C- What is Composition? (Lesson)
What is Composition?
Introduction
Composition is the arrangement of visual elements. When looking at art, many people take a holistic approach to understanding it. The work of art is experienced as a single unified whole and an intuitive conclusion is drawn. This approach to art is a good place to start, but it can also be useful to examine the individual parts of an artwork and the relationships those parts have to the whole. When we examine an artwork by taking it apart, we are looking at its design. Design is divided into two broad categories: the elements of art and the principles of design. The elements of art are the physical parts of the artwork, or the form. They are color, shape, line form, value, texture, and space. The principles of design are the ways in which those parts are arranged or used, or the composition.
Composition in Photographs
Discussing composition in photographs isn’t so different from other 2D mediums like drawing and painting. The photographer selects the subject matter and then can choose viewpoint, lighting, compositional field, a variety of photographic processes and materials, and exposure time. The difference from other artistic mediums comes in how the composition is created by the artist – from afar an artist drawing a portrait that fills the entire composition and an artist drawing a portrait consumed in a sea of faces appears much the same. But a photographer trying to achieve the same composition will look very different. The photographer is physically tied to the camera required to create the artwork. This means how and where you move your body will affect the photograph. The photographer’s presence is always reflected in the photograph.
When considering the medium of photography, composition becomes how the elements are arranged within the viewfinder when taking the photo. The composition can be changed in a wide variety of ways. The photographer’s choices go way beyond just the subject of the photograph. As you learned in Module 2, the focal length of the lens impacts not only the appearance of the subject but also the field of view of its surroundings and depth of focus. This can change the emphasis, variety, rhythm, movement, balance – it has the potential to impact every aspect of the composition. The angle of the camera relative to the subject, the exposure time, aperture, ISO, and a host of other choices all come together to create the final composition the viewer will see.
What Makes a Strong Composition?
In the activity below, take a look at the photographs. They were taken by the same photographer, with the same camera, within minutes of one another. How are they different? How are they the same? How was each composition created by the photographer? Which is a stronger composition and why? Identify which elements belong to each photograph by dragging them to the appropriate photograph.
[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION