Elements of ArtPrinciples of Design

How are these tools relevant in my photography?

Elements of Art

Line. Shape & Form. Value. Color. Space. Texture

Elements of Art

Line. Shape & Form. Value. Color. Space. Texture

“”

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.

Ansel Adams

~ - ~ - ~ - ~Line ~ - ~ - ~ -~A point moving in space. A line can be an actual object (i.e.

railroad tracks), or it can be implied (i.e. geese flying in a “V”).

Harry Callahan

Michael Kenna

Shape & Form Shape = 2D; geometric or organic shapes. In photography, shapes are seen in wheels, road signs, windows, a

silhouette of a face, a wet footprint, shadows, etc. Form = 3D; how the lighting in a photo hits your object will determine whether it looks flat (2D) or has

form/volume (3D).

Starn Brothers

Michael Kenna

Starn Brothers

COLOR In photography, when talking about color, you’re talking about light. For our purposes, it is the hue or “name” of a

visual light source. Cameras do not see color, they see value (specifically, 18% gray).

David Haxton

value Value refers to the quality of light, the black white and shades of gray within a photo.

This is sometimes referred to as Low Key and High Key; low key is a photo that’s mostly dark, while high key is a photo with mostly light, or white values.

Michael KennaSally Mann

Sally Mann

SpaceThe arrangement of objects within a photograph. Depth of field can help a

photographer manipulate space (i.e. what’s near, far, and in or out of focus).

Barbara Callahan

Robert Frank

Starn Brothers

TextureThis element appeals to the sense of touch. In photography, it is often what makes a photo look more believable, more 3D (i.e. rusty metal, glass, gravel, bricks, plastic).

Starn Brothers

Edward Weston Robert Frank

Principles of Design

Balance. Unity. Variety. Movement & Rhythm. Emphasis. Proportion. Pattern.

Use the elements of art to achieve the principles of design…

BalanceThe arrangement of elements within a composition to create visual stability. Can be symmetrical (mirror image),

asymmetrical (uses size/placement of objects in an “uncentered” way yet still appear visually balanced), or radial (circular style where objects radiate from a central point in an image).

Christen BerryPaul Strand

Balance, cont.

James Nachtwey

UnityWhen all individual parts of your photograph come together and support each other to make one

unified image.

Annie Leibovitz- “Steve Martin”Annie Leibovitz- “Keith Haring”

VarietyThe diversity of elements and principles found in a composition.

Cindy Sherman

Variety, cont.

Dorothea Lange

MovementCan be real, as in the movement of actual objects in the frame; or, can be implied, as in the

way a viewer’s eye travels through a picture.

Richard Avedon

RhythmCreated by the organized repetition of art elements (or objects).

Sebastiao Salgado

Rhythm, cont.

EmphasisRefers to the dominance and subordination of objects in the picture plane.

Andy Goldsworthy

Annie Leibovitz- “Cate Blanchett”

ProportionThe relative size of one element in a picture to another.

David Eggleston

Proportion, cont.

Sebastiao Salgado

PatternAchieved by the repetition of any of the elements of art. Even random shapes which are similar

can create a pattern. The key to pattern is repetition.

Andy Goldsworthy