composition 4 | experiments with scale
DESCRIPTION
This presentation is about photographer's experiments with scale as artistic method. Topics covered are, for instance, the work of Karl Blossfeldt, Aaron Siskind and Minor White, who used extreme closeup to achieve a surrealist and disorienting effect with their photographs. Other photographers such as Edward Burtynsky used the opposite, extreme distance, to achieve a similar effect. The presentation also covers difference in scale as used by Julia Fullerton-Batten, Tim Walker or Marc Da Cunha Lopes. Tilt-Shift photography makes landscape photographs look like miniatures, for instance in the work of Vincent Laforet, while other artists use real miniatures to deconstruct the viewer's sense of what is real.TRANSCRIPT
All artwork is copyright of the artist. Where possible all artists have been named
and all artwork dated. This document should be used for educational purposes only.
Composition 4:Experiments with
Scale
Edward WestonCracked Earth, Borrego Desert
1938
One of the main effects of scale in photography is that it can render the subject abstract and unrecognizable.
Familiar objects become strange and mysterious, and the viewer must ask him- or herself: “What am I looking at?”
Photographers can use both extreme proximity and extreme distance to achieve this effect.
Karl BlossfeldtBeckmannia cruciformis, Slough grass, fruiting spikelets c. 1928-32
Karl BlossfeldtCephalaria, Scabious family c. 1928-32
Karl BlossfeldtChestnut branchesc. 1928-32
Karl BlossfeldtHorsetail shootsc. 1928-32
Susannah HaysSmilax Root2000
Edward Burtynsky Rice Terraces #2, Western Yunnan Province, China, 2012
Edward Burtynsky Glacial Runoff #1 2012
Edward Burtynsky Pivot Irrigation #12012
Edward Burtynsky Xiaolangdi Dam #3, Yellow River, Henan Province, China, 2011
Experiments with scale can result in the emergence of undiscovered elements in every-day objects, such as textures and other details which are otherwise overlooked. Artists may use such images to contemplate the archival layering age lends to objects, and the impact of age and environment on man-made or natural objects.
Such images are often timeless - could you say whether the image was taken in the 1930s or yesterday?
Aaron Siskind, San Luis Potosi 16
1961
Aaron SiskindVolcano 541980
Minor WhiteRoot and Frost1958
Minor WhitePeeled paint1959
Minor WhiteSound of one hand clapping1957
Unexpected difference in scale lends photographs, collages or photomontages a surreal aspect, as in the following photographs. In some photos it suggests a misfit, a break in the normality of things, as in a weird dream. In other photographs it reinforces the intended focus of the scene, for instance the teenage girls in the following photographs. It can also serve as a metaphor, for instance in the work of Marc Da Cunha Lopes, in which giant cockroaches operate machinery.
Julia Fullerton-BattenTeenage stories, Milk Bottle
2005
Julia Fullerton-BattenTeenage stories,Broken Eggs, 2005
Tim WalkerEagle owl and hatched eggs 2010
Tim WalkerLily Cole 2004
Marc Da Cunha LopesCockroaches at work2010
Marc Da Cunha LopesCockroaches at work
2010
The technique known as tilt-shift photography turns photographs of real scenes into seeming miniatures:
“Tilt–shift” encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens plane relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp. Shift is used to adjust the position of the subject in the image area without moving the camera back; this is often helpful in avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.
Other photographers working with scale use real installations to confuse the viewer.
Vincent LaforetTeterboro Airport2006
Vincent LaforetMaria Sharapova, U.S. Open 2007
Vincent LaforetKentucky Derby, Churchill Downs2007
Daniel MennerichNiagara Falls N.Y. - Maid of the Mist 022010
Olivio BarbieriTilt-Shift Rome Coliseum2011
SlinkachuBank Balance2014
SlinkachuAlpining, Fulham, London2014
SlinkachuFaded Grandeur, Lalla Hasna Park, Marrakech, Morocco2013