Achnahaird Salt FlatsContinuing the winter theme from my last post...
I'm often asked by workshop participants to give them the secrets of good composition, "What are the rules?" they ask. In reply I usually paraphrase a comment made by Edward Weston, "To consult the rules of composition before making a photograph is a little like consulting the law of gravity before going for a walk. Irrelevant!"
For me the very best images always break the rules, they surprise the viewer with a new way of seeing the world. What intrigued me about this view was that the fabric of the landscape appears to be almost wafer thin – a tear in the fabric allows us to glimpse sky below and beyond the surface of the ground. Visual ambiguity in a photograph can not only be arresting but also adds a sense of mystery. Humans have evolved to seek early resolution to visual problems and where this isn't possible an image will hold the viewer's attention for longer – think of the work M.C. Escher such as the hooded figures ascending a neverending staircase. So, rather than seeking to describe the landscape in a way that is instantly understood we would do better to try and confound the viewer's expectations. Rules are never going to get us to this point!
1 comment:
I love this photograph: the wet, sponginess of the grassy ground; the flat, smooth, reflective pool of water; and the solidness of the mountains. The green and rust colors of the grass are so warm compared with the blue, dusky purple and pink shades in the sky above and in the reflective pool. For me, there is a strong sense of time with the light changing by the minute, the vegetation changing with the seasons, and the mountains with their air of timelessness.
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