Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Posted Tuesday, September 25, 2018


Reaction to Robert Hirsch, Chapter 2 of Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age.


Robert Hirsch posits that photographs are a means of communications and as such can be useful or not depending on the visual literacy and experience of both the photographer and the viewer of the photographs they create.  He makes the point that a good photograph is well thought-out ahead of time in terms of how the different elements (shape, color, balance, symbolism, etc.) will create an image that contains the intended meaning.  He also points out that both the photographer and the viewer must share a common set of cultural experiences, symbols, and influences if the message created by the photographer is the same as the message received by the viewer.  Hirsch also points out that this potential difference between what is sent and what is received is today additionally complicated by the multitude of digital channels and modes that are available world-wide. Or not.

Hirsch makes three statements in this chapter that to me, at least, are worth remembering. One states that image making is 10% what we encounter and 90% how we respond. The second is the principle of subtractive composition which states that the camera will record everything that reflects light, creating visual chaos.  The photographer needs to control what is included and what is excluded. How this happens is planning and experience. Third, and perhaps most meaningful in the digital media age, is the consideration of the woefully short attention span of the modern viewer and the need for any message, however presented, to capture and keep the viewers focus.

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Portraits

The contact sheets for the Portrait project....someone had to play he cute dog card.....