Stop talking banalities. Especially the ones with long art theory words in them. Please.
I could read it in his eyes, framed in the very polite frown that people put on their faces when they want to be seen focused and “with you”. He was a friend of mine I’d decided to introduce to the scratched worlds of Gerhard Richter at Tate Modern.
I was talking about composition, saying something like “in a great painting, composition is the key to understand the meaning of the story the artist wanted to tell”.
I admit, it is a phrase void of any practical meaning until applied to a real painting. Like what I did in the previous post on a Van Gogh’s landscape. But you don’t have a Van Gogh painting whenever you need it. As with many things in life, when you need it most, it’s not there.
So, I thought of an object-based lesson right there, on the spot.
The lesson involved three meanings that a picture of London taken from the second floor of Tate should be sending across to a potential viewer.
Task 1. Take a “touristic” photo, saying I’ve been to London.
Easy. Most interesting shapes, forms, scenes in the middle, not too much of the sky, not to much of the river, with the usual instinct to get everything, including both banks of the Thames, into a single picture. You don’t have to think to take it, it just comes out on its own.
Task 2. London is a spiritual city.
Merchants, city bankers, embankment restaurants, the bustle of the megapolice life rhymed by the cupolas and spires of churches and cathedrals. Voilà! We don’t show the river, we show the skies, the spires, and the city.
Task 3. London is a city which history is linked to the river.
Ok, forget the skies, focus on the river and wait until a couple of ships sail into the frame, preferably in the opposite directions.
We didn’t wait for the ships, we imagined them.
Task 4. Take a picture that will have a human dimension, what the newspapers call “a human story”. A human story in London. I was surprised that my tired friend came up with a solution in a few seconds.
Very lonely art lover who is in love with Tate. She’s not happy, methinks. She wants to be there in the city, mingle with the crowd, meet someone who is not Tate! But she’s stuck. She is afraid to cross the rubicon of the Thames in search of a new life.
I find his story madly romantic. For all I know, the lady in the picture could be a happy mom of two. But what matters, is that he learned how “composition becomes the key to the meaning”.
Next time you happen to be at a spot from which everyone is taking pictures as if the view is bound to stop existing tomorrow – think about three different meanings, and change the composition to accomodate each of them.
It’s a game best played by two. If it is your boyfriend or girlfriend – I promise the romantic returns of immesurable worth.
Standing Ovation, Seated 
Wow ! At first look I thought it was Varanasi …….. the renowned spiritual city. Kudos sir.
Congratulations on being freshly pressed. 🙂
Thank you!) You are very kind!
Now that was fun! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thank you! ) Hope you will like my future exercises too! )
I am sure I shall! 🙂
Fantastic advice, and so well-presented. I love shots like your last one, the ones telling a story. Different people would probably read different stories from the same photo and that makes them fascinating. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you! I’m deep into your advice on how to look french right now )
I’m writing my third book on photographic composition and image design. This post was BRILLIANT! Thank you for your insights 🙂
Thank you! I’m more than just flattered, really. Thanks for reblogging the post and those kind words you used to introduce it. I hope you’d enjoy some other posts (especially the neighboring Van Gogh – there’s a lot said about the composition as well. I promise more exercises in my future posts. I’ve been developing the techniques for about a decade ) It’s time to share them!
I will be looking forward to it, thanks!!
This is so nicely explained, and the pictures are excellent examples. Thanks for this!
You are very welcome! ) Thank you!
Useful exercise – and fun!
I’ve always believed that photography was an art and that the art began when the photographer decided where to stand. It is also interesting that you can stand in the same spot and what you include in the shot can change its message. I enjoyed the post and the London scene.
Exactly! Thank you 😉
Great post ,very informative.Have a nice day .jalal
This is great, I really like your different ways of looking at, and capturing, a view. Thanks!
Thank you! 😉
This is great! I’ve been having trouble with the plot of my novel recently, and even though you’re talking about photography and paintings, it actually helped me a little. All art has some common ground, right? Just the spark I needed–thank you.
Thank you! I can suggest a few other posts that you may find somewhat inspirations. Posts on conflict in Van Gogh portrait or, even better, a post on Matisse and Pollaiuolo that I had in early November. Let me know what you think, please!
Reblogged this on Say Gudday and commented:
An excellent lesson in simply taking great photos.
a quick hi! i’ll come back later. gotta take a look at my photos & see how i fared 🙂 thanks and i hope there’ll be more lessons to come?
Thank you, of course there’ll be more. You can glean a couple even now, from the post on Van Gogh. Or, if you delve somewhat deeper, there was a post on Matisse, also quite applicable to photography. But I promise that I’ll make sure there would be more exercises in future )
Wow! And I knew you before you were freshly pressed! Your blog is genius, you totally deserved it ) Поздравляю!!!
Спасибо! У меня даже нет слов, правда ) По-английски говоря, я сейчас blushing )
This is amazing. Good information. Thank you:)
Thank you! 🙂 I’ll make sure to have more exercises embedded in my posts.
Thanks for the Ideas. It’s really great to have memorabilia after all.The pictures are Breathtaking! London is such a nice place!
Thank you!
Simply wonderful, thanks for sharing these images and congrats on FP!
Thank you so much! – You’ve just made me audit my knowledge of depicting sports in art. I think I’ll do a post on this a bit later. Thanks again!
Great post! I will definitely take some of your advices while making photo’s.. Let’s see if Uganda gives me the same inspiration as London does =)
I am sure it will ) I have been mostly doing exercises for painters, but I will make sure to expand the audience to photographers ) Thank you for taking you time to read it all and share your thoughts! )
“…my monthly visits to London…” – coming from Australia I am envious. Your game is really interesting. I work in a part of the city that is covered in tourists (and tour groups) carrying DSLRs, so my colleagues and I can play that game every lunchtime!
…and the lunchtime is going to be a bit more fun! Glad you liked it ) Speaking of London, Australia for me is the dream destination that I am yet to reach!
You should come and visit! Not just for the beaches and harbour, there is a really good private art gallery in Hobart (Mona). I am going to visit Mona in January and can’t wait.
Oh, I should and I will! )
I always recognize it and appreciate it as photography or art, but never apply it to my own view. I don’t know why. Thank you for changing that.
Please don’t forget that sometimes the right side of your brain should just be given free rein over your hands! ) Thanks for stopping by!
I used to live in that part of London: http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/london-bermondsey-westminster/
Yes, I see the Shard had not been completed yet back then ) I’ve just been there last month and they are opening a hotel on the very top.
And I had always hoped that it would become the target of a terrorist attack before it could open. 😉
Believe me, this is not the ugliest structure in the world. Come to Moscow, you’d see ugliness dotting the landscape all around you. Fortunately, there are still many spots I love )
Thanks for the insight and using photos in your explanation. I never realised how a simple change could make such a huge difference 🙂
You are very welcome! Thank you )
I love your idea of telling a story through composition..I’m definitely going to try it 🙂
Thank you! Go ahead, it can be fun! Hope you like some other execises I’ll be offering ) Art can be fun to play with.
nice shots! and thanks for the visit.
Well, I don’t really think the shots are nice, there were not meant to be nice ) Just a visual aid to a verbal concept. Thank you for stopping by!
Wow this short little lesson really made me look at photographs in a new way, especially the ones I’m taking and what it is exactly that I want to capture. Thank you for this quick lesson!
Just don’t forget that sometimes your instinct, your right side of the brain should take the reins, not logic ) Thank you!
Now I am looking back over my photographs and wondering about the subtext of my composition, in those images where I chose one way over another (sometimes without much thought). And now I am so excited, it’s like thinking about pictures in an entirely new way, even if there’s nothing in any of the sentences which is news to me – the cumulative effect is like magic.
I can’t wait to play…and I won’t even hold you to the romantic returns!
Thank you! I hope that some other exercises in my other posts will inspire you in the same way ) I plan to have more of them. Please drop me a line about the results of your experiments! )
I will most certainly let you know how we get on! Thanks for the encouragement!
I was sat there three weeks ago and that lady was there then. Maybe she is stuck or deceased, but then that would be a completely different story i suppose.
I am sure THAT lady wasn’t there ) But there are always people sitting at that counter, because it is the kind of place that links you back to reality from inside the imaginative and often artificial world of the gallery. Thank you for your observation – it made me think of a piece that would be reflecting just that. People looking outside as if trying to gulp a breath of fresh, living air. I just wonder what composition THAT would be! Thanks again. For stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
Its a pleasure, I look forward to reading about that gulp of fresh air
Thank you for this. I’m by no means an artist and “composition” meant nothing to me till now. You’ve taught me something I really appreciate!
Ian, I am very happy to hear that! Thank you for your comment – it’s important for me to know that it works! )
What a wonderful idea. I am going to try this next time I take my camera out. Thank you. Oh and I did visit London many years ago and thoroughly loved it.
Please, please let me know how it would work out for you! Thank you for this comment )
I will. Cheers. My pleasure and have a great day.
I love your simple but very powerful examples of composition. Great lesson!
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed! I’m happy it helped me find your blog!
Thank you for saying this! It is important to know which approach to explaining art works best ) I’ll make sure there’ll be more exercise! )
What a remarkable plan! I’ve been trying to figure out ways to inspire my adult children with their photographic “evidence” — you nailed it. Well done. I’m book marking and sharing.
Thank you! I’ll make sure to add an exercise or two to each of my art posts ) And you are right. Kids love playing with ideas )
very nice lesson, thank you
You are very welcome! Thank you for stopping by and I hope you’d like other exercises as well!
Great lesson. Thanks for sharing. The photos are great.
Thank you! But the photos are not great, really ) It’s the ideas behind that make you look at them differently.
Great lesson with examples we can “see”. Thanks and congrats on FP!
Thank you! I base all my art posts on visual examples because I hate those multi-syllable words which are a-plenty in books on art ) I am happy that being on FP brought in so many wonderful readers ) So, thank you again!
A great read and showing how important it is to have a purpose when taking a photograph. And then work on the composition. My favourite picture is the last one with the human touch.
Yes, you are right. Mindless camera clicking can produce a good result in 1 case out of a thousand, but then a mindless clicker won’t be able to see it anyway ) I also love the human touch pics. It somehow makes you a part of a larger group in the very isolated urban world. Thank you!
Does this mean that Tate loves London?
Would you love London were it to give you such a nice building for the office? I am sure I would )
That is so true! http://www.segmation.wordpress.com
I love this post! I’m going to try this!
Yes, please, and please share the results! Thank you! )
Will do!
Great post! I would love to visit London and all of Europe someday!
Chad, when I was a kid I dreamt of visitng Athens, because I was ancient history geek. By now, I’ve covered almost all of Europe, but not Athens. Fate is a thing to wonder ) But I wish you that your dream comes true – not “someday”, but, say, next year? Thank you!
Do my eyes deceive me or is that a UFO hovering over the city in the last photo?
I enjoy reading your posts. It inspires me to finally post something that falls within the topic of art history.
Oh, a UFO? I think it’s just a bad photo )
Thank you so much – I am so happy that I am able to spark up inpiration in others )
This is so fun! My boyfriend and I have mini-photo-taking competitions all the time but I think this will help put things in perspective. (Also I love London!)
Rachel, thank you for being with me on this. Who’s winning in your competitions? )
Great thoughts! I go back and forth in my posts, finding a single image that makes a comment, or a set of 3 or 4 images that give a cubist view of something. Thanks!
I absolutely loved you “cubist view of something”. That’s a great wrap up for a concept of multiple angles. Thank you!
I’ve been easing back into writing poetry after a gap of 30 years and realized there’s a cubist sensibility in how I’ve been putting photo posts together with how I write poetry!
David, I must say I am quite interested in seeing this! )
What a wonderful perspective! I’m starting to take my photographs more seriously now and allowing a subject to tell its many stories is absolutely brilliant! Thanks so much for the share. I’m excited to start clicking again!
yes, and the same is true for painting as well. No two artists painting the same subject from the same spot can produce the same result ) Thank you, I am happy you’ve followed me because I’ll be waiting for your insights!
Amazing..
Thanks for the idea! I just bought a camera and am still learning ways to improve. I like the second picture the best!
Amazing architecture, i wish i was there.
I may be biased, being English, but London is the best and most attractive city in the world!
I tend to agree ) Thank you so much for being with me and taking your time to read and comment!
It is an amazing city… spent a decade of my life there, which wasn’t a day too many 🙂
“As with many things in life, when you need it most, it’s not there.” So true. A reproduction of a painting just can’t match the original.
I hope you enjoyed London!
Lucy
Thank you! My monthly visits to London are universally enjoyable. I love London )
Very good advise! One can change the story of the shot so much only with the composition itself. I also try to play a bit with depth of field while shooting closer objects to help, directing the viewer to attention areas. Very good blog post! Cheers, Andreas
Andreas, I am very happy you liked it. For most people it can be really a fun game – expanding their horizons at the same time ) Thank you!