Brush up on art by painting with light

Arts & Activities, June, 2005 by Karen Skophammer

My students have dealt with black-and-white photography, however, with a new group of students I wanted to focus on composition and light--two things I think are essential for an effective photo. This time, we would also be using 400 ASA color film and each student brought a camera so that they each could experiment with photo composition at school and then complete the assignment during free-time outside of school. This would give us a variety of subject matter.

We discussed the fact that composing a photograph is like painting a picture. We're dealing with the elements of art when composing a photograph. We're essentially painting the photograph with our artistic tools: the camera, our imagination and our eyes. We're making a personal statement with our photograph--one that observers may interpret in many different ways, just as a painting is interpreted by the viewer.

After discussion, the students used their cameras/film to "paint" their images. I asked them to complete the hands-on portion of the lesson by taking one roll of 24-exposure film and then turn in at least three photographs that show the following: (1) Making light work for you; (2) repetition and rhythm; and (3) leading lines and point of view.

The photos the students take will naturally encompass more than one of these qualities. For instance, a photo may show repetition and rhythm plus point of view, but the student must be able to explain how each photo they turn in depicts each quality. They also explain to the class which of the three they had in mind when taking the photo. Here is how I broke the assignment down and explained it to my students:

MAKING LIGHT WORK FOR YOU A solid object with sun/light directly behind it will give you an outline or a silhouette. This can create quite a striking effect. One of the photos turned in was the photo of the girl in the car window. It has quite a mysterious quality. It makes the viewer wonder what story the photo tells. Where is the girl going? What mood is she in? How many other people are on the trip with her?

If a photo is taken and the subject lets some light through, the effect can also be amazing and set a mood. In the photo of the narrow hallway/walkway which was turned in, light filters through from the end of the hallway casting enough light to partially illuminate the walkway. It lends a dramatic effect.

REPETITION AND RHYTHM When similar shapes, colors, lines or forms are repeated they form patterns. Repetition and rhythm grab our attention and can be powerful in photography. Our environment contains lots of patterns. The students were asked to look for man-made rhythms/patterns and then try to "close frame" them to emphasize the patterns and create interesting rhythmic artistic works of art.

Geometric patterns in the photographs taken by the students show sharp angles and strong lines that, when photographed close-up, seem to create abstract images and interesting shadows.

LINE AND POINT OF VIEW Line can be very powerful in a photographic composition. It leads the eye ... we instinctively follow the movement of the line through the photo. Linear perspective makes lines that are parallel in reality seem to converge as they recede. I asked the students to try some shots where they were accentuating perspective with either a low or high camera angle. By doing this they could get a bird's-eye view or a bug's-eye view of a subject, which would lend interest. The photos turned in also showed leading lines in all three cases.

This assignment/lesson could be accomplished with digital cameras if enough were available. We, however, don't have that luxury, so we used conventional cameras and the students had the film commercially developed.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* use leading lines to capture the viewer's attention.

* take a photograph that shows an unusual point of view.

* take a photograph that shows man-made rhythm/repetition.

* take a photograph that "lets light work" for them (silhouette or stream lighting style).

* be able to "close frame" a subject to lend interest.

* paint with light to create a personal statement.

* be able to explain the photographs turned in and which category(ies) they fit in.

* be able to define the terms bird's-eye views, bug's-eye view, composition, close frame, rhythm, repetition, point of view, silhouette, linear perspective and manmade repetition.

Karen Skophammer teaches art for Manson Northwest Webster Schools in Barnum and Manson, Iowa.