What makes up a Photograph?

Every photograph, intentionally or not, contains one or more of these element, which are known as the elements of design. All of these elements have a huge impact on a photo, especially the line, texture, and colour. 


Lines
Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved. Lines can be short or tall, can be thick or thin. Lines can lead you away, or move you forward in an image. A line's emotional effect on an image cannot be overlooked. They sometimes feel restful, soothing, rigid, active, guiding, or threatening.

Shapes
Shape is the principal element of identification. The most important thing to keep in mind when shape is the essential element in an image is that it is best defined when the subject is frontlit or backlit. For that shape to be successfully identifiable, it needs to be in strong contrast with its surroundings so that it is detached from the clutter around it.

Form
Form is basically a three-dimensional shape, and is best accentuated by side lighting since it casts soft elegant shadows, and the difference between light and shadows gives a better illustration of the depth of an object and amplifies the sensual understanding of its meaning and message.

Texture 
The challenge of seeing and capturing texture is mostly based on one element. Texture can be accentuated by the side light of early sunny mornings or early evenings, or by overhead light when the sun is vertical and high in the sky.

Pattern
Patterns, both natural and man-made, bring a sense of visual rhythm and harmony to photographs that, like a series of repeating notes in a melody, capture the imagination. Patterns appear whenever strong graphic elements—lines, colors, shapes, or forms—repeat themselves.

Colour 
Vibrant contrasts, particularly among bright primary colors (reds, yellows, and blues), are especially effective in creating dynamic designs. Such contrasts excite the eye, making it jump from one color to the next. In the shot of buoys, for example, the photographer has eliminated all extraneous information so the clash between colors is the predominant design element. Gentler combinations of pastels can create a lighthearted or romantic mood, while earthy tones offer a more natural or organic feel.

History of Photography

We owe the name "Photography" to Sir John Herschel, who first used the term in 1839, the year the photographic process became public.


Claud Glass

Named after artist Claude Lorraine, this small, blackened pocket mirror reduced the tonal values of whatever landscapes you pointed it at, while its convex shape simultaneously brought more of the scene into a single focal point.

Pantograph 

The pantograph as originally made to trace original art and then scale it up or down in size. One arm of the pantograph contained a smaller pointer, while the other help a drawing implement and by moving the pointer over a diagram, a copy of the diagram was draw on another piece of paper. 

Physionotrace

The first system invented to produce multiple copies of a portrait. Invented in 1786 by Gilles Louis Chrétien (1774-1811). In his apparatus a profile cast by a lamp onto a glass plate was traced by an operator using a pointer connected, by a system of levers like a pantograph, to an engraving tool moving over a copper plate.

Camera Obscura

The camera obscura had been in existence for at least four hundred years, but its use was limited to its purpose as an aid to drawing. It was discovered that if a room was completely darkened, with a single hole in one wall, an inverted image would be seen on the opposite wall. A person inside of the room could then trace this image, which was upside-down. The earliest record of the uses of a camera obscura can be found in the writings of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who may have used it as an aid to understanding perspective. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a table-top model was developed. By adding a focused lens and a mirror, it was possible for a person outside of the box to trace the image which was reflected through it.

Camera Lucida


A camera lucida is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists. The camera lucida performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing.

Formal and Contextual Aspects of Photography

Formal analysis is an important technique to organise visual information. In other words, it is a strategy used to translate what you see into written words. This strategy can apply to any work of art, from any period in history, whether a photograph, sculpture, painting or cultural artefact.

Photography as an art form has been the subject of much debate since the time when photography was presented to the world. The technology for ‘light writing’ was varied and changed quickly throughout the history of photography.

Paul Strand “urged photographers to be lifelong students of the changing technical dimensions of the medium , its history, and it s contemporary expression.”