WHAT MAKES A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH AND HOW DO I TAKE ONE? [Part 2 of 2]

We need somewhere to start, a trigger. That’s my left brain talking – see – I need a formula. A formula for being an artist! A little contradictory.

Anyway, here goes…

If you can put any of these emotions into the image that you see in the viewfinder and THEN transfer the image to the viewer then you have possibility of creating a “GREAT” photograph.

This is giving your right brain a voice now.

So what I’m saying is that…

the art of feeling provides a way of seeing… great photographs.

OK an example to latch on to:

So this is a powerful statement and has the potential for creating truly epic images… and I think that best describes Burtynski’s pictures, they’re epic. He uses a large format (4x5) camera loaded with colour negative film and prints the images large, usually around 40 x 50” – which helps with the “epicness” idea that he often portrays.

So it’s hard to get a handle on this aspect when we’re looking at pictures on a computer screen but anyway…

Looks like something out of the future – it’s pretty much the world that George Orwell described in the book 1984.

Also something I noticed from looking at Burtynski’s (and others) works is that…

This shot shows people picking through the ruins of a village which has been flattened to make way for the 3 Gorges Dam project in China.

Another centred masterpiece, this time the exterior of the same aluminium smelter.

When you look at this one and the previous one of the inside of the smelter, what rules has Burtynski broken?

This one shows masses of cables and wires which are shipped to China from all over the world for recycling. A good depiction of the sheer mass of “stuff” that’s produced that we all consume. We’re not usually confronted with truths like this though – that’s what makes the image more than just a picture although he’s used all of his masterful technical ability to create these images but that technical ability is just a tool, a tool used to make the picture what it needs to be to get his idea across.

I can't NOT include an image from one of my all-time favourite photographers, Nadav Kander, from his book Yangtze: The Long River.

Such a poetic, beautiful and painterly image laden with narrative. Shot on 8x10" colour negative film.

This is the last one my example photos. It’s by Richard Misrach, one the first photographers to take colour photography into the realm of art photography, which at the time (the 70s) was dominated by Black and White. Note the muted colour and slightly “off” composition. The image was shot on 8x10" colour negative film.

So that sums up the main part of what I wanted to say – in a nutshell, use your passion (or otherwise) to imbue your images with emotion. Use your technical skill as a secondary tool to convey your passion (or otherwise) to the viewer.

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My examples in this article have used contemporary art photography to convey what I wanted to say. So, the big question is how do I apply all this to shooting portraits - or models ffs?

The answer to that can only be provided by yourself. There is no rule, no formula.