The Art of photography

PrinciplesofDesign

MakingDesignWork

Designinphotographyissometimesthoughtof,mistakenly,asarepertoire

oftricksforbeautifyingpictures.Thatideaisasfalseasconsideringarchitec-

turetobemerelytheembellishmentoftheoutsidesofbuildings.Inphotogra-

phy

—as

ineveryartandcraft

—designistheprocessoforganizingingredi-

entssothattheyachieveapurpose.Ateapot,forexample,isadevicethat

mustbelightenoughtobepickedupinonehand,thatmustcontainaliquid,

keepitwarm,pouritwithoutspillage,andsatisfyanumberofotherrequire-

mentsaswell.Thedesignofateapotreconcilesalltheserequirements

throughaparticularchoiceofmaterial,

shape,thicknessandotherqualities.It

makestheteapotwork.

Whatmakesaphotographworkisalsocomplicated.Apictureissomething

thatworksbybeingperceived.Itisusually(notalways)aflat

object

thatis

meanttocommunicatesomethingtoaviewer.Moreoftenthan

not,that"some-

thing"isquitecomplex

—ablendoffeeling,information,insightandideathat

would

bedifficulttosumupinwords.Gooddesigninphotographyisany

structure—anyorganizationofvisualelements—thatenablesthebeholderto

graspallthatthephotographerwantedtocommunicate.

Designaccomplishesthis,in

part,bysubtlymakingtheviewerwanttograsp

thepicture,

byinvitinghiseye,andthushissensibilities,alongsomethingof

thesameroutethatthephotographerhimselftook,cerebrallyandemotionally,

inmakingthephotograph.Withoutdesign,apictureofabrickwalllike

theone

ontheprecedingpageis

justanotherrecordofablankbrickwall,butwith

designitisnot

so

blank

at

all.

Insteaditbecomesastudyofpatternandtex-

ture,

chargedwithsubtledynamicsofbalancebetweenlightandshade,ten-

sionoflineandform,thatmayormaynotbeintended

toconveyaprecise

meaning,butthatthroughitsdesign

operatesindependently,uncaptioned,as

avisualcommunicationofthe

photographer'sfeelingsandthoughts.

Assuming

thateverypictureneedssomesortofstructuretoachieveitspur-

pose,

how

doesthephotographerbringaboutthisorganization?

Mostlikelyhe

willmakeanumberofbroaddesigndecisions

withoutevenbeingawareof

them.Simplyusingacameraisone

suchdecision:Itwillformanimagein

perspective

—

that

is,itwillmakedistantobjectsappearsmallerthannear

ones,anditwill

makeparallellinesseemtocometogetherasthey

recede

from

thecamera.Mostphotographerstakethe
perspective-renderingcamerafor

granted.Buttherearedesign

alternatives,suchasmontages,inwhichdis-

tanceneedinfluenceneither
thesizeofobjectsnortheconvergenceoflinesin

thewaywehave
cometoexpect.

Filmand

printingpaper—aswellasexposureanddevelopment—

alsohelp

design
aphotographby respondingtolightin
acharacteristicway,eachmate-

rialandeachtechniqueforusingit

introducingitsownqualities:contrast,color

rendition,graininessand

soon.Thephotographermaywanttoventure

be-