Educated in art or not......

[mishele]

I agree that shots can work without the rules. I just don't want to look at something and start dissecting it right away. I want to "just look" at something again w/ out all the rules and philosophy in my head....=)
I guess, it becomes the mindset that you have when you look at images on here. It's more of a C&C reaction towards things, instead of the looking in a gallery type of relaxed feel.

Education always helps me make a shot......but I don't think it always helps me like someone else's.......lol

 

[MLeeK]

Put that way... I tend to look at an image first just to look at it. Then I begin to pick it apart to see what makes it work and what could have been done differently to make it work in a different way. Or at what makes it not work and why.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

My biggest peeve is all the talk of breaking rules, as if it's the holy grail. It's bull ****. It's ignorance. It's lack of understanding. And good photographers perpetuate it, which makes the mind boggle.

When you talk about an images succes, there is more to it than the art/composition side.
Like you give examples of, MLeek, there is also the human element. There is the historic element. There is the STORY element. The emotional element. These can very often trump the importance of composition! Content can trump composition. BUT, an image can be successful, relying on composition alone!!!

But, people are coming here to learn to do better. If they have no desire to actually learn about elements of design and composition, and they poo poo them out of ignorance, and believe they can break their so called rules and be awesome, then they better have some much, much, stronger content than ducks.

Elements of design and composition are TOOLS, not rules. They are tools to be used to communicate intent. You want to make an image that makes the viewer feel calm? There's a line for that! You want to express nervousness and anxiety? There's a line for that. You want to portray power? There's a friggin' line for that too! You want the viewer to feel alone? Theres a color for that! you want them to feel reminiscent? There's a color for that! You want to give the viewer a sense that they are dreaming, there's a condition that will portray exactly that! You want to instill a sense of vertigo? There is a perspective for that!

Rules.


*pffffft*

 

[MLeeK]

Learn the rules. Then learn to break them.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

But they're not rules, and you never break them. You are simply choosing one tool over another.
Whether by choice, or accident.

 

[dxqcanada]

I agree with Bitter ... just like using a wide brush over a knife, there is no set tool ... only your correct tool(s) to achieve the image you are trying to capture.

 

[mishele]

Not rules.......guildlines......lol

 

[dxqcanada]

Picasso and Pollock were not bound by rules.
This is what schooling in Art taught me.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Jesus Christ.

 

[mishele]

Jesus Christ.

WHERE!!!!

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[mishele]

The subject is centered in this shot. I would try to use the RoT's.

 

[dxqcanada]

Hands/Hair in top third
Open mouth in middle
Papers/Desk in bottom third

 

[unpopular]

I think that art education and appreciation can provide a wider vocabulary of how to critique an image and offer insight to it's context in a much more broad history than the expectations which we typically have. Sometimes it is difficult to appreciate what a fine art photographer is trying to convey without this historical context and as a result we kind of have this knee-jerk reaction based solely on our own personal expectations regarding aesthetics.

 

[unpopular]

Picasso and Pollock were not bound by rules.
This is what schooling in Art taught me.

Picasso was fraud who is credited for what Braque and Matisse were responsible for.
That's what schooling in art taught me.