How should a good photograph express the photographer's intention?
Everyone has a different idea of what a good photo is, and all photographers have different intentions. So, if the photographer really wants to express his intention he needs to make his photo stand out and make people want to look at it. It doesn't matter what the intention is (ie to shock, impress, show detail or good composition) as long as people want to look. A photograph can only express intention if someone takes the time to look.
This photographers intention was to recreate Picasso's painting with light. As soon as I saw it, it caught my eye because I recognised the image, and I wanted to look in more depth. This is what I believe my intention should be in every photo I take. |
How can a good photograph communicate something that words cannot?
Sometimes you see something so interesting, or shocking, or beautiful, or sad that you want to share the moment rather than describe it in words because you'll never find any words which can recreate the image in someone's mind in the way you want them to see it. Words cannot describe the perfect sunset, you can explain it with colours or shapes but you can never fully describe the way you saw it with words.
I believe this photo answers the question perfectly. No words could fully describe the pain and terror these children were feeling, but their faces and body expressions say it all. How can a good photograph engage or capture the viewer's attention? |
A simple answer for this question would be to create an image with bright colours and different shapes. However, for a photograph to really capture someones attention it would have to show something that the viewer has an interest in.Perhaps it could be something they have never seen before or even something they are familiar with shown in a different or unusual way.
This image really captured my attention because its something i have a huge interest in. |
How can a good photograph make a person feel empathy or sadness?
A photographer can make the viewer feel empathy or sadness. They need to think carefully about their subject. For example seeing a young child or helpless animal in a sad situation will make someone feel sadder than perhaps a big strong man. Also the compositions or lighting of the photograph can bring out emotion.
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Do you think a photograph is best shown alone, or do you think that photographs should be shown as a collection with other photographs?
For me, this question is quite hard to answer as i find some images look good surrounded by others but i also think a single image can hold thousands of questions alone. for example you find some photographers create art with photography by taking hundreds of photos and putting them together to create one piece, obviously, these images look a lot better together then alone although each photo may have its story. But, i also love simple photos alone. i love how they can seem so plain but be so interesting at the same time, with these images, you can really look into the photos detail and really see the photographers intention where as a group of images you cant always see this.
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Can a photograph make the viewer ask questions?
A good photograph should always make the viewer want to ask questions, even if there as simple as where or when the photo was taken? or even, why is this picture so bad? Its impossible to look at an image and not have a single question about what you are viewing, so wouldn't this mean every photograph is a good photograph? However, excellent images can stir up loads of questions, and different questions for different viewers. so for me there is no doubt- a photograph can make viewers ask questions.
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Should a photograph be well composed and have good lighting?
Not necessarily. The random positioning and lack of light might be the photographers intention. of course photographs can look amazing well composed and with good lighting, i just don't find a photo always needs this. For example the photographers intention could be an action shot of someone running or swishing there hair or it could be a photo you take with your friends of you laughing and moving about. all images are composed differently with different lighting so not all photos need this done perfectly because all photographs are so different.
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Which 4 elements are important in photography?
There are many ways to create a photo with a single camera, but to me, the 4 most important elements of taking a photo must be composition, colour, lighting and i also think a very important part of taking photos is the Moment you take it. The moment in the photo is that perfect time that you've captured an image you may treasure or may not. The moment is when all the elements come together to create an in the moment photo that your intention might have not even been to take it like this.