The Rules of Art (and photography) - I'm gonna tell them to you

[unpopular]

My fav photos of my son. Note the cropped forehead and dead centering evokes the sense of energy and intensity of a three year old in mid-jump.

 

[Designer]

I think the elements and principles of design are the things the beginning art photographer needs to study.

Not sure i agree with the highlighted.

Agree or not agree, they are there for you.

Sometimes centering works, and sometimes negative space works. It all depends.

 

[bribrius]

My fav photos of my son. Note the cropped forehead and dead centering evokes the sense of energy and intensity of a three year old in mid-jump.

cute kid. You could run into the same with anything leaving the frame. You could shoot a street scene with a car leaving the frame and someone would comment that you need to crop or work on framing. Not contemplating if the fact something is leaving the frame in motion may add to the scene (especially moving traffic on a street). Just short sighted thinking imo.

 

[Ysarex]

And then, finally, the elephant in the room: you gotta have taste. none of the systems work in the absence of taste.

Right. Now let's define "taste".

A man of great common sense and good taste, meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.
-- Walter Besant

It is good taste, and good taste alone, that possesses the power to sterilize and is always the first handicap to any creative functioning.
-- Salvador Dali

My favorite observation concerning taste comes from the late Molly Ivins:
...As though the fact that reading The Three Musketeers were a menace to Dante. I have felt the sting of their snotty scorn, the lash of their haughty sneers, and what I have to say is, "You Are Just Another Sticky Wheel on the Grocery Cart of Life."

Good taste at any given time is whatever the disingenuous find fashionably in vogue that permits them to mask their sterile narcissistic existence behind a facade of superiority.

Joe

 

[bribrius]

I think the elements and principles of design are the things the beginning art photographer needs to study.

Not sure i agree with the highlighted.

Agree or not agree, they are there for you.

Sometimes centering works, and sometimes negative space works. It all depends.

Remember the negative space used in the portrait of the bride against the stone wall? Made her look small and less significant. I liked that shot. Again though that is varying far off from standard portraiture to say something else.

 

[bentcountershaft]

Good taste at any given time is whatever the disingenuous find fashionably in vogue that permits them to mask their sterile narcissistic existence behind a facade of superiority.

Joe

This is better than any of the quotes you posted.

 

[pgriz]

And then, finally, the elephant in the room: you gotta have taste. none of the systems work in the absence of taste.

Right. Now let's define "taste".

A man of great common sense and good taste, meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.
-- Walter Besant

It is good taste, and good taste alone, that possesses the power to sterilize and is always the first handicap to any creative functioning.
-- Salvador Dali

My favorite observation concerning taste comes from the late Molly Ivins:
...As though the fact that reading The Three Musketeers were a menace to Dante. I have felt the sting of their snotty scorn, the lash of their haughty sneers, and what I have to say is, "You Are Just Another Sticky Wheel on the Grocery Cart of Life."

Good taste at any given time is whatever the disingenuous find fashionably in vogue that permits them to mask their sterile narcissistic existence behind a facade of superiority.

Joe

Perhaps it is my obtuse nature, but it appears those definitions are almost circular. And from your usage, apparently "good taste" is the sop that the hoi-polloi use to justify their choices.

My wife makes it easy for me. She lets me know what she considers in good taste, and most of the time, I end up agreeing with her.

 

[rexbobcat]

It's easier to discern bad taste than it is good taste in my experience.

I've never met a photographer worth their salt who thought white vignettes look good.

 

[bribrius]

On the ends of the spectrum are good taste and bad taste. In the middle is the vast majority which have no taste at all. Since the vast majority has not taste at all they can't differentiate between the ones on either end of the spectrum.

 

[photoguy99]

'Taste' and 'good taste' are, interestingly, completely unrelated things.

 

[Ysarex]

Good taste at any given time is whatever the disingenuous find fashionably in vogue that permits them to mask their sterile narcissistic existence behind a facade of superiority.

Joe

This is better than any of the quotes you posted.

Thanks, that's what I tell my students to prepare them to deal with the fine-art world.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

Strawberries taste good.

Joe

 

[Designer]

Remember the negative space used in the portrait of the bride against the stone wall? Made her look small and less significant. I liked that shot. Again though that is varying far off from standard portraiture to say something else.

Negative space is not the same in every composition. It can be used well or not well.

There is no "formula" or "rule" for using any of the elements of composition.

You can't simply choose to apply a "rule" to some random composition and call it good.

 

[photoguy99]

I'd like to compliment you, Joe. You managed to completely dismiss my point and simultaneously derail discussion. Well done.

 

[unpopular]

Composition is not art. Composition is the means by which visual art is created. Using the language analogy, it's like grammar and context.