaning

canbeefficientlygrasped.

Inpractice,

thesethree

sortsofexplorationgoon

simultaneously,eachinfluencing

the

others.Noticinga

particularshapemight

suggestanewmeaningand

the

need

foracertaindesign.

Theexplorationsmaybe

quickorevenintuitive;

some

photographersspeakof

instantaneous

"recognition' ofwhattoshoot

andhowto

shootit.Conversely,

manyfinephotographersspenda

greatdeal

oftime

contemplatingtheirsubjectsand

adjustingthetiniestdetails.

Breakingup

thecreativeprocessinto

threeareasofexploration

and

selectionisonlythe

initialstep,ofcourse.

Eacharea—meaning,

visual

characteristics,arrangement—

isitselfsubjectto

additionalexploration

andselection.

Meaning,for

example,dependsonthe

memories,cravings,