Published photography breaking the rules.

[blackrose89]

I've been observing the photography at various places. In stores/mall stores clothing lines, wall art, but particularly photography books. I went to a bookstore cafe last night and was skimming through some photography books.Not "how to" photography, just books with photographs. And I'm finding a lot of photographers seem to now follow a lot of the guidelines. I find a lot these pictures are centered, tops of heads and limbs cut off, busy backgrounds, blown out details etc. anyone else notice this?

 

[analog.universe]

It's true! That's because the "rules" were from the start reverse engineered by academics, much like the rules of music theory. An artist does whatever is right at the moment to connect to people, and then some scholars spend years arguing why. If it's inspired, and it makes someone feel something, there's no need for rules.

 

[Derrel]

I've been observing the photography at various places. In stores/mall stores clothing lines, wall art, but particularly photography books. I went to a bookstore cafe last night and was skimming through some photography books.Not "how to" photography, just books with photographs. And I'm finding a lot of photographers seem to now follow a lot of the guidelines. I find a lot these pictures are centered, tops of heads and limbs cut off, busy backgrounds, blown out details etc. anyone else notice this?

Yes. A lot of self-taught,newly-minted "professional" photographers are now supplying photos for their own companies' advertising needs, with everything done in-house by whoever owns "a good camera", instead of being photographed by top-level, experienced, established professionals--who charge a lot of money. The level of compositional mastery,as a whole, has gone down quite a bit over the last decade, as low-cost digital slrs and affordable computers and affordable editing apps have allowed more and more people to become "photographers". It's very,very,very easy today to go to a large stock web site and buy very cheap lifestyle photos to use for the mall wall photos that are so common these days.

With the younger and uneducated crowd of high-schoolers and 20-somethings without much visual sophistication or art background, these types of images seem quite fine. It's sort of a changing of the cultural values and standards; these photosd are aimed at people who like to play video games, text 14 hours a day, and for whom an "action movie" has something like 1,000 rounds of 9mm fired without anybody being hit, 20 to 35 car crashes, and three to six extended car chases...these people EAT UP movies like Transformers, Fast and Furious Tokyo Dreck (I, II,III, IV, V), and love Jersey Shore, fake tans, fake tits, and so on. This audience has no idea about what is or is not quality photographic work. They grew up on cartoons and action movies and videos. Oh, and these same people call their favorite comic books "Graphic Novels". Contrast Transformers as a "film" with say "Seven Samurai".

Times change. Entertainment's quality has never been lower than it is today,and that goes for all media types. And there are more outlets for crap, and more people making it, and selling it,at lower and lower prices on the big stock photo sites. Witness the new flood of awful, God-awful Facebook photographers. They do not have any training in art, posing,whatever...but they will shoot your wedding for $300!!!

 

[CCericola]

Breaking the rules is fine, but you first need to know the rules before you can break them. Many people forget this. These are the same people who like to use Picasso as an example of breaking the rules.

But they forget that This is Picasso's work too:

He learned and mastered the rules before he broke them. I don't care if you are painting, drawing or taking pictures.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Just do what feel right.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I am such a BAD ASS. I break rules as derrel mentioned. Self taught dad with a camera .

 

[blackrose89]

Ok so it's not just me.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

How do you know they aren't actually following other theories of composition and elements of design that you are currently unaware of?

I always say, when one "rule" is broken, another theory/element is being followed. :greenpbl:

There are reasons for centering, just as there are reasons for applying the RoT's.

 

[rexbobcat]

I find them to be more like guidelines than actual rules.
Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

[KmH]

Publications often butcher a photographer's work to accommodate the space and requirements they have to work with within the limits of the publication.

 

[rexbobcat]

I've been observing the photography at various places. In stores/mall stores clothing lines, wall art, but particularly photography books. I went to a bookstore cafe last night and was skimming through some photography books.Not "how to" photography, just books with photographs. And I'm finding a lot of photographers seem to now follow a lot of the guidelines. I find a lot these pictures are centered, tops of heads and limbs cut off, busy backgrounds, blown out details etc. anyone else notice this?

Yes. A lot of self-taught,newly-minted "professional" photographers are now supplying photos for their own companies' advertising needs, with everything done in-house by whoever owns "a good camera", instead of being photographed by top-level, experienced, established professionals--who charge a lot of money. The level of compositional mastery,as a whole, has gone down quite a bit over the last decade, as low-cost digital slrs and affordable computers and affordable editing apps have allowed more and more people to become "photographers". It's very,very,very easy today to go to a large stock web site and buy very cheap lifestyle photos to use for the mall wall photos that are so common these days.

With the younger and uneducated crowd of high-schoolers and 20-somethings without much visual sophistication or art background, these types of images seem quite fine. It's sort of a changing of the cultural values and standards; these photosd are aimed at people who like to play video games, text 14 hours a day, and for whom an "action movie" has something like 1,000 rounds of 9mm fired without anybody being hit, 20 to 35 car crashes, and three to six extended car chases...these people EAT UP movies like Transformers, Fast and Furious Tokyo Dreck (I, II,III, IV, V), and love Jersey Shore, fake tans, fake tits, and so on. This audience has no idea about what is or is not quality photographic work. They grew up on cartoons and action movies and videos. Oh, and these same people call their favorite comic books "Graphic Novels". Contrast Transformers as a "film" with say "Seven Samurai".

Times change. Entertainment's quality has never been lower than it is today,and that goes for all media types. And there are more outlets for crap, and more people making it, and selling it,at lower and lower prices on the big stock photo sites. Witness the new flood of awful, God-awful Facebook photographers. They do not have any training in art, posing,whatever...but they will shoot your wedding for $300!!!

The classics only survive because they were considered, and still are considered great pieces of work.

The amount of crap that came from artists has never changed throughout history. It's just that the crap is forgotten as time passes, and only the best remains. It's like saying that since they began broadcasting news on TV, that the world has become a more violent and horrible place. No. It's just that the bad stuff is more accessible than it used to be in the future.

There are more people doing now, what few people did then. The proportion are probably about the same. If there were 3000 photographers in the 1950s, and 1000 were really bad, then if there are 300,000 photographers today, then probably close to 100,000 are not up to your standards. On the same token, there are also many more quality artists than there were during the modernism, baroque, blah blah blah eras of art. Saying that the standard as a whole is being lowered is like saying that every piece produced in the past is more cultured just for the fact that it's old......

The internet is both a blessing and a curse on society. I'm sorry that society is not up to the pretentious standard that you deem to be "true art."

The crap has always been there, it's just been forgotten throughout history.

 

[RichardsTPF]

Well
I am an artist, I always break the rules





b/c I don't know the rules.:er:

 

[Rephargotohp]

It's because people assume, If I have a perfect exposure, and perfect focus and my subject is right at the junction of thirds...I have a great Photo. No You don't, that's not the it in "IT"

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I find them to be more like guidelines than actual rules.
Pirates of the Caribbean.

Exactly!

The theories of composition, and elements of design are fluid. They are NOT hard fast rules. They are based on "feeling". I don't believe there is any available scientific data to quantify Visual Balance. Visual weight is not measuered, it is "felt", it is instinctual. It come from the gut.

Anyone who says toss the rules is doing so out of ignorance, because they have only scratched the surface of a subject that is deeper than they realize.

These same theories of composition, and elements of design, apply to much more than just imagery. They apply to my craft as well.

 

[jake337]

There are rules?

A classic spongebob....

Spongebob Squarepants: unknown artist


I think some people need not worry too much about some rules and start focusing on what looks good to you.