6 Reasons Why Photography Matters

1. Our photographs tell us what is important to us

When you ask people what possessions they would rescue from their burning house, one of the
most frequent answers is the photograph album or a computer with their digital images. When in
panic mode its interesting that we would probably grab photos rather than valuable jewelry.
This impulse to save our recorded memories is a powerful force which tells us much about the
role of photography in our lives and our constant desire to distil our most precious moments into
images.
We preserve the important events and people in our lives. The ceremonies of birth and birthdays,
marriages and anniversaries, holidays and new houses are all recorded because they matter.
Photographs are our personal story, a timeline of our lives filled with faces and places that we
love. They are our story, which we can share with others. The hundreds of images come together
to form a narrative of our lives.

2. Photographs are part of our legacy

Once I remember sitting in a train as it passed a playground where children were standing to
attention for the annual school photograph. Across the front row sat the teachers and behind
them, hundreds of children neatly preened and uniformed. For the briefest second the entire
assembly was motionless. We were passing just as the photographer clicked the shutter.
Suddenly, as if in slow motion, the huge group scattered as children escaped their enforced
immobility. The neat rows dissolved and broke into individuals who were now kicking footballs
or huddled in friendship groups. None of those children realised that the photograph was
probably going to outlive them. A couple of generations later it might surface among old papers
in an attic and someone would search for granddad among the fresh young faces. Photographs
matter because they freeze moments of our lives which pass unremarkably and which seem to
have little importance to us at the time. The significance, however, may be for others who search
for the person we once were or the places we once knew. They can be small pieces of a jigsaw
that complete the larger picture of our lives.

3. Photographs allow us to share and to communicate.

Images are much more than a simple record. Photography speaks to the best and most generous
part of our human nature the desire to share what we find beautiful and interesting with others.
You only have to look at Flickr and a multitude of photo sharing sites to see this impulse at
work. Millions of people sharing their personal, passionate and sometimes quirky take on the
world around them. Our images can involve a world of strangers in our life. How powerful is
that?

4. Photography makes us artists

Photography allows us to express ourselves through an art form. We notice a beautiful landscape
or an old mans lined face and we want to capture it. Each of us will have a different reason to do
so but, essentially, we want to create something. However humdrum our nine-to-five lives may
be, the creation of an image makes us an artist. It feels good.

5. Photography is a complex language

Our images can express joy and sorrow, wonder and sympathy. Every human emotion can find a
place in photography. For many years I never valued my photographs of overcast landscape
because I believed that there was no beauty in a land with muted colours and a leaden sky. I
wanted the land to be alive with colour and vibrancy. However, lack of colour in a landscape
makes you search for other things that often go unremarked in bright sunlight. It could be a
symmetry of hills or a tree standing out from a forest of thousands. I have suffered from
depression for most of my adult life and photography gave me a language to express feelings for
which I can find no words. We have a miserably poor vocabulary for mental illness and
photography has allowed me to develop a visual language for some of the most difficult
emotions.

6. Photography has the power to move us

Photographs can grab our attention and speak directly to our emotions. Nick Uts photograph of
a crying Vietnamese girl whose clothes have been burnt away by napalm embodies the power of
a single image. At a more subtle level, we can learn lessons about a whole range of emotions.
Grief has the power to wash away the luminance and chrominance of our lives. There is no
magic way to restore them at will. We have to be patient. But while waiting we can search for
the shapes and patterns that are still there in the greyness. They will lead us back to colour
eventually. At moments of great sorrow in my life I have used images to express that hope of
returning colour.

The Importance of Photography

Earlier in the month we were told to fill out a sheet of what classes we wanted to take next year.
We were given a list of classes that were still going to be around in the future, and we were
expected to point and choose without thinking. This year I am currently taking beginners
photography, and I find that it is an amazing and helpful course. Unfortunately due to budget
cuts to the school, and the current economic crisis everyone is going on about, some of these
one of a kind classes are being taken off the list of choices, and we will not be fully in control of
how our schedule ends up next year. Not only will we not be able to choose all 7 of our courses
in our following grade of high school, but many wonderful classes such as photography, drama,
and video production, might be cut from out options!

Photography is an extraordinary class that combines the significance of art, history, and digital
awareness into one. In the world of photography, we are aloud to take pictures of whatever we
wish, and may compose any subject or idea that comes to mind, letting our artistic sides run wild.
In the class we are advised to brush up on famous photographers and history for tests, and are
expected to know of great works of art, so our reading and memorization are both tested as well.
Finally, we are handed a camera, are given a computer to use, and a memory card to take care of,
and are expected to learn for ourselves how to operate and take advantage of this creative and
artistic technology on our own, so we can do so in the future. Photography not only teaches us,
the students, creative skills and useful skills for the future, but it also could lead into a career in
the performing arts, or as a professional artist or photographer.

The budget cuts happening in our school right now are completely uncalled for, not only have
they taken us completely by surprise, but the wrong classes and subjects have been picked to get
laid off. Courses like AP art 4 and weight training 2 are still around even though a low amount
of students take them, but photography is being considered to be cut completely! It seems and
feels unfair that there are four courses of art, and not even one course of photography, containing
all the principles and lessons of art, is being kept. Classes like engineering drawing 3, and
advanced auto shop honors are just extra classes that students dont choose to take, but are
shoved into if their choice is already full. The students voices have not been heard, and from our
stand point, photography is one of the LAST things that should be cut from our curriculum.

Next year will be a rough transition, as it is. Unfortunately, the money crisis has gotten so out of
hand, that it will be hard for the students to choose their classes next year. No student is
guaranteed more than 6 classes, and even if you do get 6, they will almost definitely not be the
ones of your choice. So, instead of letting the students decide, all that extra work is pressed onto
teachers and counselors and the cycle continues. Since classes like photo are being cut, there are
fewer places to put kids. Since there are fewer places to put kids, the open spaces will be
immediately filled up, and there will be no extra space in any classes, rendering some of the
students desires useless. Class sizes will expand, and will sometimes be filled with children who
dont even want to be there. Teachers will have less face time with kids, and the children will
overall get a worse education.

One the balance has been broken between the various classes, change is certain to come, and that
is not exactly something we want here in a top high school of the state and nation. Simple cuts
like discontinuing photography and taking away other small privileges not only upset the student
body, but cause a chain reaction that nobody knows where it ends up. We do not want to run the
risk of lessening this schools greatness, and I hope that is clear when the decision is being made.

Our photosimulations are most accurate when we do our own photography.

The photograph is the foundation on which the photosimulation is based. There are many aspects
of the photography that should be considered, such as viewpoint selection, focal length and
image size, and establishing scale and placement.

When Previsualists photographs a site, we survey the site for key reference points and provide
scale and placement for the photosims. We use digital cameras with calibrated lenses, aerial
photography, clinometers, digital laser range finders, a theodolite, survey poles, markers, and
whatever other tools we need to establish exact scale and placement of the project. We do not
believe that guessing on scale or placement is an ethical approach to doing photosims.

Photography can be very deceiving, and can skew reality. It is our job to minimize the natural
distortions that occur when we convert a three dimensional world onto a flat piece of paper.
There are always issues of perspective - the perception of an object being smaller because it is
further away. Many things can influence the problems that perspective can have on a photograph.
If you stand very far away from an object and use a telephoto lens, the object may be the exact
same size on the page as if you stood right in front of it with a wide angle lens. However, the
surrounding environment can appear completely different. See this graphic to help illustrate the
concept. Since this can dramatically affect the way the object is perceived as fitting into its
environment, it is very important to use the most representative focal length and carefully select
the place from which the photograph is taken - the viewpoint.

5 Elements of Composition in Photography

Good Composition is a key element of good photographs yet is something that is hard to define.
Instead of looking at composition as a set of rules to follow I view it as a set of ingredients
that can be taken out of the pantry at any point and used to make a great meal (photograph).
Alternatively Ive often described it as a set of tools that can be taken out of ones
compositional tool belt at any given time in the construction of a great image.
The key is to remember that in the same way as a chef rarely uses all the ingredients at their
disposal in any dish that a photographer rarely uses all of the ingredients of composition in the
making of an image.
Today Id like to look at five of the ingredients (or tools, or elements) of composition that I draw
on in my photography. Theyre not rules just things that I consider when setting up a shot.

Pattern
There are patterns all around us if we only learn to see them. Emphasizing and highlighting these
patterns can lead to striking shots as can high lighting when patterns are broken.
Read more on using repetition and patterns in photography.

Symmetry
Depending upon the scene symmetry can be something to go for or to avoid completely.
A symmetrical shot with strong composition and a good point of interest can lead to a striking
image but without the strong point of interest it can be a little predictable. I prefer to
experiment with both in the one shoot to see which works best.
Read more on symmetry in photography.

Texture
Images a two dimensional thing yet with the clever use of texture they can come alive and
become almost three dimensional.
Texture particularly comes into play when light hits objects at interesting angles.
Depth of Field
The depth of field that you select when taking an image will drastically impact the composition
of an image.
It can isolate a subject from its background and foreground (when using a shallow depth of field)
or it can put the same subject in context by revealing its surrounds with a larger depth of field.

Lines
Lines can be powerful elements in an image.
They have the power to draw the eye to key focal points in a shot and to impact the feel of an
image greatly.
Diagonal, Horizontal, Vertical and Converging lines all impact images differently and should be
spotted while framing a shot and then utilized to strengthen it.
These are just some of the elements of composition that I consider in my photography. They
reflect my own style and personality but there are plenty more.

Color
Color is a very basic element. The primary colors of red, blue, and yellow can be mixed together
to create secondary and tertiary colors, eventually creating the color wheel. Colors opposite
each other on the color wheel are complementary and work well together. This is why you
always see red with green (Christmas), blue with orange (sports team), and yellow with purple
(Lakers).
The orange hair and the blue sweater in this portrait are complementary colors.

Shape
Objects in your photo such as a rectangular door, a round tree, or square tiles add shape to an
image. These can be used as frames for your subject or just to add an interesting piece to your
art.
The round shapes in the above photo are what make this image what it is.

Form
Form is what takes your two-dimensional photograph and makes it appear life-like and three-
dimensional. This is usually achieved by controlling the light on your subject. There are many
different lighting setups for portrait photography that will give form to your subjects in varying
degrees or shape and intensity.
Using carefully placed lights will add light and shadow in the right places in order to give a
three-dimensional appearance to the photo.

Tone
Tone is using varying degrees of light and dark to add contrast and give liveliness to an image.
Black and white photos rely completely on tone because of their lack of color. Tone can be used
to make your subject stand out through contrast.
Dont be afraid to use tone to really isolate your subject, especially in a black and white image.

Space
Space is another element that gives depth to your image. All images should have some kind of
foreground, middle ground, and a background. This is a simple way to move your viewers eye
all around your image and even back in space. Space also can refer to a positive and negative
space in your photo. Positive space is taken up by something such as your subject. Negative is an
empty or blank space, which may still have something in it. Negative space is what is in
between all the positive space.
Notice the distinct foreground of leaves, mid ground of the rocks, and background of the trees in
this photograph of a creek.
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might be interested!
In the next few days, weeks, or however long it may take, I will go in-depth with each individual
element of art and how to use it to improve your photography. If you want to follow along, be
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