Photographic Composition

Given that you've now done some introductory image analysis - you will want to expand your knowledge and skills to look at how different images actually draw an audience in, how they emphasise meaning and how they create mood and tone in an image.

This is all done by the way a photo is taken. The presentation below takes you through some of the techniques used that make photographs so captivating but also carefully manipulate us into understanding and feeling from a text what the producers of that text want us to feel and think...

You can use some of these techniques in your own photography - different techniques really achieve different effects.

For example, the Rule of Thirds can draw our eye to different parts of an image and give the picture a feel of balance and harmony.

Using an unusual background such as the one in the presentation can add significance to an image - the photo may just seem like a picture of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but by having the Dakota building looming over them in the background adds extra meaning and gives the picture a sombre tone, particularly as it is the same building that John Lennon lived in and was murdered outside of.

Shadows can intensify feelings of isolation, loneliness and mystery - combined with the high angle of the shot, there is a tension created by this dark shadowy image that leads us to believe that the figure is in danger, maybe being followed or watched without his knowledge.

Cropping an image can make the subject look trapped in the frame and forces the audience to engage with the subject's emotions - in this case the subject looks depressed, tired and concerned. When we learn that the picture is of musician and grunge star Kurt Cobain - the way that the image is cropped adds to the understanding of Cobain's character, a man trapped by heroin addiction, fame he didn't want. An emotional songwriter who eventually became so weary of the world that he took his own life.

Skewing an image as well as capturing something which has many obscure lines and shapes can be disorienting for an audience, it can challenge what is real and make the audience feel out of their comfort zone or question what it is they are looking at. The lines of an image can also draw our eye to certain parts of the photo emphasising key objects or areas.

You should be able to analyse a photo and refer to all of these different techniques used and say what impact they have. 

Now you can practice your new skills by clicking on the link and completing the homework...

First textual analysis: Armani advert.