Digital Dynamite: Elements of Composition: The Portrait, The Street Photograph, the Landscape

Hi Class,

I'm truly blown away on how well you guys did on the Quality of Light assignment. Please take time to look through each other's work -- without a magenta tint! For your next assignment I'm giving you a couple of choices. I have three separate categories, or "genres" below, and I'd like you to either focus on one and take 20 - 30 pictures in that genre, or take at 6-10 in each genre. When you have your digital files ready, upload your 5-10 favorites here on the blog before we meet Thursday. Enjoy!

Assignment 3: Elements of Composition

For this assignment, I’d like you to focus on three genres of photography--Portrait, Street Photograph & Landscape-- I will give you a compositional strategy to think about for each genre.

1 – The portrait

Think about subject placement in the frame. Is your subject centered or to the side – are you going to show their whole body so you can see what they’re wearing, or just their face. Is the figure standing or sitting. Are they posing, or involved in an activity. Are you close or far away? Experiment with how different compositions change the reading of your subject matter.

Rineke Dijkstra

August Sander

Larry Sultan

Sally Mann

William Eggleston

Robert Frank

Nan Goldin

Henry Wessel

2 – The Street Photograph

For these shots, I’d like you to think about Henri Cartier-Bresson and “the Decisive Moment”. How do you create a dynamic street shot where the elements in the frame come together in an interesting way. Think about lines and forms created by architecture and people. Please try to include people in your street photograph. It can be shot from afar. It can be very important how your body is positioned in this kind of shot. Get high, get low. Sit and wait for the decisive moment!

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Lee Friedlander

Gary Winogrand

3 – The “Landscape”

For these shots, you can focus on a non-moving subject – any landscpe found in nature or on the street – a wide vista or the side of a building. Play with ideas like the “rule of thirds”, or using the edges of the frame creatively. Think about perspective – looking down on your subject can draw attention to its formal elements. Think about the elements in your composition as abstract shapes as well as subject matter.