How to define something like artistic photography if photography is already an art in itself?That’s the question that surrounded me before I started writing these lines which, I admit, are they going to cost me a little?Because defining art is not easy, and art in art seems to me already reserved for the great thinkers, philosophers, thinkers and theorists of the art of which, for the moment, I am not a part ;-).
After giving some tricks to the concept, I think we could define artistic photography as the one that seeks to evoke in the viewer, consciously, a specific feeling or feeling, does not seek to represent the simple reality that we have before our eyes. but what the photographer interprets from this reality, that is, photography is not taken but created with artistic intention.
- If the visual world were simple and had well-defined barriers.
- One could say that the opposite of artistic photography is photojournalism that seeks to show reality in the most objective way possible.
- However.
- As sure now.
- Objectivity in photography does not exist.
- And many photojournalists mix the simple image of reality representation with artistic compositions.
There will probably be no closed answers in this article, because in art there are never any closed answers, it all depends on millions of factors, personal perceptions, historical moment, social context and the natural capacity or sensitivity of each.
What you need to be clear about to start with is the artistic intention of your work, that is, you have to think about what we want to convey with our image, you have to feel it, analyze it, imagine it, make the adjustments. you need to achieve it and finally take the picture.
As you get carried away by your more artistic side, you’ll notice how your camera knowledge and knowledge of the exhibition triangle (among others) will help you translate your ideas with good results.
In short: the camera must be at the service of the photographer, yours, like the brush at the service of the painter, that is, it is only a tool to achieve your goal.
You don’t need a long pose, a Lightpainting, or using Photoshop to get an artistic photograph. A simple composition, little depth of field, a shadow on a face . . . you don’t need anything but your imagination. You can get an artistic version. and a normal version of everything ;-).
That said, it’s true that there are many techniques and ideas that can help you achieve your artistic goals, these are the ones that come to mind:
I told you. The composition of a seemingly simple scene can lead to a purely artistic image, we always invite you to vary your point of view so that you face a wonderful and different world, so that you transmit with greater visual power what you want to transmit, so in the end you will train your gaze and value your creativity.
Perspective, learn how to break composition rules if necessary, know and work with lines, escape points and, in general, the more you know and master the composition of the images, the more creative tools you will have at your fingertips :-).
I’m crazy, I’m not going to fool you ;-), their magic, their essence, their timelessness and their abstraction have earned me. Black and white is a simplification, it is a shape, it is a contrast, it is a light and a shadow in the strict sense, is it the simplest and, at the same time, the most complex? Come on, if you’ve never tried to photograph in black and white, I encourage you to give it a try? (And no, I don’t get commission anywhere hehehe, do I really like it?).
And like black and white, I also like the color ;-). Color has a lot of visual strength and working with it knowing its effects on the viewer, how some colors contrast with others (e. g. complementary colors), how they can zoom in or further depending on whether their tone is cold (cold tones) seem to drift away) or warm (warm tones seem to approach), offers spectacular results. Here are 20 ways to use it creatively in your photos.
Texture is synonymous with touch information. In other words, when we see a texture in an image, do we automatically imagine what touch is cold, hot, rough, fine, soft, rough?It is a type of information that can work on its own and another creative tool to use. in your artistic photographs.
Macrophotography is not just “an insect photo”, it is much more. It is the opportunity to enter a magical and unknown world of textures, blurs, enlargements, colors and abstraction.
There are people who put bathrooms in museums (see Duchamp) to claim the importance of the context of the work, and others who do not have the opportunity to exhibit in New York, but who know the importance of the context of a scene and how this can radically change by moving it from its usual environment. Something as simple as taking a fish out of the sea and planting it on your shelf as it would be another book (besides getting discouraged), an example of decontextalization.
Not all artistic photographs are surreal, but I would say that all surreal photographs are artistic or at least made with artistic intent. You don’t need a lot of infrastructure or equipment for this to happen. With a little imagination, you can get a lot, that. Here are 10 ways to get a surreal photograph.
Reflections on moving surfaces (water) or static surfaces (such as mirrors, glasses?) You will play with symmetry and asymmetry, with the balance or absence of it, or with the ability to deceive the eye and force your viewer to look twice at your image.
Shadows are another very useful tool with great visual strength, which will allow you to achieve more abstract and formal compositions.
The backlights will allow you to work on your most artistic side, you will be able to highlight the profile of the elements, take it to its simplest, purest and most essential form.
I hope you don’t grimace that this – it doesn’t go with me or that – is -very-complicated – for me, as I assure you you are capable, we all have an infinite margin for improvement. More, you can always improve, always, always move forward with patience and perseverance. We all have a little artist in us :-).
You dare let the artist inside you come out?I hope so, but most of all I hope you share it with us. And don’t forget to share this article if you found it interesting. Thanks and I’ll see you soon.