Photography Inspiration

There is much debate regarding the use of photography by painters. Simply seen, a painter making use of a photographic image has been viewed as a copyist, slavishly reproducing the information in the photograph.

Early in the life of photography there were concerns that the photograph, or as it was then the Daguerreotype, would kill art. It is said that the salon painter Paul Delaroche on seeing the daguerreotype process demonstrated, declared “From today, painting is dead”.

History shows that far from seeing painting off ‘Photography’ has become in many ways todays sketch pad of the artist.

With the advent of digital photography the painter has but to learn the intricacies of post shoot editing to arrive at the image imagined for use in support of the work intended.

For my part there are the shots primarily taken as supporting information for paintings. These will often be a selection of wide angle and close up shots to ensure that I have sufficient information for later in the studio.

The other aspect of my camera use is multi faceted from simple holiday snaps to a close examination of the world around me. From regular shoots for a local Chamber choir adding to their image bank for advertising purposes to shooting weddings for friends and family all tend to keep me striving to improve my technique.

However long one takes photographs for they may be only mediocre at best if one does not take note of some simple rules :

To highlight these I call on the words of Henri Cartier Bresson who embodies what photography as art can be. HCB uses geometry to construct and compose his images. Rather like Cezanne he uses vertical and horizontal lines, squares, triangles and especially frames to compose his shots. Above all though I find his rule of patience, waiting to get the shot, to be one of his most important lesson.

The fact that he advises other photographers to see the world as a painter speaks volumes. The photograph ‘Sunday on the banks of the Marne 1938’ so looks like a work by George Seurat that I can clearly connect with his thinking.

There are many rules pertaining to photography, however simply remembering to resolve all of the elements separately, only allowing the essential details to remain in the frame , and keeping the edge of the frame clear of distractions. Finally having an eye for the required camera height for any given shot will suffice.