One of the fascinating aspects of any artistic activity is the ability to convey feelings and thoughts, with conceptual photography the same thing happens, it is certainly an excellent tool to express the feelings of the photographer and develop his artistic aspect.
Good photography isn’t just about taking pictures with a good camera, as with other art forms, well-executed photography always strives to convey an idea or message one way or another, a good example is conceptual photography.
- Conceptual photography fascinates many photographers precisely for these reasons.
- The necessary competence in composition.
- Not only in terms of technical or aesthetic considerations.
- But also to convey conceptual thinking.
- Metaphors and intelligent ideas.
- Can be a little difficult to acquire.
- Help photographers develop a clinical eye for the composition of their conceptual photography.
It is difficult to tell an artist how to approach their art, after all, each artist has a different approach, this is especially true in conceptual photography, although when you start with conceptual photos, your own style and method will soon emerge, you can still learn a number of things to facilitate their task.
However, if this is your first contact with conceptual photography, this article will answer the main questions as well as the suggestion of various photo tricks and techniques to start your work with conceptual photography.
Although conceptual photography seems to be an intimidating field to enter, it’s not as difficult as it seems, here are some tips for starting to think like a conceptual artist and delve into conceptual photography today.
Conceptual photography is a mystical field of photography for many, but what defines a photo as “conceptual”, that is, what makes a photo so named?Conceptual is one of those ways you can bring your concept to the viewer’s mind using only the content of a photograph.
Conceptual photography seems to alternately occupy an ivory tower, isolated from the rest of the photograph, or so vaguely defined that this type of photograph corresponds only to the rest. First of all, it’s a concept of photography. A conceptual photographer tries to bring a message to the viewer, be it political advertising, social commentary or an emotional cry There is a certain level of abstraction, so in a conceptual photo, the image is not an explicit example of the concept, but a general expression of the idea.
In conceptual photography, the professional uses graphic symbols in a healthy way to represent ideas, movements, moods, anything the photographer wants to include in the message of his photograph. Symbols with strong, well-established connotations, such as a bright red, are generally used. lipstick or a bleeding heart, primarily to emphasize an important message and share the viewer’s point of view.
Of course, one problem with which every conceptual photographer encounters is to use more universal symbols, that is, their corresponding photos and concepts should aim to be interpreted in the same way by all, or you can fall on the precipice of ambiguities to infinity of different Ones This leads to another important characteristic, or rather to a distinction in conceptual photography.
If a picture is supposed to be? Subjectively or objectively interpreted differently according to the main desire of the conceptual photographer.
Some conceptual photographers like to claim that their photo has a single objective meaning, through their photography, they strive to say exactly the same thing to everyone, regardless of their origin.
In the example above it is an objective conceptual photograph, that is, with a single message to transmit. In this model, the morality of the photo is more visible and can be perceived by most people with little observation time.
However, when the image is open, it allows different interpretations to be called subjective conceptual photography, so the photographer intends to use the different interpretations of his photo to enrich his work and generate discussion or controversy with his performance.
The idea factor, of course, does not take days and hours to think of a photo to make it a beautiful image. This guy is just one where you have to put different kinds of different things on the floor and have a thought to use. With all these things. In fact, Photoshop or other software are useful, to give a dramatic effect, but the hardest thing is to capture and you have to think seriously to get something out of it.
The fundamental step of conceptual photography is in what you intend to say with it. Not sure where to start or need ideas?Think about the questions that inspire you. A newly broken relationship can result in emotional conceptual work, just as a politically active mind can produce messages to persuade and convince people of the validity of their mindset or the opinions of others. a conceptual photograph.
Sometimes you can be inspired by a concept of the objects around you. A cross at the end of your necklace?A half-broken political announcement in the ditch? Don’t be afraid to work with everything around you, as long as you’re able to inspire it.
Once you have an idea of what you want to work on, it’s time to know what you’re going to work on, it’s often a little more complicated than just choosing the theme of your concept photography.
The advantage of conceptual photography is that it judicially uses graphic symbols to represent ideas, movements, moods, anything the photographer wants to include in his photographic message. This experimental photography is among the best today and each artist finds the easiest way to capture. simple things and bring out a unique and exciting concept.
You can use any object in front of you to photograph and convey the message. Conceptual photography is really one of those areas where the creative side of the photographer is the first thing.
Think of symbols that can express some of your idea. Are hearts and crosses enough for you? As for the physical representations of nicknames, languages or jokes, can they do any good?Work wisely and wisely to avoid clichés in your conceptual photography, that is, escape the obvious. Everyone has seen these images of spilled lipstick pills or cartridges, you can do better than that. Originality is fundamental.
When you want to start conceptual photography, it’s always good to write about your topic and the message you want to convey, ask yourself what you and others will understand about your conceptual photography and write it down, what are you trying to represent?Keep that in mind, too.
Looking at your written ideas can help you broaden your point of view and keep your conceptual photography true to what you imagined at first, not that you can’t improvise during shooting, but the concept of your photo should remain the same.
Also, to write about your conceptual photography topic is to think about it, when you spend more time thinking about a specific idea that you have, your brain will react accordingly, this may seem immature, but planning is fundamental to everything, including your conceptual photography.
Another thing that helps to keep your notebook always at your fingertips is that during a conceptual photography session, new ideas and important points that you will want to write down for future work may arise.
There are a number of ways to approach composition in conceptual photography, in fact, this is where most conceptual photographers really show their personal style.
Many conceptual photographers prefer minimalism in their photographs, that is, they prefer to have extremely sharp and simple photographs with blank backgrounds so that the subject is detached from the image, so that the message of conceptual photography is the only thing in which the viewer concentrates, with absolutely nothing that distracts you.
Other conceptual photographers prefer charged images, loaded with objects, symbols and people, all presenting different concepts that interact with each other to form complex conceptual landscapes. This tends to be a little more complex, both for the photographer to set up the photo and for the viewer to absorb all this, but for some messages, it works really well.
People like nice things, period. Even when they don’t consciously realize that an object is beautiful or just nice, they’ll always find the object and concept that accompanies it and make it easier if it’s packaged in a beautiful and engaging way. Think of ads: Is something ugly capable of attracting the slightest attention?That’s why beauty is an important point in your conceptual photography.
This is not to say that the aesthetics of an image can replace a good composition, especially when it comes to conceptual photography, but using people and objects that are at least pleasing to the eye can slightly improve the photos for the viewer.
Of course, there are always deliberate juxtapositions of the beautiful and the ugly and this can change the way things will look in your conceptual photography. For example, the image of an ugly man lying in the middle of perfume jars and gold jewellery can add an extra touch. beauty for the viewer.
Deliberately ugly images can also be used with good results in conceptual photography, you just have to find your charm.
Conceptual photography is one of the least technically demanding types of photography, especially since the emphasis is not on the low aperture of the camera or the necessary shutter speed, but on the concept itself, the true reason for conceptual photography. easier to access for amateur photographers than, for example, sports photography or portrait photography.
That said, there are a minimum of things to consider in the technical aspects of your camera to achieve a conceptual photography, well-executed photos are fundamental, as in any other field of photography.
Knowing the exposure, ISO and other controls is useful, and if you want to photograph smaller objects, a little understanding of camera lens aperture and manual focus will also be useful.
Lighting is an important consideration with these planned shots, especially for conceptual photography indoors. Developing lighting awareness is a necessity if you want your objects to remain clear enough in your conceptual photography.
As for photographic equipment, even if you’re just getting started, it’s not too hard to make your own camera flash ring, light box or reflective umbrella for more precise control of light tones and shadows.
Conceptual photography is essentially the photographer trying to convey a message or a ‘concept’. Usually this message is conveyed through abstract symbolism that can be interpreted by the viewer. Although most photographers have a specific meaning that they are trying to convey, the image can generally be interpreted in different ways.
It is most often seen in advertising and illustration, where the image can repeat a title or accompanying slogan. Conceptual photography, a term used to describe a genre, may refer to the use of photography in conceptual art or contemporary art photography. In some cases, the term is not widely used or applied consistently.
I hope that these previous tips have managed to convey the main definitions and techniques of conceptual photography. You can interpret differently what conceptual photography is, on the other hand, the sweetest thing is that a conceptual framework of photography can be interpreted in different ways, for the reason that even if the photographer gets caught between the selection of ideas at the end, it leaves your mind free to create.
In conclusion, I would say that conceptual photography is known for being one of the most creative genres of photography, partly because it is more difficult compared to other genres in the artistic aspect, but mainly because it takes a lot of time and patience to get your perfect conceptual plan.
Now share your thoughts on conceptual photography in the comments field below, or leave your opinion on this article.