Expert photographers talk about photography composition all the time because they can’t stress it enough. It’s key to delivering the message, story or mood in a photo. You can have a sharp and well-exposed photo, but if the composition doesn’t say anything, that image means nothing. This is what visual communication pertains to.
In the video above, Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography shares some interesting insights on why visual communication is the essence or bottomline of composition. Before you dismiss it as just another video on the topic, you’ll actually pick-up some valuable insights on why composition is crucial to your message.
For example, Forbes used music to describe the similarities in the “language” that photographers and musicians use in their work. He said that both use patterns to achieve “abstraction within context.” Music uses notes that are abstract on their own. Similarly photography puts together various visual elements to create striking imagery. However, while music follows sets of rules and theories, in photography, this framework is the human experience itself.
Lastly, Forbes points us to the works of Karl Blossfeldt and Henri Cartier-Bresson as points of reference to visual language at work. He has some good takes on what makes the composition of these photos exceptional, effective and impactful.
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