Composition of the Photography Essay

In photography, the composition of the photograph is important to help identify, complement, isolate or highlight the subject matter. The subject matter of a photograph is the main reason you captured a photo or an image, and the viewer should not be distracted with any other details of the photograph so as to miss the subject matter. Photographers have perfected the art to exhibit the capacity of the camera to capture and control images in a manner that depicts the subject matter (Martin and Lee 279). For instance, in this image of Gandhi and his Spinning Wheel, Bourke-White intended to inform the general public of the protests, hunger, and civil disobedience, because any protest or resistance whether violent or peaceful requires a lot of publicity to achieve its aims (Cosgrove). Through Media, masses can be mobilized to change the status quo.

Another aspect of composition is that while other visual arts such as architecture, painting, sculpture, and film start from a clean slate, in photography the background already exists. Apart from a studio where the photographer has the ability to control his background and lighting, in photography, it is the work of the photographer to choose what he eliminates from the background and what he should add. In this photo of Gandhi, there is already an existing background of a wall and a window, but much emphasis is given on the spinning wheel and Gandhi on the floor, "many early photographs exhibit the capacity of the camera to capture and control details in a manner that informs the viewer about the subject matter" (Martin and Lee 279).

Another aspect of composition is the positioning of the subject matter where you will either need to frame or adjust your body or gear to capture the subject matter. "Pictorialists are photographers who use the achievements of painting, particularly realistic painting, in their effort to realize the potential of photography as art." (Martin and Lee 283) Pictorialists centered the most important subject matter in a frame, by controlling details and subordinating them in a structure just like the art of painting (Martin and Lee 283). The introduction of straight photography insisted that photographic techniques should be independent of painting. "The straight photographer wanted things to look essentially as they do, even if they are ugly" (Martin and Lee 286) This is what Bourke-White demonstrates in this picture, she portrays Gandhi in a very desperate state, and she does not care how ugly the picture looks as long as her subject matter is depicted.

Capturing a well composed photo always happen without conscious thought or mathematics. For the Documentarist, time is always critical and the decisive moment to take a shot. The composition also ranges from arranging, seeing, framing, creating and cropping to portray the subject matter (Martin and Lee 290). Photographers also need to take into consideration the elements of composition which are patterns, texture, lines, curves, contrast, color, negative space, foreground, and background, visual tension and shapes.

In conclusion, in this photograph, Gandhi and His Spinning Wheel, Bourke-White portrays the subject matter perfectly, while taking into considerations the elements of composition. The picture is so detailed, giving only the relevant and important details that are in sync with the subject matter, thereby achieving its aims to mobilize the masses and stand up against injustice.

The Persistence of Memory

This is an oil painting created by a Spanish artist, Salvador Dali in the 1931 (Richmna-Abdou). This painting is found in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and it has also been displayed across many continents as one of the pieces by Salvador (Richmna-Abdou). This painting represents a work of art that encompasses all the elements of painting. The Persistence of Memory consists of a light blue horizon, which fades from blue to yellow, with what looks like a body of water sitting under the skyline. It is painted with a lone pebble in front of the mountain next to the body of water. On the left of the water body, there is a rectangular platform with dark brown colors, and in front of there is a dry tree with no leaves and only a single branch. The branch holds a melting silver watch with numbers three to nine, and only one hand pointing at six. There is also a melted golden watch, with hands that pointing at five of seven, with a fly casting a shadow of a human being at the one o'clock mark. The other watch is made of bronze, unlike the rest, it is not melted, but it closed and covered with ants. On the ground lies a silver watch with a white figure of a human being, but with no limbs.

This painting uses the basic elements of art which are lines, shapes, values, colors, form, and texture. "Line is a continuous marking made by a moving point on a surface" (Martin and Lee 73), and in this painting, Salvador uses lines that are thin and similar in width and varies on the shapes he is painting, for instance, the lines on the mountains are more pronounced giving a more realistic shape. Salvador uses detailed lines to give a realistic look at the painting, for instance, the lines on the clock are so fine to show the numbers of the clock.

Another element is the use of values and shading in this painting, Salvador uses thick values to give a three dimensional illusion to his work, for instance, the value is used on the tree to give the illusion of a bark. The painting uses shapes and forms to give a unique style to it. This painting has both noticeable shapes such as the solid rectangle, the mountains, the water body and unidentifiable figures where only geometric shapes are noticeable. The use color gives life to this painting. The colors are saturated and dark, and Salvador uses both color and shadow to portray different experience. "Color is composed of three distinct qualities: hue, saturation, and value" (Martin and Lee 76) and Salvador uses all these three qualities in this painting. The texture of this painting varies from soft to rough to jagged objects; "Texture is the surface "feel" of something" (Martin and Lee 77). For instance, in this painting, the water body looks smooth as it portrays a reflective surface while the mountains look rough.

"Painting is the art that has most to do with revealing the sensuous and the visual appearance of objects an...