The Art of Subtraction
When I look at the work of other photographers, there are always a few exceptional images that really stand out. Most of the images that I look at get only a quick glance. However, when I come to one of those exceptional images, everything else seems to fade into the distance. I find my eyes roaming through the image, from point to point, taking in all aspects of the photograph. Often, I find myself going back to those same images to view them again.
I have often asked myself what makes those images so powerful. For me, the answer has become quite clear -- every one of those exceptional images communicates a strong emotion. I consider this to be the driving force behind the images. I believe that this is so important that I consider it the number one rule of photography:
ALL GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY IS ABOUT COMMUNICATING AN EMOTION
If this is the most important rule in photography (for me at least), what is the next most important rule? For me, the next rule flows from the first:
STRIP EVERYTHING OUT OF AN IMAGE THAT DOES NOT COMMUNICATE THE EMOTION!
So, photographers have something to learn from Michelangelo. To create great art, all one has to do is remove everything that is not great art. In terms of photography, all one has to do is remove everything that does not in some way strengthen the emotion. In essence, this is the art of subtraction.
Why is this So Important
A natural response might be to ask why this is so important.
Have you ever had some really great lemonade? A tall glass filled with ice on a hot summer day. The lemonade was great, and the ice made it even better. The ice complimented the lemonade; it seemed to strengthen the taste somehow. Have you ever left a glass of that icy lemonade sitting in the sun too long? By the time that you got back to the lemonade, the ice had melted. What did you have now? Luke warm, weak lemonade. And what did you do with that lemonade? Threw it out, most likely. Why? Because the water from the ice cubes had diluted the taste of the lemonade.
Similarly, items in an image that help the image communicate its emotion strengthen the image (just like the ice strengthened the taste of the lemonade). All other items serve only to dilute the image (as the melted ice cubes diluted the lemonade). In short, all things that do not strengthen the emotion of an image weaken the image.
Emotion and Composition
It all comes down to emotion followed by composition. Emotion is the driving force. Attempting to identify and capture an emotion is the one thing that should lead everything else in the photographic process.
Composition is what allows a photographer to capture the emotion. It is a matter of taking a viewpoint and framing the image in such a way that everything in the image strengthens the emotion.
Identify, Add, and Subtract
So, how does one go about creating an image that communicates an emotion? For me, it comes down to a three step process: 1) identify the emotion, 2) identify the elements that strengthen the emotion and add them to the image, and 3) subtracting everything else from the image.
Now, unfortunately, this is not something that one can teach like one would teach how to use Levels or Curves. Neither I, nor anyone else, can teach someone how to logically identify and analyze the emotional impact in a scene. In fact, this is contradictory. Emotions are something that we feel. Trying to teach someone how to logically analyze what must be felt is illogical. Each photographer must develop this ability himself. However, what one can do is show examples. This is the approach that I have chosen in this article. Three examples of how I applied the art of subtraction will be shown.
Waterfall
Figure 9: Schuler Falls
Figure 10: Pleasant Valley falls
Waterfalls are a favorite subject of many photographers. The waterfall shown in Figures 9 is on the historic Schuyler Estate in Rhinebeck, NY. The Falls was beautiful, and a number of different shots could have been taken. However, I was looking for something different than what is seen in these two figures. I was interested in creating an image that had a more up close and personal emotional feel to it. Three elements were needed:
· Cascading water. One of the things that made this series of waterfalls so attractive was the way the water cascaded down the rock forming multiple lines of flow.
· Up close. An up close shot was needed that would emphasis the cascading water.
· A foreground element that accentuated the cascading water.
Identifying what to subtract was easy. Essentially, anything other than the cascading water and the foreground element needed to be subtracted.
Some scrambling along the long series of falls (Figures 9 and 10 show only a small portion of the series of waterfalls) resulted in the discovery of a small waterfall that had just what was desired: beautiful cascading water and a great foreground element. The image was shot up close (the water spray was a challenge). The flowers in the lower right corner provide a contrast that grabs the viewer's attention. Normally, that might not be a good thing. After all, this image is supposed to be about the cascading water. However, the flowers are right next to the log. This log directs the viewer's attention straight to the water. Thus, the combination of the flowers and the log actually serve to strengthen the image.
What are not seen are all the distracting elements that surrounded the waterfall that were subtracted from the image. For instance, there is a fallen tree to the right of the waterfall that leans up against the rock formation that the water tumbles down. Had this tree been included in the image, it would have served to lead the viewer's eye out of the image.
: Frost Road Falls
The Power of Subtraction
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, when viewing other photographers work, I often see stunning images. The universal component of these images is that they have compositions where all of the distracting details have been eliminated. The photographers that created these images practiced the power of subtraction. The result is that all of the remaining elements in each image serve to strengthen the emotion of the image. Consequently, the viewer's attention is concentrated on that emotion to the exclusion of everything else.
On the other hand, I see many images that seem to communicate no emotion and that are cluttered with too many things. The interesting thing is that, sometimes, I look at those images and see that there was an opportunity to make a really good image -- if the emotion of the scene had been identified and the distracting elements subtracted from the image.
Many people, myself included, travel to locations hoping to find beautiful scenes to shoot. We think, "If I can just find that beautiful waterfall or grand scenic and include it in an image, I will have a great shot". The problem is, great images are determined as much by what is not in the shot as by what is. Photographers that have not learned this lesson are likely to be disappointed even when shooting in beautiful locations.
When we were in grade school, our teachers taught us how to subtract. Now, it is time for us to learn
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