| On Better Photography Series by Glenn Pollock On Making Better Photos |
This is essentially true in any artistic composition, because it is the space around the “subject” that
defines and creates that subject - one cannot exist without the other.
What happens in this ‘other’ space will effect how the viewer reacts to your image. If this space is complex, it
needs to be structured so as to lead the viewer through it in a controlled way [remember leading lines?]. And don’
t forget shape, pattern, rhythm, color. These and other graphic elements can help structure the negative space
so it compliments a subject.
Most all the graphic elements are always present and intertwined - and they cannot be easily separated. But they
can be emphasized or minimized to your advantage, in order to create the image you want.
The simpler it is, the easier it is to control. Think, “KISS” -Keep It Simple, Stupid. To quote the authors of the Time
Life book, The Art of Photography, “For any picture, the best combination of elements will be
irreducible - the minimum that express the photographer’s sense of the subject”.
“Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better” -
Andre Gide
So, for a change, instead of focusing on the subject, concern yourself with the somethingness of this nothing
space. Let yourself go …… past the subject into what lies beyond. Let your mind travel into and explore that
nothingness. But be sure to get it back before the next deadline.
And remember, “Nothing is more real than nothing”. At least according to Samuel Beckett.
defines and creates that subject - one cannot exist without the other.
What happens in this ‘other’ space will effect how the viewer reacts to your image. If this space is complex, it
needs to be structured so as to lead the viewer through it in a controlled way [remember leading lines?]. And don’
t forget shape, pattern, rhythm, color. These and other graphic elements can help structure the negative space
so it compliments a subject.
Most all the graphic elements are always present and intertwined - and they cannot be easily separated. But they
can be emphasized or minimized to your advantage, in order to create the image you want.
The simpler it is, the easier it is to control. Think, “KISS” -Keep It Simple, Stupid. To quote the authors of the Time
Life book, The Art of Photography, “For any picture, the best combination of elements will be
irreducible - the minimum that express the photographer’s sense of the subject”.
“Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better” -
Andre Gide
So, for a change, instead of focusing on the subject, concern yourself with the somethingness of this nothing
space. Let yourself go …… past the subject into what lies beyond. Let your mind travel into and explore that
nothingness. But be sure to get it back before the next deadline.
And remember, “Nothing is more real than nothing”. At least according to Samuel Beckett.
Much Ado about
“Nothing”
Glenn Pollock
Way back in 500 BC, Lao-tzu, said,
‘What-is, sprang from what-is-not. It is in the
spaces that there is nothing / that the
usefulness lies,”
Way now, Glenn Pollock says, “What the hell
does all this have to do with taking pictures?”
Actually, quite a bit.
To quote Betty Edwards, in Drawing and the
Right Side of the Brain, “If care and attention
are lavished on the negative spaces, the forms
will take care of themselves.
Equally important as the subject of a
photograph is the “nothing” space that is
created around it. This is often called
“Negative Space”. The artist, M. C. Escher was
a genius when dealing with this negative
space. In many of his works the concepts of
positive, negative, and subject, are almost
meaningless.
“Nothing”
Glenn Pollock
Way back in 500 BC, Lao-tzu, said,
‘What-is, sprang from what-is-not. It is in the
spaces that there is nothing / that the
usefulness lies,”
Way now, Glenn Pollock says, “What the hell
does all this have to do with taking pictures?”
Actually, quite a bit.
To quote Betty Edwards, in Drawing and the
Right Side of the Brain, “If care and attention
are lavished on the negative spaces, the forms
will take care of themselves.
Equally important as the subject of a
photograph is the “nothing” space that is
created around it. This is often called
“Negative Space”. The artist, M. C. Escher was
a genius when dealing with this negative
space. In many of his works the concepts of
positive, negative, and subject, are almost
meaningless.
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Photos by Rain rodolph