The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 340 The Educational Screen IN AND FOR THE CLASSROOM Conducted by Wilber Emmert Director Visual Education, State Teachers College, Indiana, Pa. Composing With A Camera By ORVAL KIPP instructor, Art Department, State Teachers College, Indiana, Penna. C O YOU'RE going to snap a picture ! Composition ^ is important to you, then, because your picture is going to say something whether you mean it to or not. Consequently you should compose your pictures in such a way that they say what you intend to have them say. It is often the thing you didn't intend to do that upsets all your plans. Dis- appointments may be avoided by thinking of the effect that your picture will convey. A picture of any single object is necessarily a portrait, whether it is a close-up or a distant view, (Fig. 1 and 3). The view from a distance places the « 7 B Figures 1 to 8 as discussed in the text portrait in a relationship with its surroundings, while the near view establishes relationship wth the observer. You, as the observer, become intimate with the subject in this latter case. You are con- scious of its delicate harmonies and the beauty of its harmonious detail. In either case the subject is the most important thing in the picture and, as such, must be prominent in one way or another. The central area of the picture becomes your field of action, but the geometric center (Fig. 3) is not the proper position for the subject because such place- ment makes monotonous areas around the subject. In a beautiful composition the areas around the subject are proportionate to each other and to the most important areas. The Greeks considered two- thirds to one a good proportionate relationship. In the close-up, sise is used to make the subject appear important. In the distant view, contrast is needed to draw attention to the subject of the picture. A small black spot on a large white field or a small white spot on a black field (Fig. 2) becomes the center of attention because it is so different from the area in which it is placed. The object may be emphasized also by a contrast in line, or by lines which lead the eye from various parts of the picture to the center of interest. To make interesting and successful pho- tographs you should remember the principle of camouflage and do just the opposite in your pictures. The subject must stand out from the background. It must not fade into the surroundings as it does in the camouflage technique. Contrast is useful in fo- cusing attention on the subject, but the camera artist must be careful to have the accessories har- monize with the subject. A dainty young girl in a fluffy dress would not harmonize with the severe lines of a business office. The business man should not be posed before frilled curtains. In a picture of more than one object the foregoing examples apply, but there are other important con- siderations. If you have two objects they should be combined by an action which makes one of them dominant and the other an important complement to the group. Your group should be knit together in meaning like the words better and best. A good idea for more than two in a group is to think of the words, good, better, and best; and to compose the objects on three related levels (Fig. 4). The Japanese compose flowers in this fashion by thinking of the lower levels as earth and sea, and the higher level as heaven. Mathematical precision is fine for a line of soldiers, but groups arranged like bunches of grapes, or like irregular triangles, circles, or rec- tangles are much more interesting from the art