Frame & Composition: Blog 2

"To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer's craft. His central problem is a simple one: what shall he include, what shall he reject? The line of decision between in and out is the picture's edge. While the draughtsman starts the middle of the street, the photographer starts with the frame. The photograph's edge defines content. It isolates unexpected juxtapositions. By surrounding two facts, it creates a relationship. The edge of the photograph dissects familiar forms, and shows their unfamiliar fragment. It creates the shapes that surround the objects. The photographer edits the meanings and the patterns of the world through an imaginary frame. This frame is the beginning of his picture's geometry. It is to the photograph as the cushion is to the billiard table." John Szarkowski 

Questions to consider...

Q. What does John Szarkowski mean when he says that photographers are quoting 'out of context' when they make photographic pictures?

A. When John Szarkowski states that photographers are quoting out of context, he means that they are taking an image and/or situation and applying their own contextual ideas or thoughts to the piece in the way it represented. 

Q. The frame often 'dissects familiar forms'. At the end of the last century photography was having a major impact on Art. Impressionist artists such as Degas were influenced by what they saw. Look at these example of Degas work, which clearly shows the influence of photography and explains why the public might have been shocked to see such paintings. 

A. The public may have been shocked to see such paintings because of the strong influence that photos gave in reference to the actual image that was captured inside the painting. 

Taken by: Calista Gonzales