PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
BOOKS ON PHOTOGRAPHY
Optics for Photographers, by Hans Harting, Ph.D.
Translated by Frank R. Fraprie, S.M., F.R.P.S. Cloth,
$2.50.
Chemistry for Photographers, by William R. Flint.
Cloth, $2.50.
Pictorial Composition in Photography, by Arthur
Hammond. Cloth, $3.50.
Photo-Engraving Primer, by Stephen H. Horgan.
Cloth, $1.50.
PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES
Edited by Frank R. Fraprie, S.M., F.R.P.S.
Editor of American Photography
1. The Secret of Exposure.
2. Beginners' Troubles.
3. How to Choose and Use a Lens.
4. How to Make Prints in Color.
5. How to Make Enlargements.
6. How to Make Portraits.
7. How to Make Lantern Slides.
8. The Elements of Photography.
9. Practical Retouching.
Each volume sold separately. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50
cents.
American Photography Exposure Tables, 96th thousand.
Cloth, 35 cents.
Thermo Development Chart. 25 cents.
American Photography, a monthly magazine, represent-
ing all that its name implies. 20 cents a copy. $2.00 a
year.
PUBLISHED BY
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING Go.
221 Columbus Avenue, Boston 17, Massachusetts
Fig. 27. ST. JOHN
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ARTHUR HAMMOND
ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY
WITH 49 ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING CO.
BOSTON, MASS.
1920
COPYRIGHT, IQ20, BY
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING CO.
TO
DONALD
FORREST
ALFRED
AND
GORDON
AS A SOUVENIR OF OUR MANY PLEASANT TRIPS
AROUND CAPE ANN AND IN APPRECIATION OF THEIR
HELPFULNESS AND CHEERFUL COMPANIONSHIP
631163
PREFACE
TO tell a photographer how to compose his
pictures is like telling a musician how to
compose music, an author how to write a novel
or an actor how to act a part. Such things can
only grow out of the fulness and experience of
life. Yet the musician must learn harmony and
counterpoint, the novelist must know the rules
of grammar and the proper use of words, the actor
must study elocution, and all of these are more or
less exact sciences which can be taught. Their
application is entirely individual.
So in pictorial photography, some principles of
composition can be acquired from books, but the
most important element of success — the personal-
ity and soul of the artist — must be implanted in
the individual and must grow with his experience.
I am only too well aware that much has been
omitted that should have been included in this
little book, and that many important points have
been but lightly touched upon, but if it should
contain any helpful information and thus serve
to encourage some who have hitherto hesitated
to embark on the uncharted ocean of pictorial
It
PREFACE
photography; if it should help to point the way
to the friendly haven of success, my purpose will
have been accomplished. If any should take as
much pleasure in reading as I have in writing,
my efforts will not have been in vain.
BOSTON, February, 1920.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Introductory — How Pictorial Photography has Benefited
by the Energy and Enthusiasm of Technical and Scientific
Experts — The Need for Sound Technical Knowledge
and Training — Composition — The Mechanics of Sugges-
tion— Teaches Economy in the Use of Tones; Teaches
What and How to Emphasize; Teaches What and How
to Eliminate; Teaches Appropriate Action Following a
Careful Analysis of Impressions — The Limitations in
Representation — What is a Picture? 1-32
r
CHAPTER II
Spacing — Lines, Horizontal, Vertical, Oblique — Variety of
Line — The Triangle — Curved Lines — The S-shaped
Curve — The Unseen Line — Balance — Tones — The
Characteristic Quality of Photography — Key 33-61
CHAPTER III
Mass — Notan — Breadth — Pictorial Balance — The Un-
corrected Lens for Pictorial Work — Accent — Figures
in Landscapes — Genre 62-83
CHAPTER IV
Linear Perspective — Focal Length of the Lens with Re-
lation to the Point of View — Aerial Perspective — The
Effect of Atmosphere on the Tones of a Picture — Theory
and Practice of Orthochromatic Photography — When to
Use a Color Plate — Full Correction Sometimes Unneces-
sary 84-103
[xi]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
Simplicity — Sympathy — Restraint — The Law of Princi-
pality—Emphasis 104-122
CHAPTER VI
Line Composition Applied to Figure Studies — The Ver-
tical Line — Repetition of Line — The Curved Line —
The Lost Edge — The Triangle — The Rectangle —
The S-shaped Curve — The Figure 8 — The Hands in
Portraiture — The Placing of the Head in the Picture
Space — Groups — The Background 123-141
CHAPTER VII
Tones in Portraiture — Roundness and Solidity Brought out
by Lighting — Ordinary Lighting — Outdoor Portraits —
Home Portraiture — Unusual Lightings — The Outfit for
Home Portraiture 142-163
CHAPTER VIII
The Definition of Art — The Need for Cultivated Good Taste
— Picture-making Largely Instinctive — Landscape Pho-
tography — Imagination — The Selection of Suitable
Conditions — The Illusion of Relief — The Illusion of
Distance — The Illusion of Movement — Underexposure
Fatal to Success — Night Photography — Still-life and
Flower Studies 164-188
CHAPTER IX
The Technique of Pictorial Photography — Developer for
Negatives — Intensification — Reduction — Printing on
Platinum and Other Processes — Bromide Enlarging —
Mounting and Framing — Retouching — Trimming . . 189-210
[xu]
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 27. St. John Frontispiece
Facing page
1. A Slimmer Landscape 4
" 2. Echo Bridge 12
" 3. Arthur 16
" 4. Half Moon Beach, Gloucester 20
" 5. A Spring Flower 22
" 6. The Camera Club Secretary 26
" 7. Sumac Lane, Rocky Neck 28
" 8. An American Boy 32
" 9. The Fenway, Boston 34
" 10. Portrait of Freddie 36
" 11. The Harlem River 44
" 12. Starting Out 46
" 13. Plum Island 48
" 14. Portrait of A. M., Jr 52
" 15. Portrait of L. W 60
" 16. The Explorers 64
" 17. Crescent Beach, Gloucester 66
" 18. The Painter 70
" 19. Wingaersheek Beach 74
" 20. At the Close of a Stormy Day 78
" 21. A Home Portrait 80
" 22. A Summer Camper 84
" 23. Portrait of a Painter ." 92
" 24. The Fair-haired Boy 96
" 25. Charlie 98
" 26. Portrait of Jack 102
" 28. Portrait, Mr. B 106
" 29. George, the Scout 110
" 30. Building the Fire U ,«
" 30A. Young Artists '
V 31. Ready for the Party 116
" 32. An Out-door Home Portrait 124
" 33. In the Studio 128
xiii
xiv ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
" 34. Jimmie 130
" 35. The Day after Christmas 134
" 36. Swapping Pictures 138
" 37. Portrait, F. S. H 142
" 38. Sunlight Effect 144
" 39. The Composer 148
" 40. John 156
" 41. Annisquam Bridge, Sunlight 160
" 42. Surf at Bass Rocks 162
" 43. Rocky Neck, East Gloucester 166
" 44. Sunrise on Lake Winnepesaukee 170
" 45. The Washington Statue at Night 174
" 46. The Little Roy in the Park 192
" 47. Ahnost Human 196
" 48. Gordon 204
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION IN
PHOTOGRAPHY 0'itl'
* ' * j j j
CHAPTER I
Introductory — How Pictorial Photography has Benefited by
the Energy and Enthusiasm of Technical and Scientific Ex-
perts—The Need for Soun<i Technical Knowledge and
Training — Composition — The Mechanics of Suggestion —
Teaches Economy in the Use of Tones; Teaches What and
How to Emphasize; Teaches What and How to Eliminate;
Teaches Appropriate Action Following a Careful Analysis of
Impressions — The Limitations in Representation — What is
a Picture?
"PHOTOGRAPHY, with its many and varied
JL aspects, appeals in different ways to people
of widely differing temperaments and this, doubt-
less, is the reason for the almost universal interest
taken in cameras and camera results the world
over. This interest may be scientific and utili-
tarian or it may be purely aesthetic. Photogra-
phy may be regarded either as an art or as a
science, and, therefore, an artist may find in it
just as much to interest him as does one^who is
mainly concerned with the scientific laws and
principles involved in the production of a photo-
graphic print.
The artist who uses the camera for picture-
making is following only one of the many branches
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
of photographic work, and there are others just
as interesting. There is for instance, the allur-
ing field of photographic chemistry, that tre-
\ / Ktendously interesting study of such manifesta-
tions of nature working according to fixed laws
* l
t chemical reactions originated by the energy
of light and the reduction to metallic silver of the
silver salts which have been affected by light.
The science of optics, too, is connected very
closely with photography, and here is another
absorbing study for the practical scientist, who
will find much to interest him in the study of
light and its transmission through a lens. The
purely technical problems of photography, and
the cultivation of the ability to produce perfect
results under varying conditions, will interest
many who are neither artists nor scientists, and
such lovers of technical perfection can go far
before their interest will wane, for almost every
picture, or, at any rate, every class of pictures, will
offer new technical problems. In the study of
technique alone many years may be spent with
pleasure and profit.
To the chemical and optical experts and to the
enthusiastic technicians we, as photographers,
owe a deep debt of gratitude; to their careful
and painstaking investigation and research are
due the wonderful strides made in the invention
and manufacture of the photographic apparatus
' [2]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
and materials now at our disposal. To the ex-
perts in photographic chemistry we owe the
perfection of the modern dry plate with its won-
derful speed and other advantages over the wet
plates of the past. To them,lalso, we owe the in-
vention and manufacture of orthochromatic and
panchromatic plates, which place in our hands
a wonderfully efficient means of securing better
pictures. To the enthusiastic technicians and
their insistent demands for better and more effi-
cient apparatus we owe that marvellous photog-
raphic tool, the modern anastigmat lens, which
so greatly enlarges the possibilities of photog-
raphy. And, in answer to their demands for
portability, compactness and convenience of mani-
pulation, we have the roll-film cameras and the
miniature, vest-pocket cameras with exquisite re-
finements of workmanship and tremendous possi-
bilities. There are some who look down from the
plane of high art and are complacently tolerant
of the technician and the chemical and optical
enthusiasts, but if it were not for these and for
their energy and enthusiasm, photography would
not have reached its present high standard of
artistic quality.
Those whose interest in photography is con-
fined entirely to its possibilities as a means of
artistic expression and pictorial representation
are artists, and they recognize in photography a
[33
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
flexible and responsive medium by means of
which they can express their pictorial ideas and
convey their impressions to others.
The appreciation of beauty is an almost uni-
versal human attribute. It is manifested very
early in life by the little child who, though hardly
able to walk, will toddle gleefully to pursue a
butterfly or to grasp a flower. This primitive
instinct sometimes remains dormant in an adult
whose interests and activities along other lines
of human endeavor leave little room for unprac-
tical and visionary enthusiasms. Often, how-
ever, the childish instinct develops and expands
in later life, and the desire to create, the longing
of the artist to produce some concrete evidence
of his thoughts and feelings, is the logical and
natural outcome of the interest in beauty that is
inherent in us all.
This impulse to express our ideas of beauty
must be guided by knowledge and training, and
much hard work is necessary to train the mind
and "that clumsy instrument, the human hand"
adequately to perform the tasks demanded of it.
It is so in all branches of creative art, and photog-
raphy is no exception. A musician works hard
for many years to perfect himself in his art; a
painter has to put in many years of training
before he can express himself fully, with satis-
faction to himself and others. So the artist in
Fig. 1. A SUMMER LANDSCAPE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
photography must work and study to make him-
self the master of technical difficulties. In his
hands the camera and lens should be flexible and
responsive to his moods. This implies a thorough
mastery of technical details, and a clear, though
not necessarily exhaustive, understanding of the
scientific principles involved in the production of
a photographic print. There must be artistic
feeling, of course, but that alone will not suffice.
Knowledge and skill are also required to enable
the artist to use his chosen medium to the best
advantage. It is a mistake, therefore, for the
artist in photography to regard technique as be-
ing merely mechanical and beneath his notice, for,
unless he possesses a thoroughly sound founda-
tion of technical knowledge and manual dexterity,
his work will always be crude and unfinished, and
he will never have complete control over his
medium.
There are many good books and magazines
which deal with various portions of the technique
of photography from the practical standpoint.
Therefore, when technical advice is given in this
volume, it will be on the supposition that my
readers already possess a thorough knowledge of
the elementary principles. The reader is referred
to other volumes in this series for additional in-
formation on the technical and scientific aspects
of photography. My purpose is to try to point
C5]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
out to the artist in photography some of the uni-
versally recognized rules of composition, and to
give as much practical help as is possible in deal-
ing with a phase of artistic work in which the
personal equation is so important a factor.
Whether or not the ability to make pleasing
pictures can be acquired by reading books on
composition may be open to question. Person-
ally I think it can, because the desire to learn,
and the interest in the subject shown by this
desire, presuppose a natural inclination and the
germ of creative ability. This can be cultivated
by study and by practical experience along the
right lines. No books on the subject can actually
teach a photographer how to make pictures.
They can only point out the road and suggest
lines of thought. There must be actual experi-
ment along the lines suggested. Composition can
become a habit like everything else, and the more
one works at it the easier it will become. If the
desire is there and one is interested enough to
keep on trying, one day he will get a real picture.
This will be followed later by another, and, in
time, the ability to see and arrange a pleasing
composition will become habitual. The would-
be pictorialist must try to cultivate the ability to
see everything pictorially.
The object of the picture-maker is to express,
not facts, but the emotions which these facts
C6]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
arouse in him. In order to be able to do this, he
must understand the laws of composition and
also those that affect the distribution of light and
shade. His eye must be trained to distinguish
values, that is, the varying effect of light on
objects of different material, and the gradual
change in the color or tone of an object, accord-
ing as it is nearer to or farther away from the
eye. All this is a matter of study and experience,
and is but the natural development of an instinc-
tive sense of what is beautiful in line, form and
tone. When this instinctive appreciation of
beauty has been developed along the right lines,
the ability to discuss and criticize pictures as well
as the ability to make pictures will be more com-
plete. Instead of a more or less vague idea that
such a thing is right and that something else is
not right, one will be able to give definite reasons
and make the criticism constructive and helpful.
Artists are not always creative; there are many
people who admire pictures, who enjoy music and
literature, who can appreciate the artistic feeling
shown in works of art, but who are quite unable
to express themselves in terms of art, or to con-
vey their impressions to others by any means of
artistic representation. Such people are just as
much artists, however, as those who can paint
pictures, compose music or write poetry. Robert
Louis Stevenson writes in Ordered South: "We
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
admire splendid views or great pictures; and yet
what is truly admirable is rather the mind within
us, that gathers together these scattered details
for its delight, and makes out of certain colors,
certain distributions of graduated light and dark-
ness, that intelligible whole which alone we call
a picture or a view."
Those who, in addition to being able to enjoy
and appreciate pictures, possess also the power
of expressing their ideas 'in such a way that their
pictures may be enjoyed and appreciated, are but
carrying the inherent appreciation of the beau-
tiful to its logical conclusion. In them the appre-
ciation of beauty has developed into a craving to
create beauty, and pictures are the result of this
craving.
Thus we arrive at the conclusion that pictorial
photographs are pictures made with a camera by
an artist for the benefit of other artists; pictures
in which individual artistic aim and feeling have
found their expression by means of the camera.
The artistic aim and feeling must be guided by
technical skill and by a knowledge of the laws of
composition. The technical skill I shall take for
granted and shall deal, in this book, mainly with
the principles of composition.
What is composition? Why is composition re-
quired? Why is it not possible to photograph a
[8]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
beautiful scene or a beautiful object, and thus
make a picture?
If we could reproduce in a picture a landscape,
just as it appears to each one of us, including the
color, the depth and spaciousness, the ever-vary-
ing and changing lights, the interest due to the
swaying branches stirred by the wind, the sounds
and scents of nature, and everything else that
goes to make such a view attractive; if we could
pick out just what appeals to us most strongly
and could include in the picture only what we
want to see and leave out everything else, our
reproduction would be a picture, in all probability.
But it is not possible to represent thus fully or
selectively. At best we can only suggest, and
composition is the mechanics of suggestion.
In the early days of photography popular inter-
est was excited by the camera's ability to record
facts. Today the artist's aim is to make it record
his impressions of facts, and to express his per-
sonal feeling.
The artist in photography is handicapped to a
considerable extent by the fact that the camera
is, essentially, a copying machine. The optical
perfection of modern lenses and the orthochro-
matic qualities of the sensitive emulsion tend to
make it wonderfully efficient in this respect. But
the artist must learn to control his medium; and
knowledge, skill and experience will enable him
[9]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
to do this so completely that in his hands the
camera will become as responsive as the brushes
and pigments of the painter. Mere copying na-
ture will rarely make a picture: there must be
individual interpretation by the artist, and the
camera, properly controlled, will make pictures
that show this individuality very plainly. No one
who is familiar with the work of the leading pic-
torialists would mistake a picture by Coburn for
one by Porterfield; and a portrait by Steichen
can be readily distinguished from one by Will
Cadby. The individuality of the artist is inter-
preted by the camera and lens, and the results
produced by different workers are different be-
cause each artist has used the camera to record
his own impressions rather than to reproduce
actual facts.
A view or a landscape will impress different
people in different ways, just as a human individ-
ual will. Various people will see the same scene
in various ways, according to their separate indi-
vidualities: some people, on seeing Niagara Falls
for the first time, will be so impressed by the
grandeur and magnificence of the scene that they
will say nothing; it will be beyond mere words.
Others might give a casual glance and say:
"Isn't it great?"
What we put into a picture is a record of the
impression which a scene made upon us at the
do:
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
particular time and under the peculiar circum-
stances of our seeing it. Naturally, the impres-
sions received will vary greatly according to indi-
vidual temperament. Each sees only what he
has the capacity for seeing, and the capacity for
seeing is determined by the physical condition of
the eyes, by the individual's power of observa-
tion, and by the personal likes and dislikes which
lead one to look for certain things in preference
to others. A farmer, viewing a familiar land-
scape, would see it very differently from one who
might happen to be revisiting the dimly remem-
bered but dearly loved scenes of a happy child-
hood, after many years of absence. The scene
itself would also vary greatly under different con-
ditions of season and atmosphere. We might
photograph the same view a dozen times or more
under different conditions, and all the results
would be unlike.
Monet painted the same corner of a courtyard
at Hampton Court several times, at various sea-
sons of the year and under varying atmospheric
conditions, and made several entirely different
pictures. What we represent in a picture, there-
fore, is just one aspect of a view as it happens to
exist at the chosen time. We make our repre-
sentation individual by emphasizing those as-
pects of the subject that give us the impressions
which we desire to convey, and by subduing or
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
eliminating anything that may be antagonistic to
these impressions. A work of art, whether a
painting or a photograph, is, at best, only an
abstract interpretation of actual facts. Nature
gives us the subject, from which we select what
we want; of what' we select, we emphasize part,
or eliminate part; and composition teaches us the
practical and common-sense methods of selecting,
emphasizing and eHminating.
What we can do in the way of actual repre-
sentation is very limited. A photograph of a
landscape is very largely made up of suggestion.
To begin with, we cannot, by the practical
methods at present at our command, reproduce
color in a print, but can only suggest it by getting
the tones and values approximately correct. We
cannot actually represent the life and movement
of the scene, the changing lights and shadows
that make it so interesting; we cannot simulate
the glorious, blazing sunlight of midsummer or
the brilliant sparkle of the sun on snow in winter;
we can only suggest these things by means of a
comparatively few gradations of tone, ranging at
the extreme from white paper to a black deposit
of silver or platinum, a very poor substitute for
the infinitely longer range of tones in nature.
So we must be careful how we use these grada-
tions and must economize and make them go as
far as possible. Composition will help us to do
[12]
Fig. 2. ECHO BRIDGE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
this. With the aid of composition we can convey
impressions, and these impressions will be more
clearly and more convincingly conveyed if we
make intelligent use of the mechanics of sugges-
tion— the recognized formulae known as the
principles of pictorial composition.
This applies also in portraiture as well as in
making outdoor pictures. We have all seen, I
am sure, a snapshot of a friend or even a tech-
nically good professional portrait, in which that
friend is represented in a way that is quite un-
familiar and far from characteristic, so that the
picture fails to convey the desired impression.
This is usually a case of poor selection; the good
points were not emphasized, nor were the unde-
sirable features subdued or eliminated, therefore
the print fails to be a picture. We have to be as
careful in selecting the right conditions under
which to photograph a landscape as when photo-
graphing a human subject, and here again the
principles of composition will help us by teaching
us what to look for, and by guiding us in the
selection of the best point of view, the best con-
ditions of lighting, and so on. Composition, then,
is the exercise of the power of selection.
Every human being has many moods, and a
clever and competent artist can make a picture
that will be so characteristic of one particular
mood that others will be able to recognize it.
[13]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
The artist does this by emphasis, by elimination,
and by suggestion; and a knowledge of composi-
tion will tell him what to emphasize, what to
eliminate and how to suggest. We cannot actu-
ally represent the irrepressible merriment of a
happy human boy, but we can suggest this by
emphasizing his bright and laughing eyes, and,
similarly, we can emphasize the 'grace and dignity
of a handsome woman by having a predominance
of easy, flowing curves in the line composition of
the picture.
Not only human beings have moods, but every-
thing in nature has moods. Possibly this state-
ment is not strictly correct because the word
"mood" presupposes some intelligence and voli-
tion, but the sea, under varying conditions, sug-
gests different moods, calm and quiescent, or
lashed to fury. A landscape may also be said to
have moods, and may thus give rise to different
sensations and impressions. It may convey an
impression of beauty; its grandeur may inspire
awe; it may suggest melancholy or gloomy ideas,
or may give an impression of peacefulness, calm
and quiet; perhaps solitude may be suggested,
or desolation. It is such impressions and sensa-
tions as these which we desire to convey in our
pictures. We want to suggest the mood of the
landscape, just as we suggest the moods and
characteristics of the human subject, and we go
[14]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
about it in much the same way, by emphasiz-
ing, eliminating and suggesting, which we are en-
abled to do clearly and convincingly by means
of a knowledge of the principles of pictorial
composition.
We must be sure, first of all, just what appeals
to us in looking at a certain view or landscape;
we must try to analyze our impressions, and find
out just what the prevailing characteristic is.
This will give us some idea what to emphasize
and what to subdue or eliminate, so that we can
make our impressions clear to others. Composi-
tion, then, is appropriate action following a care-
ful analysis of impressions.
Let us see how this works out in actual prac-
tice. In viewing the scene before taking the pic-
ture, A Summer Landscape, reproduced as Fig.
1, the impressions I had were those -of space
freedom and plenty of open air, and they were
what I wished to suggest in the picture. The
appropriate action, it seemed to me, was to leave
a good deal of sky above the horizon and to make
the trees rather small in the picture space. Again,
in Echo Bridge, (Fig. 2), the impression I had was
one of tremendous height, for the bridge is very
high above the water. I also felt that the curve
of the arch of the bridge, repeated hi the water,
was a more pleasing line than the straight line
of the aqueduct along the top of the bridge.
[15]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
Thus the appropriate action in this case was to
emphasize the height of the bridge, and to giv£
prominence to the curved line of the arch and its
reflection in the water. The height was easily
and convincingly suggested by placing the bridge
very high in the picture-space. By the same
means the curved lines were emphasized and the
straight line at the top was brought so close to
the upper edge of the picture that it lost a good
deal of its force.
Composition is very largely common sense.
Such methods of emphasfe as those referred to
are quite obvious and would readily suggest
themselves to anybody. The appropriate action
will usually be easily discovered as soon as we
-have analyzed our impressions and have made
up our minds as to just what we want to suggest
in the picture.
The emotions suggested by facts, not the facts
themselves, are what concern the picture-maker.
This is where he is differentiated from those who
seek to make only records and who are concerned
only with facts. Nature provides the subjects
which are the material to be used in picture-mak-
ing, and the manner of using the material is what
makes or mars a picture. By careful selection or
arrangement of the material, by emphasizing the
important features, and by curbing the prolific
generosity of nature by ruthless elimination of
[16]
Fig. 3. ARTHUR
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
the unessentials, the picture-maker can make
his picture deliver a message and convey to others
the thoughts and feelings he himself experienced
and which inspired him to use the particular
material in the particular way. This is composi-
tion; knowing what to select, how to arrange,
what to emphasize or eliminate and how to do it,
and the aim of this book is to give practical in-
struction along these lines.
A straight photographic representation of a
scene usually has only a very limited interest,
which is purely topographical. A picture may
be considered a photographic record if people
say, on seeing it: "Oh, yes, that's the Grand
Canal in Venice," or, "That's in Honolulu; we
stopped there on our trip around the world last
year, and there's the very place where we had
lunch." But, if they say: "Oh, isn't that just
typical of Venice?" or, "That picture of Hono-
lulu makes me almost feel the blazing sunlight
of Hawaii," then the picture is pictorial, because
it suggests an emotion and conveys an impres-
sion, instead of merely imparting local informa-
tion.
It is sometimes thought that in order to get
pictures one must travel far afield and visit the
much lauded beauty spots of the world, but that
is by no means the case. In fact, I believe I am
not putting it too strongly in saying that the
[17]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
best pictures can usually be found at home, close
at hand, no matter where one may happen to
live. In cities like New York and Boston there
are endless possibilities. That pictures may be
found in the vicinity of a big city, and pictures
that are well worth while, may be demonstrated
by the success of Rudolph Eickemeyer, who
made the majority of his most successful pictures
within a mile and a half of his home in Yonkers.
You must get the spirit of a place and study
it under varying conditions before you can get
more than a topographical record. I do not in
the least mean to imply that places like Venice,
Honolulu or the Grand Canyon will not furnish
pictorial material: they certainly will, as much
as and possibly more than less favored localities;
but I want to make it clear that the success of
a picture, as a picture, does not depend upon the
topographical interest of the subject, but on the
ability of the photographer to convey impres-
sions of beauty or interest by his manner of treat-
ing it. It would be just as absurd to claim that
a portrait of a famous person could not be a good
portrait. Whether or not it is a good portrait,
and suggests the character and personality of the
person portrayed, depends entirely upon the
photographer and on his knowledge, skill and
artistic ability, but a portrait of a quite unknown
and humble individual may also be a very inter-
[18]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
esting picture if the photographer is able to make
it so. To an artist, one of Mrs. Kasebier's Hu-
man Documents, or the series of character por-
traits by Baron de Meyer, including Mrs. Young
of King's Road, Chelsea and Mrs. Wiggins of
Belgrave Square, are far more interesting than a
conventional professional portrait of a famous
personage. In my own case, I have often made
friends with rough little Irish or Italian young-
sters and have made pictures of them that have
been considered interesting as showing the char-
acteristics of the type.
When we consider that a photograph is noth-
ing but an arrangement of varying shades of
monotone, ranging from white paper to full black
or sepia or whatever the color may be, that these
shades of tone form certain shapes, some very
small and some larger, and that these shapes by
their arrangement give us a representation of
natural objects, it will be seen that the possi-
bilities in this representation are rather limited
and leave a good deal to the imagination.
That imagination and suggestion are impor-
tant factors in representation can be proved by
the fact that it is quite possible to make by a few
pencil lines a sketch of a face that can be recog-
nized readily, not only as being a face but as
being the face of one particular individual. By
a few clever lines an artist can make a likeness
[19]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
that suggests the character and the personality of
a particular individual, and yet there may be
nothing but a few outlines. With photography
we can go farther than that; we can get, not
only the outlines and shapes, but also the shading
which will give roundness and modeling. This is
composition — the mechanics of suggestion — for
the artist, in making his pencil sketch, was guided
by the mechanics of suggestion in the disposition
of his lines, and the photographer is guided by
his knowledge of composition in the disposition
of the halftones and gradations of tone as well as
the outlines of the objects in his picture. By
means of composition we can to some extent
make up for the limitations in representation.
The lack of color in photographs is a frequent
source of disappointment. Often we are at-
tracted by a view because its color appeals to
us, and we are disappointed when we have photo-
graphed it because, without the color, it loses
much of its charm. Therefore we must look for
qualities which we can more readily and more
adequately transfer to our picture. Composi-
tion will teach us what to look for and how to
transfer it.
Another limitation in representation that com-
position will help us to overcome is the difficulty
experienced in trying to represent on a flat sheet
of paper the depth and vast expanse of a land-
[20]
£
Fig. 4. HALF MOON BEACH, GLOUCESTER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
scape. This is, obviously, a matter of sugges-
tion, for the view that we see may extend for
miles into the distance or perhaps only for a
few hundred yards, but, in either case, we shall
have to make good use of suggestion to give an
impression of depth and area on our flat picture
surface. We can suggest depth and space very
well by photography, if we know how to do it.
Composition will help us to solve this problem,
for it is one of perspective, linear and aerial, the
study of which is included in the study of
composition.
The reduction to a small area, sometimes only
a few square inches, of a vast expanse of nature
sometimes gives disappointing results, for ob-
jects that appear to be quite important in the
real scene are almost lost and are hard to dis-
tinguish in the picture. This may be because
we have included too many different objects,
or it may be because the object we regarded as
important is not really prominent or noticeable
in the landscape, but appeared so because we
concentrated our interest on it and overlooked
everything else. There may be personal or his-
torical interest attached to some particular ob-
ject in the view, but unless we emphasize or
isolate this particular object and employ the
mechanics of suggestion to make it prominent in
our picture, it will not be rendered in the picture
[21]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
any differently from any other objects that may
be included in the view. The lens has no per-
sonal preferences, has not studied history, and is
absolutely impartial.
This illustrates one of the fundamental prin-
ciples of composition, that of unity or concen-
tration of interest, and demonstrates the impor-
tance of having only one prominent object of
interest in a picture. We have to do the best
we can to make it evident what our principal
object of interest is, and we do it by emphasis
and elimination, which are part of the mechanics
of suggestion.
1 •'.-•*' . " & .
• .!* , • £''. • . • - ' * '. • • .
Having thus roughly outlined an answer to the
question: "What is composition?" the next im-
portant question that arises is: "What is a pic-
ture?"
In our daily life we are surrounded by a multi-
tude of interesting things, and those of us who
are sensitive to beauty often find much of this
quality in quite ordinary and commonplace ob-
jects and scenes. It is, as Stevenson tells us,
"the mind within us" that can see beauty where
others can see only the prosaic and commonplace.
Such vision is partly instinctive and partly the
result of training. Dodge MacKnight can see
color and beauty in a line of clothes hanging out
to dry, and Stieglitz, Coburn and A. H. Blake
[22]
Fig. 5. A SPRING FLOWER
8gO?:UAU
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
can see beauty in the mean streets of a great city.
The beauty of a picture does not depend entirely
upon the intrinsic beauty of the objects depicted,
but upon the truth with which the picture-maker
suggests to others the impressions that affected
him and led him to choose his subject. Beauty
of line and tone, concentration of interest, bal-
ance, simplicity and so on, are not mere vague
terms, the jargon of the studio, but are definite
and practical attributes of beauty in pictures,
and it is on such things as these that the beauty
of our picture depends. Just what these things
are, and how they may be used in picture-making,
will be explained in the following chapters, but
one answer to the question: "What is a picture?"
can be given by saying that a picture is a repre-
sentation of an object, a scene or a person, in
which the picture-maker, by the skilful use of
good lines and pleasing tones, by concentrating
the interest and by securing balance and har-
mony, has made an arrangement that appeals to
our imagination and gives us an impression of a
mood or an emotion rather than a bare statement
of fact.
Suppose an architect and a painter were walk-
ing through the Fenway in Boston and stopped
to look at and to make a sketch of the Museum
of Fine Arts. Of course the architect might well
be an artist, just as the painter is an artist, but
[23]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
we will suppose that his sketch is intended to be
a record of the architecture of the building. Both
would use the same subject for their pictures, but
each would treat it differently, because it would
make a different impression on each of them,
and would give rise to different emotions in the
two minds. The painter might be impressed by
the play of sunlight on the white columns; he
might take this as the theme or motive of his
picture, and, therefore, do all he could to empha-
size this particular feature. Possibly he would
select a viewpoint on the other side of the stream,
and thus get the columns reflected in the water.
In doing so he would be employing a principle of
composition, the principle of repetition with
variety, and this would help to emphasize his
theme. He would in this way concentrate the
interest, and make it apparent in the picture
that the play of sunlight on the white stone was
the thing that attracted him. The rest of the
subject would be subordinate, and would form
an appropriate setting for the principal object of
interest; only just enough would be included in
the picture to give a general idea of the rest of
the building; the emphasis would be on the sun-
lit columns and, from the pictorial standpoint,
such a manner of treating the subject might well
be entirely convincing and pleasing. The artist
would have seen and seized upon one aspect of
[24]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
the subject and, using this as the theme, would
have composed a picture, making this one idea
more prominent than anything else. The pic-
ture would thus have one definite idea or motive
and, if the artist's use of the mechanics of sug-
gestion were successful, the picture would con-
vey to others the same impressions which the
artist received when he selected the subject and
resolved to treat it in this particular manner.
"Art," as A. J. Anderson tells us in The Artistic
Side of Photography, "is the expression of a
theme, and composition is the constructive part
of expression."
The architect, on the other hand, might have
quite different aims and different motives, and
he would go about the work in an entirely differ-
ent manner. We will suppose that he is inter-
ested in the subject simply as an example of
architecture. This being so, he would be apt to
put carefully into his sketch all possible detail;
he would get as exact and as truthful a record as
he could. Nothing would be emphasized or given
more prominence than anything else; all would
be put in quite impartially.
This is an example of how two men could use
the same subject in different ways and from dif-
ferent motives. Each would get what he wanted
and each would find the subject interesting and
suggestive. Each would see the same thing, but
[25]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
differently, and the two pictures probably would
be quite different, though each might well be
very interesting and satisfying, and quite exact
and truthful.
Similarly, two photographers might photograph
the same subject with different intentions and
with a different result in mind; one might want
to make a pictorial photograph, and the other an
architectural record. Consequently their meth-
ods would vary in much the same way as the
methods of the architect and the painter. In the
architectural record we should be able to see
every detail clearly, and the picture would un-
doubtedly be very interesting and very beautiful.
The interest and beauty, however, would be due
to such qualities inherent in the subject; there
would be no personal interpretation, and no sug-
gestion of emotions or individual impressions.
The pictorial photographer would use the subject
as so much pictorial material. He would analyze
his impressions and would then try to convey
these impressions to others. He would pick out
one aspect of the subject, such as, for instance,
the play of sunlight on the pillars, and his knowl-
edge of the principles of pictorial composition
would lead him to emphasize and bring it out
clearly. This would be the theme of his picture,
and the rest of the subject would be just the
setting for the theme. He would select the point
[26]
Fig. 6. THE CAMERA CLUB SECRETARY
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
of view with due regard to emphasis, would pick
out the best lighting conditions, and would do
everything possible to make perfectly clear
what was the main and important feature in his
representation. His picture would be, not a
record of a building, but a representation of the
beauty of ; sunlight on white columns. He would
make use of the mechanics of suggestion to con-
vey his impressions to others, and the picture
would be likely to have a more lasting interest
and to make a stronger appeal than an archi-
tectural record, because there would be, in addi-
tion to the interest of the subject, the added
interest given by an individual interpretation of
the impressions of the artist. The picture would
"convey a mood, rather than impart local infor-
mation," and this would make it a picture rather
than a record.
Composition in picture-making is, to some
extent, a matter of common sense. In making
pictures we are dealing with impressions rather
than with concrete facts. Composition is the
application of common sense, with a due regard
for the teachings of experience, to finding the
best means of making our impressions clear to
others. Composition, too, is largely a matter of
instinct; the photographer will often be led to
yield to an impulse and to arrange his pictorial
material in a certain way just because he feels
[27]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
that it is right to do so, although he may
not always stop to reason it out. This psychic
quality in the artist is something that is well
worth heeding, but such an instinct for composi-
tion will be more to be depended upon if it is
backed up by a knowledge of the universally
recognized rules and principles of pictorial com-
position which will be enumerated, explained and
illustrated in the following chapters.
The would-be picture-maker must learn to
think pictorially; he must try to regard a pic-
ture as a pattern, as an arrangement of lines and
shapes, making in themselves a pleasing and
satisfying design, quite apart from the objects
represented. The lines will form certain shapes,
and the shapes will vary in tone; some may be
light, some dark and some of intermediate shades
of gray, which we call halftones. He must try
to disregard the actual subject of the picture to
some extent. He must think of it as a series of
shapes and masses of varying tone, from which
he can select and arrange the material to fill the
picture space, so that the result will be pleasing
in design and the space will be adequately filled.
He must not take it for granted that because he
is photographing a beautiful view or a handsome
person his result will necessarily be pictorial. It
may be, or it may not. That depends entirely
upon the photographer, because he has the power
[28]
Fig. 7. SUMAC LANE, ROCKY NECK
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
to control his results and to make his interpreta-
tion individual rather than mechanical. If all
photographic representation were pictorial, nearly
every photograph would be a picture; for no one
would deliberately select an ugly object to photo-
graph if the beauty of the picture depended upon
the beauty of the objects in it. That this is not
the case may, I think, be proved by calling to
mind pictures which are beautiful, although they
are representations of quite ordinary objects. I
remember a picture by an English pictorialist,
which was hung at the London Salon some years
ago. It was a still-life study, and the objects
represented were three or four onions on a dish.
We do not usually think of an onion as a pictu-
resque object, yet the picture was beautiful because
the objects were pleasingly represented; the lines
of the picture were good; the shapes and masses
of tone were very interesting and made a pleas-
ing pattern; the picture was well composed, and,
therefore, it was a good picture, even though it was
a representation of common and unprized objects.
I do not by any means wish to imply that
beautiful objects should be avoided in picture-
making. Quite the reverse: if the objects repre-
sented are beautiful, so much the better. I do
want to make it clear that the success of the
picture does not depend entirely upon the beauty
of the subject, but mainly upon the manner in
[29:
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
which the picture-maker uses his pictorial material.
A study of Japanese art will show that the
Japanese often care nothing for truthful repre-
sentation, but sacrifice everything to composi-
tion. In many Japanese prints we see represen-
tations of objects that are like nothing which
actually exists on earth, above the earth, or in
the waters under the earth, but we always find
good lines and interesting masses, and invari-
ably the design is pleasing and satisfying, and
well fills the picture space. Years ago Japanese
art was thought to be grotesque and fanciful.
People used to smile at it and think it queer,
but now we realize that the artists knew what
they were doing, and we accept as sound art
many of their ideas and methods in pictorial
representation.
To repeat, the first thing the picture-maker has
to do is to learn to think in terms of line, mass
and tone; he must regard the subject, not as any
specific object or several objects that he is to
photograph, but as material with which he is to
compose his picture so that the lines are decora-
tive and pleasing and so that the shapes of the
masses bounded by these lines are interesting in
form and tone. The very word composition,
defined as "the act of composing; putting to-
gether; arranging in proper order," implies that
the picture-maker must do something besides
[30]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
setting up his camera and letting it photograph
just what happens to be before it.
In portraiture, genre pictures or figure studies,
and in still-life pictures, flower studies, etc., the
picture-maker can actually arrange and put to-
gether the component parts of his picture; he can
select what he wants and arrange it as he thinks
best, and therefore the composition is entirely
under his control. This is constructive composi-
tion. There is another kind of composition, called
selective composition, which is applied to such
pictures as depend for their arrangement upon
selection both of the subject and of the point of
view. Landscape pictures and marine studies
come under the head of selective composition,
because in such pictures the photographer cannot
actually arrange his material. He has to take
what exists, and arrange his lines and masses by
selecting the proper viewpoint from which good
composition can be secured.
When we study composition, we find that there
are certain facts regarding the lines in a picture
which we should know; that some lines are re-
garded as being more satisfactory than others;
and that we can suggest certain emotions, pleasur-
able and otherwise, by means of lines. This is
dealt with fully and practically in a succeeding
chapter. We also find that we must be careful to
give the halftones in the picture proper depth of
[31:
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
tint. What we have to do and how to do it in
this respect will also be discussed later. We shall
also find that we can help to make a picture more
pleasing by having only one main object of in-
terest. This law of concentration of interest, and
other equally important laws concerning balance,
harmony, variety and simplicity, are all quite
practical and rational means by which we can
suggest emotions and impressions and in this
way make our pictures interesting and beautiful.
They are simply the obvious and common sense
methods that govern the mechanics of sugges-
tion. These laws and principles are quite defi-
nite and should be thoroughly understood, but
their application in practical picture-making must
be guided by circumstances. Sometimes the laws
may be modified and adapted to the occasion,
but they cannot be entirely disregarded, for it
will be found, when good taste and critical judg-
ment have been developed by practical experi-
ence, that a bad line, a false tone, or a lack of
balance in a picture will be as noticeable to the
cultivated eye as a false note or a wrong harmony
would be to the trained ear of a musician.
[32]
Fig. 8. AN AMERICAN BOY
CHAPTER II
Spacing — Lines, Horizontal, Vertical, Oblique — Variety of Line
— The Triangle — Curved Lines — The S-shaped Curve —
The Unseen Lone — Balance — Tones — The Characteristic
Quality of Photography — Key.
simplest possible conception of a picture
JL is an arrangement of lines cutting into a
rectangular space in such a way as to make it
interesting. It may be a conventional pattern
or design, bounded by the edges of the picture-
space, or it may be a representation of an object
or a scene in nature.
When the picture-space, instead of being blank
and empty, has been cut into areas of varying
shapes and sizes, our interest is at once aroused,
and whether the shapes and areas represent
natural objects or whether they form merely a
conventional pattern, we have the elements of
decoration. From this simple beginning we can
go on to the elaboration of shading with half-
tones and shadows to give a suggestion of round-
ness and solidity, or we can use color to suggest
as well as we can the colors of nature, but the
fundamental element of picture-making is the
cutting of the picture-space by lines or edges of
tones, and this is what is known as "spacing."
[33]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
In Chapter I, I urged the picture-maker to try
to think pictorially and to regard a picture as an
arrangement of masses and shapes, lines, curves
and angles, rather than as a representation of a
definite object or scene in nature, and now I
would recommend the photographer to regard
the focusing-screen of his camera as a space to
be divided into a pleasing pattern, rather than
as a glass on which a reduced fascimile of a scene
or view or a miniature likeness of a person can
be seen. The painter regards his canvas as a
space to be decorated with a harmonious arrange-
ment of lines and areas which will, in themselves,
make a pleasing pattern or design; he uses natural
objects merely as material with which to compose
his picture, and the photographer should try to
compose his pictures in the same way.
If we take a rectangular blank space and cut
it by a series of lines, we get a pattern which may
be simple or complex according to the number
and direction of the lines. On the disposition of
the lines in a picture, and on the arrangement of
the masses or areas of tone, depend the success
of the result. The effective ways of dividing the
picture-space by lines and masses are probably
innumerable. The finest effects often present
themselves as happy surprises. Rules and sug-
gestions must necessarily be largely in the nature
of what to avoid.
[34]
Fig. 9. - THE FENWAY, BOSTON
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
It will be obvious, I think, that a very regular
arrangement or pattern will be less interesting
than one in which the various parts differ in
size and shape. A rectangular space exactly bi-
sected by a straight horizontal line is less inter-
esting than a similar space divided by a horizon-
tal line above or below the exact centre, making
two spaces of unequal size. When a vertical line
is added, cutting the rectangular space in another
direction, the interest is greatly augmented.
This cutting of the picture-space into varying
shapes or areas, some of which may be light and
some dark in tone, is called spacing. The areas
of tone are called masses and, whatever the sub-
ject of the picture may be, its success as a picture
depends very largely on the effectiveness of the
spacing and massing. The pictorialist must re-
member this, and must regard the picture-space
as an area to be filled by decorative masses, rather
than as a window or opening through which things
are seen. The edges or boundaries of the picture-
space play an important part in the arrangement
of lines and areas within the boundaries and are,
therefore, important factors in the disposing of
forms and masses.
This aspect of the subject; regarding a picture
as a pattern or design rather than as a representa-
tion of an object or objects, explains why an
artist finds it necessary to select and arrange,
[35]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
and is not always content to take a fragment of
nature and transfer it to his picture. A slavish
imitation of accidental facts is not always good
art. The artist has to select and arrange in order
to make the lines and shapes and space relations
conform to his taste and his appreciation of a
satisfying pattern. Thus he gets effectiveness
and pictorial interest, as distinguished from mere
map work or the scientific exhibition of details.
In order to be able to select and arrange, we
must learn to 'see things in terms of lines, shapes
and masses. Then we can determine from what
point of view to photograph our subject, if it be
a scene in nature, so that its lines and masses will
form fine, or at least agreeable, space divisions.
The chief difference between drawing or paint-
ing and photography is that the painter can build
up his picture as he goes along; he begins with a
blank space which he desires to fill in a pleasing
manner. In landscape painting, the artist often
alters the shape or position of the objects he is
studying, such as mountains, rivers, or trees, and
adapts them to suit his purpose. He seldom
draws them absolutely accurately, or exactly as
they are; he emphasizes some things and elimi-
nates others, and his picture contains only those
elements of the scene or view which he considers
essential to suggest the impressions he received
from that particular scene or view. In conveying
[36]
Fig. 10. PORTRAIT OF FREDDIE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
his impressions, the artist makes use of the phy-
siological and instinctive impressions conveyed by
the "expression" of lines and the shapes of
masses, by the modulations of tone, and by the
pleasing sensations produced by the harmony and
balance of the different elements of the picture.
The photographer goes about his work in
another way; his focusing-screen shows the
scene complete in every particular, and some-
times the effect of the picture is lost in the elabo-
ration of detail. He has to simplify the picture,
and to arrange and compose his lines and masses
by a careful selection of the point of view. He
has to choose carefully the right conditions of
lighting and atmosphere to give the desired effect.
The lines in a picture are of great importance
in giving interest, and the sensations that may
be conveyed by lines alone are many and varied.
The lines not only determine the harmony of the
parts, by fixing the relation of spaces and the
forms of masses, but, by their direction, give the
characteristic impressions of repose or agitation,
gaiety or gloom, peace, grandeur, etc. The sub-
ject of the picture will not express its sentiment
truly and adequately unless it is made to do so
by the language of lines.
Lines have expression, and by the use of lines
alone we can suggest impressions. The expres-
sion of horizontal lines is that of repose and rest-
[37] '
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
fulness; the horizontal lines of the calm ocean or
the long low clouds of a sunset sky are examples
of this. Long horizontal lines must be used spar-
ingly and carefully in pictures because such lines,
with the possible exception of the horizon line of
the ocean, act as barriers to the vision in going
into the picture, and thus a level line continuing
entirely across the picture would tend to sepa-
rate the parts. Such lines may well be broken
by vertical or oblique lines.
A vertical line suggests dignity, strength and
stability, typifying man, the only animal that
stands upright. Very long vertical lines suggest
grandeur and sublimity; the spires of a cathedral
or tall, majestic pine trees convey such impres-
sions as these in a picture.
That vertical lines suggest height and slender-
ness, while horizontal lines increase the effect of
breadth, is a fact that is made use of by those who
design fashions, and it is obvious that a very short
and stout individual would do well to avoid hori-
zontal stripes in the clothing. Vertical stripes
would convey an impression of height and slender-
ness, and would tend to make a rather short per-
son look taller.
Oblique lines suggest action and energy; they
are lines of motion and lead the eye in the direc-
tion which they take from the base-line of the
picture. The lines which would exist in a picture
C38]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
of a person running, seen from the side, would be
mostly oblique lines leading the eye in the direc-
tion in which he is going. Oblique lines can be
balanced and their energy reduced by the opposi-
tion of lines inclined the other way.
That certain lines are more pleasing than others
is well known, though the reason for this is not
so commonly recognized. It is partly physio-
logical, and partly due to the possibility of sug-
gesting emotions by means of lines. From the
physiological standpoint, an oblique or a curved
line is more pleasing than an uninterrupted
straight line, either horizontal or vertical, simply
because the eye can follow the course of such a
line more easily and with less muscular fatigue.
To follow closely an uninterrupted horizontal or
vertical line puts undue strain on a part of the
muscular system of the eye, and the muscles
used in this way easily become fatigued, whereas,
in following the course of a curve or an oblique
line, all the eye-muscles are used and no one
particular set of them is overworked.
This explains from an anatomical and practical
point of view why it should be regarded as a rule
of composition that curves or oblique lines are
more desirable in a picture than a single straight
horizontal or vertical line, and this leads to
another consideration in composition; variety of
line.
[39]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
By means of variety in the lines of a picture,
the muscular effort in viewing it is rendered less
fatiguing. The concentrated effort that is needed
to follow carefully the course of a single horizon-
tal or vertical line is tiring because only a few of
the eye-muscles are used, but variety is restful
because it exercises without tiring the whole
muscular system of the eye.
A picture may well contain a number of hori-
zontal lines or a number of vertical lines, all
slightly different in length, such as might be
found in a wood interior or in a picture of shipping
with a number of vertical masts. This would
be restful and pleasing, because the eye would
not concentrate on any one single line, but would
shift from line to line, noting, perhaps uncon-
sciously, slight variations in length and direction.
If in a picture containing a number of vertical
lines, such as those suggested, there can be intro-
duced naturally some strongly opposing line,
horizontal or oblique, the variety thus obtained
will be physiologically restful and pleasing, and
will help toward good composition. All this goes
to show that composition, fundamentally, is
based on good common sense and is governed by
distinctly practical laws.
Variety, then, is a valuable quality in a picture
and can be secured by introducing opposing lines,
varying in direction.
[40]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
One of the most pleasingly varied arrangements
of straight lines is given by the triangle. Almost
any triangular formation of lines, with the possi-
ble exception of a very exact right-angled tri-
angle, would be a good arrangement in a picture,
because it would satisfy the physiological craving
for variety. A very noticeable and exact right
angle is not good, because it combines the phy-
siological difficulties of the single horizontal and
vertical lines. The effort required to turn ab-
ruptly from the vertical to the horizontal, bring-
ing into play a different set of eye-muscles, may
be rather disturbing. A triangle suggests solid-
ity and firmness; it is a form which embodies
physical stability. It is also a good space-filler,
for its outlines tend to suggest other triangular
shapes in conjunction with the edges of the
picture.
This is exemplified in the portrait of Arthur,
Fig. 3, in which the triangles formed by the
entire figure, a smaller triangle with the knee as
the apex, and the secondary triangles formed by
the outlines of the figure and the edges of the
picture, can all be readily discerned.
When two lines form an acute angle it is easy
to follow them both at once, and the gradual
approach of the lines near the angle gives early
notice to the eye of the coming reversal of direc-
tion. The sharp effort of muscular performance
[41]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
in reversing the direction conveys an impression
of energy and action. That is why the spires of
a cathedral, for instance, or tall, pointed pine
trees, which form acute angles, are interesting
and artistically satisfying.
When the angle formed by oblique lines is ob-
tuse, the muscular change from one direction to
the other at the angle is performed slowly and
easily, not as sharply or as completely as at an
acute angle, and this gives an impression of easy,
restful monotony, rather than of energy and
activity. The valleys between low hills are often
in the form of obtuse angles, and seem restful
and peaceful when represented in a picture.
Such impressions as these, induced merely by
the direction of the leading lines, are very defi-
nite, though, often, our sense of them is instinc-
tive, because we do not stop to reason the matter
out. Nevertheless the impressions are definite
enough and important enough for us to make
practical use of them in composing or selecting
the subject of the picture.
We can make one impression counteract
another, and too many lines in one direction can
be opposed and balanced by introducing lines in
another direction. That is why a triangular
arrangement is usually so satisfactory, because
we get interest and variety in the lines, and one
balances another.
[42]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
In discussing lines, so far, we have referred only
to straight lines, and have noted the impressions
conveyed and the emotions suggested by such
lines varying in direction. When we consider
curved lines as well, we shall find that the possi-
bilities are very much increased. A curved line,
as a rule, will convey an impression of beauty
more strongly than a straight line; a curve can
be vastly more satisfying and pleasing than a
tangent.
From the purely physiological standpoint a
curved line is necessarily more soothing and rest-
ful, because, in following the course of a curved
line, the different eye-muscles are alternately at
work and in repose, and, therefore, there is little
strain or fatigue.
Probably the most completely satisfying curved
line is the S-shaped curve which is known as
Hogarth's "line of beauty." This line, in one of
its many varieties, is often found in nature, as in
the sinuous windings of a stream or river or the
outlines of a mountain range, and it is exempli-
fied very frequently in the lines of the human
figure. In Fig. 4 the S-shaped curve starts in
the extreme lower left corner of the picture and
is carried up along the edge of the surf and back
along the top of the rocks to the top right
corner. In Fig. 5 we can trace this line, begin-
ning in the left hand top corner, around the head
C43]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
and face and up again along the hand to the
flower. A little interest and stimulation to
the imagination is afforded by a portion of this
curve being trimmed away at the bottom of the
picture. The S-shaped line contains the gist of
balance and the essence of grace. It may be
compared to a tongue of flame that winds and
curves and stretches upwards. The S-curve is
also found in a more angular form, more like the
letter Z. This, too, is a good line. Both the S
and the Z are excellent "space fillers"; one is
the embodiment of grace, the other of energy.
The introduction of such a line will usually give
beauty and interest to a picture. A single curve
alone is often beautiful, but the S-shaped curve
is still more beautiful because of its variety and
change in direction. Curved lines must be used
sparingly, for a picture made up entirely of curves
would be weak and flabby. Such lines require
the association of straight lines to develop their
full beauty.
So far, in dealing with lines, we have con-
sidered only actual, structural lines, outlines of
objects or edges of tones, but there is another
kind of line which plays an important part in
picture-making of all kinds. This is the line
which is not actually expressed, but which is,
nevertheless, very strongly felt; the line by which
the eye will instinctively connect prominent ob-
[44]
Fig. 11. THE HARLEM RIVER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
jects, following the shortest route between two
points, for the eye will always take the shortest
path. As an example of this powerfully felt, yet
wholly imaginary, line, we may consider the face
and hands in the portrait of a person dressed in
dark clothing, and posed against a dark back-
ground, so that the face and hands are the only
light accents in the picture (Fig. 6). We shall
find that the eye will instinctively and instantly
connect these three light spots, and we shall
almost see a line going from one to the other.
This often gives a suggestion of a triangular line-
arrangement, and the influence of the unseen line
may be utilized with advantage in forming a good
line-arrangement in portraits and figure studies.
In landscape work such a suggested line may
frequently be used with good effect. The tops of
a row of trees may suggest a line. A number of
boats, small objects or figures in a landscape may
be so grouped that a line connecting them will be
pleasing and important in the composition of the
picture.
Natural objects, plants, and flowers all exemp-
lify this suggested line to a marked degree. The
eye notes at once that a circle will touch the ex-
tended petals of a sunflower, and that the outer
points of the compound leaf of the white ash
would lie on an ellipse. It is the powerful influ-
ence of these imaginary lines which makes the
£45]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
proper placing of accents so important in pictures.
Even the smallest objects, such as birds flying in
the air, or pebbles or rocks on the sea shore,
might influence the direction of such a line. The
roofs of distant buildings, the heads of a group of
people, innumerable apparently unimportant ob-
jects, must be considered with regard to this
influence.
Balance is a word often used in connection with
pictorial composition, so let us try and find out
what it means. Balance implies two forces act-
ing on a fulcrum, and Mr. Henry R. Poore, in
his well-known book, Pictorial Composition, com-
pares pictorial balance with the mechanical bal-
ance of the steelyard, where a heavy load on the
short arm balances a lighter load on the longer
arm. This is a perfectly practical and convinc-
ing mechanical principle.
Now, if we have the sole object of interest in
our picture exactly in the centre of the picture-
space, we get no balance at all. The eye rests
on this central object and gets no relief, so that
we soon feel a strain, and experience a desire to
look away from the picture. If we introduce
into the picture-space one or more objects of
subordinate interest, the eye can get relief and
rest by passing from the main object of interest
to the secondary objects, and back in various
directions to the principal interest.
[46]
Fig. 12. STARTING OUT
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
The main object of interest should not be in
the exact centre of the picture-space, because
that is where we imagine the fulcrum of the
steelyard balance to be. In accordance with
the principle stated above, an important object
near the fulcrum is balanced by a smaller and
less important object on the longer arm of the
steelyard, that is to say, farther from the centre,
and the mechanical balance gives a perfectly sat-
isfying pictorial balance. An object exactly at
the centre cannot be balanced by any other
object at any distance. It must, then, stand alone
in the exact centre, which is rarely satisfying, or
else take its proper place at a proper distance to
effect a balance with its subordinate interests.
The main object of interest in a picture can be
made evident by lines leading to it, or by being
prominent in tone, that is to say, by being dis-
tinctly lighter or darker in tone than other parts
of the picture. Sometimes the important object
in a picture is strongly emphasized by placing a
light tone and a dark tone close together. In a
well-composed picture the eye should at once be
strongly attracted to some spot of predominat-
ing interest, but should be able to get relaxation
and relief by passing on to other, less important,
points. If there is in the picture another object
or point of equal importance, the balance will be
destroyed, because there will be competition in-
[47]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
stead of harmony, and the eye will jump from
one object to the other in the effort to decide
which is really the stronger.
Fig. 7 is an example of balance and emphasis
obtained by contrast in tones. The boy's white
waist stands out prominently against the darker
tone of the water, and it attracts the eye by
being the only light spot in the picture with the
exception of the sailboat, which is the secondary
and balancing object demanded by the mechan-
ical balance of the steelyard. This small object
balances the larger and more important object
very satisfactorily.
On the principle of the steelyard, only a very
small and comparatively unimportant object is
needed, at a distance from the fulcrum, to bal-
ance a large and important object nearer this
point. Too many lines and too many objects of
equal importance in a picture will cause confusion,
discomfort and eye-strain. Sunlight seen through
foliage, for instance, making a number of bright
spots, is irritating and uncomfortable, and is,
therefore, not conducive to good composition.
A landscape picture showing two roads or paths
of equal or nearly equal importance, branching off
in different directions, would not be a well com-
posed picture. The usual remedy in such a case
is to cut the picture in two, giving a road to each
part.
[48]
Fig. 13. PLUM ISLAND
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Probably the most important consideration in
dealing with pictures made with a camera is that
of tones, for photography is preeminently the
medium by which we can render tones. Every
means of pictorial representation has its own
peculiar characteristics, and an artist will use the
medium best suited to the effect which he wants.
Oil and water-color painting each have their own
individual and distinctly different qualities; one
is rich and oily, the other delicate and luminous.
A wash drawing has characteristics that differen-
tiate it from a pencil or charcoal sketch. Each
different medium is recognized as having some
special quality. So photography, having a place
among artistic processes, has its own distinguish-
ing quality which cannot be duplicated by any
other medium. To know what this quality is,
and how it can be controlled, is a necessary part
of the pictorial photographer's technical training.
It may help to make clear what has just been
stated with regard to the characteristics of differ-
ent mediums by which pictures can be produced,
if we compare picture-making with music. There
are many distinctly different musical instruments,
just as there are many distinctly different methods
of making pictures. Each instrument has virtues
and limitations peculiar to itself, and we cannot
successfully imitate one instrument on another.
We cannot make a piano sound like a violin, and
[49]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
similarly we cannot make a charcoal sketch look
like an oil painting, or a photograph look like a
pencil drawing. If a photograph looks like some-
thing else, it is not a good photograph, and the
artist has not made the most of the virtues of
photography. Sometimes there may be a super-
ficial resemblance. For instance, a delicate plati-
num print or a bromide in a high key, such as
Will Cadby's child studies, might resemble a
silver-point or a wash drawing, but it would
be a wonderfully good wash drawing that could
imitate the infinitely delicate and subtle tone-
gradations of photography. To set out delib-
erately to imitate some other medium is decidedly
unsatisfactory and futile. That is why I think it
is a mistake for a photographer to make a print
in one of the pigment processes, oil, bromoil or
gum-bichromate, and exercise personal control
with the idea of making his print look like a
painting. If he is very clever, he might get an
exceedingly interesting result, but it would be
neither one thing nor the other, not a painting,
for it would lack most of the characteristics ot a
painting, and not a photograph, for the personal
control would have destroyed the photographic
quality. I believe that a gum-print that is allowed
to develop automatically is capable of showing
photographic quality, but when the artist at-
tempts to control the picture by brushing away
[50]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
highlights and by squirting water over the print,
he usually destroys the very thing that makes
the photograph worthy of serious consideration
as a work of art. When the artist has grasped the
fact that photography has a distinguishing and
characteristic quality of its own, and when he
desires, as an artist should, to utilize this quality
and make the most of it, I believe he will modify
his methods in making pigment prints. This is
an important point and should be understood
from the beginning.
It is sometimes thought that the characteristic
quality of photography is the facility with which
it can render fine detail with amazing accuracy,
but this is not strictly true, for the ability to re-
produce fine detail is the distinguishing quality of
a fine lens rather than of photography in general.
A photograph can be made with an unconnected
lens, or with no lens at all by making an exposure
through a fine needle-hole in a thin metal disc,
and the result may be a picture showing the char-
acteristic virtue of photography, the rendering of
infinitely delicate gradations of tone. This is
where photography stands alone, and this is the
distinguishing quality which has given it a place
among the fine arts. Therefore an artist who has
selected photography as the medium in which to
express his ideas should make the most of this
quality, and not try to make a poor imitation of
[51]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
something else. The drawing of fine detail and
the drawing of infinitely delicate tone gradations
are not exactly the same, though one depends
upon the other. The lens could not render fine
detail if the dry plate were not capable of register-
ing a long range of tones and delicate gradations.
Strictly speaking, what we see when we look at
an object is the light it reflects, rather than the
object itself. If there were no light we could not
see the object, though we might perceive it by the
sense of touch. The lens "sees" things in very
much the same way as the eye, and the light re-
flected in varying degrees of intensity is what the
lens transmits to the sensitive plate or film. What
we mistake for the ability of the lens to render
fine detail is the ability of the sensitive emulsion
on the dry plate or film to differentiate and re-
produce exceedingly minute variations in the
strength of the reflected light transmitted to it
by the lens. The lens draws fine shading rather
than fine detail, and the sensitive emulsion, pro-
vided the exposure and development are correct,
can register fine shading in the negative. So it is
more correct to say that the characteristic quality
of photography, the distinguishing virtue which
differentiates it from all other methods of pictorial
representation, is its power to draw shading and
to reproduce infinitely delicate gradations of tone,
rather than the ability to render fine detail, for
[52]
Fig. 11. PORTRAIT OF A. M., JR.
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
this is within the scope of whatever kind of a
lens is used, whether it is an uncorrected lens or a
fine anastigmat, and is equally so when the ex-
posure is made through a needle-hole instead of
a lens.
As soon as we accept this as a postulate and
recognize the fact that a good and characteristic
photograph is one that shows good tones rather
than one that shows fine detail, we shall see why
photography may rightly claim to be classed
among the fine arts and why it may be regarded
as a medium of self-expression. It is quite possi-
ble to have both good tones and fine detail in a
photograph, and such a photograph may well
be considered a picture. It is possible also to
make a photograph showing good tones, but
with broad masses instead of fine detail, and such
a photograph might also claim recognition as a
picture. The drawing of fine detail is a mechani-
cal quality, governed entirely by the amount of
time and trouble expended by the optician in
making the lens, and, as a matter of fact, the
drawing of fine detail is a quality that the pictorial
photographer sometimes has no use for. Fre-
quently this quality in a lens which makes its
construction very expensive is a nuisance. On
the other hand, the drawing of shading and tone-
gradations is a quality which can be controlled by
the photographer, and whether or not the tones
[53]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
in his picture are good depends upon his technical
skill and on his artistic judgment. The artist
can take some credit to himself for good tones,
but for fine detail he must give credit to the
optician who made his lens. Anyone with a little
practice and a high-grade lens can get fine detail
in a picture, but it takes an artist and, moreover,
an artist with considerable technical skill and
experience to get good tones. There are so many
chances for error that only an unerring judgment,
cultivated by long experience, and much tech-
nical knowledge can overcome the inherent ten-
dency of the photographic plate or film to render
tones incorrectly. Errors in exposure and de-
velopment, or lack of orthochromatism in the
plate or film, will upset the tones. It is quite
possible that a photograph might show a lot of
fine detail, while at the same time the tones might
be all wrong.
But, what are tones? What we call tones in a
picture are the shades of light and dark which
represent the contrasts of reflected light and the
color values of the objects photographed. The
relation of these tones to one another varies
according to the strength of the light by which
the objects are illuminated. An outdoor scene
would vary very much in regard to its contrasts
of light and dark and its color values, according
to the strength, direction and quality of the
[54]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
light. In bright sunlight the contrasts would be
stronger and the colors brighter than on a dull
day, and the problem is to reproduce these con-
trasts of light and shade and these color values
as varying tones of monochrome, so that they
will truthfully convey the desired impressions.
Where light falls on an object and is reflected
back to the eye, we see a highlight; where it
strikes at an angle and is reflected back other
than directly to the eye we see halftones; where
no direct light falls on the object we have
shadows: and these highlights, halftones and
shadows are modified by light reflected into
them by other objects and by other parts of the
same object. The lens can see light-contrasts,
highlights, halftones and shadows in just the
same way as the eye, but in many subjects there
is too long a range of tones, too much contrast
between the lightest and the darkest tones, for
us to be able to get them all in the picture; and
when it comes to the reproduction of color values,
unless proper precautions are taken, the plate or
film will reproduce them all wrong. There is a
great deal of difference between the actual tones
in the subject and an artistically correct and
pleasing representation of the tones in a picture,
and we are very much handicapped by the fact
that a photographic print can give only a com-
paratively short range of tone gradations. We
[55]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
can get a far greater range of tones in a negative
than it is possible to reproduce by any method
of printing on paper. Anyone who has had any
experience in printing on developing-out papers
will have noticed this. If we have a negative
with a long range of tones and try to print it
on this medium, we have to sacrifice some of the
tones; if we print for the highlights, our shadows
will be black and solid, while if we print for the
shadows, the highlights will be harsh and lack-
ing in gradation. Platinum papers have a longer
range, with carbon tissue coming next, but no
method of printing yet available will give as long
a scale as it is possible to secure in a negative on
a double-coated plate. It is, therefore, necessary
for the pictorial photographer to recognize this
fact, and to keep the range of tones in the nega-
tive within the limits of the printing medium he
intends to use.
In a picture on paper we have a certain scale
or range of tones, the lightest being the paper
itself and the darkest being the blackest deposit
of platinum or silver that our paper will give.
Between these two extremes we have a number
of varying shades or intermediate tones. In a
photographic print these intermediate shades —
let us call them halftones — are what we use to
compose the picture, and our scale of halftones
is limited by the printing process hi just the same
[56]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
way as the tones and semitones of the composer
of music are limited by the instrument for
which he is writing. A piano has seven and a
half octaves, and, therefore, a composer of music
for the piano has a greater range of available
notes than a writer of songs for the human voice.
It is seldom that a composer uses the entire
range of tones when composing music for the
piano, and in writing songs he has to adjust the
scale of tones to suit the voice. In writing for a
bass singer he uses low notes, while for a colora-
tura soprano he avails himself of the singer's
ability to reach high notes. Songs, like pictures,
are in different keys. The tones in a picture
are not arranged in a definite sequence like the
tones and semitones on a piano. They might
better be compared to the slur of tones possible
on a violin.
Very closely connected with the matter of
tones is the question of "keys," for the key of a
picture is determined by the predominant tones.
If the picture is composed mostly of light tones
with, possibly, only a small touch of dark to give
it strength, it is said to be in a high key; If dark
tones predominate, with or without a light accent,
it is in a low key. Will Cadby's characteristic
child studies are usually in a high key. Every-
thing is light in tone, white dress against a white
background, with a darker accent in the eyes
[57]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
and hair. A photograph taken at night which is
all in dark tones except a lamp or two, would be
an example of a picture in a low key. It is sel-
dom that the whole possible range of tones is
used in a picture, even though in some printing
mediums the range is limited. Frequently most
effective pictures can be composed of only a very
few tones, and usually the artist should be spar-
ing in the use of the extremes of black and white.
The darkest shadows should show some detail,
and there should be gradations in the highlights.
When we take pictures by moonlight or by arti-
ficial light we may make our shadows black, solid
and empty, but shadows in daylight are very
seldom devoid of all detail.
While it is true that a photograph cannot re-
produce the same range of tones as is seen in
nature, and cannot reproduce light and shade as
strongly contrasted as in actuality, it is possible
to reproduce the tones in the same relative propor-
tion. The actual highlights in the subject must
be highlights in the picture, and anything that
is really lower in tone than this actual highlight
must be lower in tone in the print. Suppose we
are photographing a landscape in which there is
a barn painted white, or a whitewashed wall.
If the sun is shining and there are no clouds in
the blue sky, the sunlight on the white barn or
whitewashed wall will make it look a good deal
£58]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
lighter in tone than the blue sky. So, if the sky
in the picture were white and the barn or wall
were also white, the tones would be wrongly
reproduced and the picture would give a wrong
impression. If we are making a portrait of a
man wearing a white collar, the lightest portions
of the subject will be the highlight on the collar
and possibly the catchlights in the eyes and, if
they were showing, the highlights on the teeth.
These are the only parts that could correctly be
reproduced as white in the photograph. The
flesh tones, even the highlights on the skin, would
be lower in tone than the highlights on the glazed
white collar, so that if any part of the face were
as light in the picture as the light part of the
collar, the tones would not be true.
So, even if our range of tones is shorter and
we have to compress the tones into a shorter
scale, we can preserve truth of value only by
keeping the tones in about the same relative
proportions. We should make our lightest tone
light and our darkest tone dark, and then get in
as many tones as we can in between.
In Fig. 8 there is "tone" in the face. The
only parts of this picture that are actually white
are the light spots in the eyes and the highlights
on the teeth. The face looks white, that is to
say, there is no suggestion of any racial color,
yet, in reality, it is not absolutely white.
[39 ]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
The question of correct tone-rendering is not
always a matter of simple contrasts of light and
shadow. Usually we have to deal also with color
contrasts, which makes it rather more compli-
cated. For the present, however, we will ignore
the question of color, and will take it up later
when we are dealing with orthochromatic pho-
tography.
Practically speaking, the securing of true tones
in a photograph depends entirely upon the ex-
posure. Development has very little to do with
it. Development determines only the key, and,
by varying the time of development, we are
enabled to lengthen or shorten a little the range
of tones, and thus can adapt the negative to the
printing process we intend to use. The correct-
ness or incorrectness of the tones depends en-
tirely upon the exposure. A. J. Anderson says:
"Expose for the tones that are most desired."
If light tones predominate in the subject and are
what we desire to reproduce in our picture, we
must adjust the exposure to give gradation and
quality in these light tones. If we want shadows,
we must expose for shadows. Overexposure will
tend to block up the highlights and underexposure
will give empty shadows without detail or grada-
tion. Correct exposure will give the maximum
gradation in both highlights and shadows. It is
here that the artist can control his results and
[60]
Fig. 15. PORTRAIT OF L. W.
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
make the medium interpretative of his own per-
sonality. He alone is responsible for the tones
in his picture, and in order to render them cor-
rectly he has to learn, first of all, to see them in
the subject and then to reproduce them correctly.
The tones in the subject, especially in the
most distant planes, are affected to a large extent
by the atmosphere, which tends to make light
objects at a distance appear darker and dark
objects lighter, so much so that under some con-
ditions a dark object and a light object might
appear to be of the same tone. This and other
matters relating to tones will be dealt with more
fully in the chapter dealing with orthochromatism.
CHAPTER III
Mass — Notan — Breadth — Pictorial Balance — The Uncor-
rected Lens for Pictorial Work — Accent — Figures in
Landscapes — Genre.
WHEN the surface of the picture-space is
cut by lines into various shapes and areas,
this is described as "spacing." The various
shapes and areas, which may be light or dark in
tone or of an intermediate shade, are called
masses. The masses, together with spacing,
govern, to a great extent, the pattern or design
of the picture. It is the important masses that
we see when we look at a picture through half-
closed eyes, which is often done with the idea of
eliminating detail, so that we can more clearly
appreciate the pattern. If the masses are good,
and form, in themselves, a pleasing and satisfy-
ing design, we may be sure that the composition,
as far as masses are concerned, is satisfactory.
The massing of a picture is what we first notice.
If it interests us at a first glance, it makes us
anxious to investigate further and give the pic-
ture more careful inspection. The masses are
what attract attention when looking at a picture
from a distance, too far off to be able to distin-
guish details or even, perhaps, to make out just
[62]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
what the subject of the picture may be. It is
interesting when we go into an exhibition room
where there are paintings or photographs, to stand
in the middle of the room, glancing around casu-
ally at the pictures. Those with strong and inter-
esting masses will stand out from the rest; they
will attract attention and create a desire for
closer study. Good masses will give a favorable
first impression.
The desire to attract attention and make the
picture noticeable, so that it will stand out among
others, is often shown by making the picture very
large and by placing it on a large mount, but, as
a matter of fact, good masses and an attractive
pattern are not in any way dependent upon size,
and mere size will not make a picture attractive
unless the masses are good and are well balanced.
Even a small picture may be very strong, and
may stand out among larger ones, if the masses
are striking and attractive. Fig. 9 is a small
picture, and a contact platinum print, 3Jx4J,
is almost insignificant by the side of a 20x24
gum print, yet such a print proved to be suffi-
ciently strong to be accepted and hung at the
London Salon in 1912. The strength of masses
depends upon their own inherent qualities rather
than upon their size, and they gain in strength
and effectiveness by being very simple and by
forming a simple, yet pleasing, design.
[63]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
To describe the pattern or decorative aspect
created by the disposition of the masses of a
picture, Arthur Dow suggests the word "Notan,"
which is a term used by the Japanese to signify
an arrangement of light and dark. In his
book, Composition, Mr. Dow writes: "To attain
an appreciation of Notan, and the power to
create it, the following fundamental fact must be
understood, namely, that a placing together of
masses of light and dark, synthetically related,
conveys to the eye an impression of beauty en-
tirely independent of meaning. For example,
squares of dark porphyry against squares of light
marble, checks in printed cloth, and the blotty
ink sketches by the Venetians, the Dutch and the
Japanese. When this occurs accidentally in na-
ture, as in the case of a grove of dark trees against
a light hillside, or a pile of dark buildings against
a twilight sky, we at once perceive its beauty,
and say that the scene is 'picturesque/ This
quality which makes the natural scene a good
subject for a picture, is analogous to music.
Truthful drawing and 'conscientiousness' would
have nothing to do with an artist's rendering of
this. This is the kind of 'visual music' which
the Japanese so love in the rough ink painting of
their old masters where there is but a mere hint
of facts."
Notan determines the pictorial balance of a
[64:
Fig. 16. THE EXPLORERS
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
picture, not so much the mechanical steelyard
balance of objects or accents, as balance in a
larger aspect, the balance of design. For the
pattern of a picture, to be agreeable, must be
well balanced; it must not be topheavy, or too
large or too small for the space it fills. Whether
or not the pattern is well balanced can be decided
only by cultivated good taste and judgment.
Some of Francis Libby's gum prints are good
examples of bold and effective massing, and Wil-
bur H. Porterfield's work shows that he has a
keen appreciation of notan as well as the decora-
tive line. The pictures of both these artists are
simple, strong and attractive. Good examples of
Japanese art might well be studied for the appre-
ciation of notan and the skilful placing of
accents.
The picture-space should be filled, but need
not be crowded, and it must be remembered that
in judging balance, not only the masses of the
subject, but also the shapes of the area remaining
after being cut into by the outlines of these
masses, have a bearing on the general design of
the picture.
A mass may be light or dark in tone. Some-
times the striking masses are in light tones against
dark. A nude figure or one dressed in white might
form a light mass against a dark background. In
the portrait of Freddie, Fig. 10, the child's figure
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
forms a triangular light mass against the dark
background.
In order properly to appreciate masses it is
sometimes necessary to eliminate some of the fine
detail in the picture, for a very highly corrected
lens often will give too much detail. In such
elaboration of detail the pattern of the picture is
obscured, the bigness and impressiveness of it
are lost. When we look at a tree, we cannot and
do not want to distinguish all the leaves in sight
or take in at a glance the labyrinth of boughs
and twigs. We would rather have the twigs
and branches compose into a general character
of structure and direction, and the foliage into a
mass or arrangement of masses.
The best way to subdue detail is by the use of
a lens that is so constructed that it will not give
critically sharp definition. It can be done by
making an enlargement which is just a trifle out
of focus, by enlarging through bolting-cloth, and
so on, but the most satisfactory way to get soft
definition is by the use of a soft-focus lens. The
proper use of such a lens will not destroy or
obliterate detail, but will render it in such a way
that it will take its proper place in the general
scheme of the picture and not be too insistent.
With a soft-focus lens properly used, a tree can
be rendered as a decorative shape or mass instead
of as a collection of innumerable leaves, twigs
[66]
Fig. 17. CRESCENT BEACH, GLOUCESTER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
and branches; the texture of the bark and foli-
age (like the textures of clothing, etc., in figure
studies) can be adequately suggested, and the
eye will not be distracted from the harmony of
the picture as a whole by the insistent clamoring
of fine detail for microscopic examination. This
massing of fine detail will impart to a picture the
much desired quality known as "breadth." We
can have some detail in the masses and still re-
tain breadth, provided the detail is properly sub-
dued and does not attract undue attention.
In advocating the use of the uncorrected lens
for pictorial work, it must not be understood that
no other lens is suitable, for, after all, a picture
is a picture and, no matter what lens has been
used in its production, the result is what counts.
It is the arrangement or selection of the subject,
as well as the disposition of lines, tones and
masses, which determines the artistic merit,
rather than the accidental charm of soft and
pleasing definition. The end in picture-making
justifies the means, and if the finished result is a
picture, no one need bother himself as to the
details of its production.
I must confess, however, that the uncorrected
lens is a great help and source of inspiration to
the pictorialist. The image seen on the focusing-
screen is so fascinating that there is a keen satis-
faction in seeing a bit of nature so rendered by
[67]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
the lens, and a great joy in striving adequately
to transfer it to the print. With such a lens one
can better suggest the vibrant quality of sunlight
and render the transparent luminosity of shadows,
I think, than by any other means. The lack of
hard edges and the entire absence of that biting
hardness of definition that is unavoidable with
some lenses is just what the picture-maker
wants. That is, in fact, just what he is striving
for when he makes his enlargements through
bolting-cloth, or prints on a paper with a very
rough surface. Such methods can, at best, be
regarded only as attempts to make the best of a
bad job, and if we can get the desired quality in
the original negative, it is far better. But it
should be real quality, not merely softness. There
is no artistic virtue in the mere obtaining of soft,
hazy and uncertain definition. A picture is not
necessarily a picture because it is blurred and
fuzzy, though it may possibly be a good picture
in spite of it.
When the original negative is sharp all over
and is softened by means of bolting-cloth or dif-
fusion in enlarging, the softening is carried out
to the same degree all over the picture. Every
part of the picture is equally diffused: fore-
ground, middle distance and distance are all the
same; but with a soft-focus lens, properly used,
the softening need not be universal. The fore-
£68]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
ground, for instance, may be more sharply fo-
cused than the distance, and instead of a picture
soft all over, with everything equally diffused,
we can have the principal object standing out
clearly against a subdued but perfectly coherent
background.
With a soft-focus lens one can make a picture
that will "carry" better than one made sharp
and softened in enlarging, for the picture closes
up and becomes coherent at a little distance, like
a good impressionist painting.
In other respects, too, a lens of this type is
eminently suitable for pictorial work. Such lenses
as a rule are very much cheaper than fully cor-
rected anastigmat lenses of the same focal length
and speed. We shall see later, in Chapter IV,
that for pictorial work a long-focus lens is de-
sirable. Appreciating this fact, the makers of
pictorial lenses have designed the mounts and
flanges so that the lenses shall be as compact
and as light as possible, and yet of sufficiently
long focal length to assure good drawing and
perspective. With regard to speed, which is
commonly supposed to be an advantage possessed
by the anastigmat alone, the semi-achromatic
lens is not far behind. The Spencer Port-Land
lens has an effective aperture of /: 4.5, the Verito
doublet works at /: 4, the Smith lens (the original
single lens, now known as the Series 1) usually
[69]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
works at /: 6 and the Struss Pictorial lens at
/: 5.5. The new Smith Synthetic lens works with-
out halos at /: 5. For outdoor work such aper-
tures are fully adequate for all work likely to be
undertaken by a photographer who is interested
primarily in making pictures rather than high-
speed records. Another factor greatly in favor
of the uncorrected lens is the tremendous amount
of control in the quality of the image that is
possible. Slight variations in focusing and in the
size of the diaphragm will alter very materially
the quality of definition. This, combined with
the great apparent depth of focus of such lenses,
makes them most satisfactory instruments to use.
I say apparent depth, because such lenses are
governed by the same inexorable laws of optics
as are other lenses. Probably the effect of depth
is due mainly to the fact that there is no sudden
and abrupt change from sharpness to out-of-
focusness, but, really, at times, it is almost un-
canny. I have a picture taken with my single
Smith lens at Revere Beach. In the immediate
foreground is a group of boys playing on the sand.
These boys are clearly focused, and yet the diving-
raft and the people on the raft, far out in the
water, are just as clearly defined as the group in
the foreground. I have also a surf study, made
with the Spencer lens, in which there is a vessel
off on the horizon just as clear as the rocks and
[70]
Fig. 18. THE PAINTER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
surf close at hand. An anastigmat lens, of course,
will give depth of focus when it is stopped down,
but the semi-achromatic lens seems to show re-
markable depth at a comparatively large aperture.
For portraits and figure studies such lenses are
almost indispensable. It is possible to secure
delightful textures, subtle modeling, and round-
ness with the Smith or the Verito and other
similar lenses. There is no insistent and irritat-
ing detail, but just the personality, the character
and individuality of the subject, with the essen-
tials emphasized and the unessentials eliminated.
When a generous exposure is given and the plate
developed for softness and shadow detail, little
or no retouching will be necessary on portrait
negatives; in fact, handwork of any kind, how-
ever skilful, will be apt to destroy the quality.
Probably the greatest advantage of all in the
use of such lenses lies in the fact that with them
real picture-making can be accomplished, with-
out any need for handwork or manipulation of
any kind except purely photographic treatment,
united to a proper appreciation of the principles
of pictorial composition. By real picture-making
I mean making pictures which conform to the
ideals set up by the leaders of modern pictorial-
ism, who believe that a space properly filled is
more of an accomplishment than the exact repro-
duction of actual facts.
[71]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
Looking at things from this point of view, it
does not matter at all what the subject of the
picture may be, as long as it fills the picture-space
harmoniously, and makes an agreeable and well-
balanced pattern. The treatment of the subject
is considered to be more important than the sub-
ject itself. The late H. Snowden Ward had just
such an idea in mind when he defined a picture
as being "a thing beautifully photographed rather
than a beautiful thing photographed." Many of
our latter-day pictorialists consider a picture to
have attained its purpose when it is nothing more
than some decorative shapes or lines bounded by
a mount or frame, some beautifully-shaped marks
on paper. This viewpoint necessitates the posses-
sion of unusual ability to select and arrange one's
material, and calls forth the artist's constructive
instincts in the creation of something which is
indicative of his own personality, whereas the
mechanical reproduction of what exists demands
merely a certain amount of skill and technique.
A semi-achromatic lens will help greatly hi
enabling one to appreciate the design or pattern of
a subject rather than the bald actuality. With
it a tree can be rendered as a decorative mass,
not as a collection of twigs and branches. Vari-
ous small objects will take their proper places in
the picture-scheme as spots and accents, light or
dark, and will not by their fine detail demand ex-
[72:
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
animation and conjecture as to their identity.
They will be merely spots and, as such, will help
the general decorative arrangement of the picture.
A soft-focus lens is an instrument that needs
to be studied and experimented with to some
extent before its full capabilities are discovered,
and in this study and experiment there is much
joy for the conscientious artist. Such a lens
improves on acquaintance; the more one uses
it, and the more fully one understands it, the
more one realizes that the maker of it has placed
at our disposal an ideal instrument for the work
in hand. Such control, such power of personal
modification of the quality of the image, have
never before been accessible in making the origi-
nal negative. Hitherto one was forced to get the
original negative more or less as the lens would
make it, and depend upon subsequent modifica-
tions for the production of pictorial quality, but
now one can control the picture from the very
beginning. I am a firm upholder of and a strong
believer in the merits of the straight print, not
that I disapprove of hand work, but because I
believe that hand work carried too far will tend
to destroy the very quality that makes photog-
raphy worthy of being considered a fine art.
Personal control is a different thing entirely, and
should be freely used at every stage in the pro-
duction of a picture, but not the hand work that
[73]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
consists in altering the tones of a print by brush-
ing away highlights and gradations, or darkening
shadows by means of paint or pencil on the print
itself. Photography, properly controlled, can
render tones better than any other medium of
artistic expression, and personal control of ex-
posure and development will be all that is neces-
sary to get good tones and truthful gradations,
for the camera, properly guided and then left to
do its own job in its own way, will take care of
the tones of a picture very well.
In outdoor work, a good way to judge the
masses of a picture before making the exposure,
is to rack the lens in or out a good deal, so that
the image on the focusing screen is entirely blurred
and out of focus, and all detail is obliterated.
This will leave only the shapes and forms of the
masses, which can then be studied purely on
their merits as a pattern, for it will be almost
impossible to tell what they represent. If this
study shows that the notan is interesting, if the
masses are properly balanced and fill the picture
space without appearing to be too crowded or
too meagre, if the pattern or design is agreeable,
that view may be considered as promising ma-
terial for a picture.
Broad, simple masses and long, flowing lines
are very desirable in pictures, but all pictures do
not contain large and impressive masses. Some
[74]
Fig. 19. WlNGAERSHEEK BEACH
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
may consist of quiet, restful tones, light or dark,
with only a very small patch or two of contrast-
ing tone. A small but noticeable patch of con-
trasting light or dark tone would more correctly
be described as an accent than as a mass, and it
will be found that, as a rule, an accent is needed
to prevent a picture from becoming monotonous
and uninteresting.
In another chapter we refer to the desirability
of keeping the tones in a picture quiet and simple,
and of avoiding too great contrast of light and
dark or too long a range of tones, but if this is
carried to extremes the result may be weakness
and monotony. If a picture is composed of only
a few tones, a definite accent is usually needed to
pull them together and make the picture interest-
ing. If the prevailing tones are dark, the accent
may well be light, while if light tones predomi-
nate in the picture, a dark accent will be needed.
As examples of accent, light and dark, we may
refer to The Harlem River (Fig. 11), in which a
light accent is seen in the puff of steam against
the low tones of the sky, and to Starting Out (Fig.
12), in which we see a dark accent in the hull of
the sailboat. Without such accents the pictures
would be dull, lifeless, and lacking in interest.
Very often the accent is used to emphasize the
main object of interest in the picture. Some-
times the main object itself may present suf-
[75]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
ficient contrast to make it stand out promi-
nently from its surroundings, as is the case in
Plum Island (Fig. 13), where the child, the main
object of interest, is the only dark accent in the
picture.
When the accent itself forms the principal ob-
ject of interest in the picture, as is the case in
Fig. 11 and Fig. 13, its position in the picture-
space must be carefully considered. It will be
found, as a general rule, that a point about one-
third of the width of the picture-space from the
top or bottom of the picture, and about one-third
from one side, will be a strong position for such
an accent. These points may be found by imagin-
ing that your picture-space is divided both ver-
tically and horizontally into three equal strips by
lines that will cross each other at four points.
Each of these four intersection points will be a
strong position, and an accent at any one of these
points will be well placed in the picture-space.
It will not matter at all what the shape of the
picture may be, whether it be an upright or a
horizontal rectangle, or a square, these four
points, each of them one-third of the width of
the picture-space from top or bottom and one
side, will be strong points. So, in trimming the
print, or in arranging the picture on the focus-
ing-screen, it is a good plan to get any promi-
nent accents as near one of these strong points
[76]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
as possible. Many landscape workers have the
ground glass of the focusing-screen ruled with
pencil lines, as in the diagram, and this is a very
good idea. If it is not possible to get the accent
in the right place in the original negative, its
position can often be modified by proper trim-
ming of the enlargement or the print.
Sometimes a portrait in which there is a com-
paratively short range of tones needs an accent
to pull the tones together and make them look
right. In Fig. 14, the black necktie is needed to
prevent the flesh tones from looking too flat and
weak. Without this dark accent the face would
look too dark in tone, by reason of the contrast
[77]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
with the light background. Cover up the neck-
tie, and you will see how much the touch of black
improves the picture. The same effect is seen in
Fig. 15, in which the light accent of the white
collar helps to keep the tones of the face in their
right relation, and prevents the contrast with
the dark background making the face look too
white. A similar use of such an accent may be
observed in The Fair-haired Boy (Fig. 24), and
in other illustrations.
In a landscape picture, a small figure care-
fully placed in the picture space may often serve
as an accent. This is just what has been done
in Plum Island. The child in this picture is not
merely an accent of contrasting tone; it is the
main object of interest in the picture, and gives
it the needed touch of human interest.
Whether figures shall or shall not be included
in a landscape or a marine picture depends en-
tirely upon whether they are needed to carry out
the idea. If they help the picture to tell the re-
quired story, they should be put in, and their
size and importance should be regulated by the
importance of the part they play in the composi-
tion. Mere size does not always determine the
importance of figures in a landscape. They may
be quite small, and yet acquire considerable im-
portance by reason of their placing in the picture-
space and their contrast in tone.
Fig. 20. AT THE CLOSE OF A STORMY DAY
c f r fe cr« ^r c rrt- r
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
The arguments in favor of including figures in
landscape pictures are these: they increase the
range of emotions that may be expressed in the
picture; they help to accentuate the important
features; they often provide the vertical or diago-
nal line that is needed to balance horizontals in
the landscape; a figure is sometimes helpful in
suggesting scale; and unusual height of build-
ings or trees may be indicated by the compari-
son with figures. In genre pictures figures are
nearly always needed to tell the story. Against
the use of figures are the facts that they are some-
times difficult to harmonize with a landscape as
regards form and pose, expression and costume,
and that many emotional qualities such as wild-
ness, ruggedness or desolation are lost in their
presence without the most careful treatment.
The artist must decide for himself whether the
landscape or the figures can be made the more
interesting.
The laws of principality and unity, harmony
and balance, must always be observed. The pic-
ture should tell one story, and only one. So, in
every case, we must decide whether figures are
needed or not. If we decide that figures are
needed; if we decide that the figures are more
interesting than the landscape and that they are
to form the main object of interest in the picture,
we must try to make the landscape subordinate
[79]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
to the figures, so that it will serve merely as a
setting and a support for them. A painter, by
the skilful use of color, can make idyllic pictures
in which a figure or a group of figures is not
the dominant thing in the picture, but for a
photographer this is more difficult. When there
is only one figure and it is intended to be the
dominant item, it should be placed in the picture
space in accordance with the general laws of com-
position. When there are two or more figures,
one must dominate the others, or they must be
grouped together so that the interest will not be
scattered. They may well be engaged in some
common occupation which will provide a reason
for the grouping.
If the idea of the picture is romantic, in the
sense that it is a picture that tells a story, figures
may be needed, but a safe rule is to omit figures
when there is any doubt as to whether they add
to the picture or not. There may, of course, be
figures in a landscape that are merely quite unim-
portant accessories; they may help to develop
the landscape and not detract from its importance.
On the other hand, if the figures tell the story,
the landscape must be subordinated as much as
possible. In The Explorers (Fig. 16) the story
is told by the figures, while the landscape merely
provides an appropriate setting, but in Crescent
Beach (Fig. 17), the little figures in the foreground
[80]
Fig. 21. A HOME PORTRAIT
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
are entirely subordinate, yet add a touch of
human interest.
The subject of figures in landscape pictures
naturally leads to the consideration of genre
work, for when the figures are the important part
of the picture and the landscape is subordinated
to them, the picture comes into the class of genre
rather than landscape. Genre subjects often pro-
vide good material for the photographer, and this
is a branch of artistic work that can be handled
very adequately by the camera. Such pictures
come under two general heads: some are planned
and arranged by the photographer, and some,
occurring naturally, are seen and seized upon
by the photographer without any preliminary
arrangement on his part. In other words, the
composition may be either constructive or selec-
tive. In building up such pictures, the impor-
tant principles of art should always be observed.
Unity, balance, simplicity and harmony must all
be considered.
A genre picture, as distinguished from a por-
trait group, should emphasize the occupation of
the persons rather than the persons themselves,
and, therefore, it is often permissible that some
of the figures may be turned away from the
camera, either entirely or partly, if arrangement
and idea are thus best served. In The Painter
(Fig. 18) all the figures are turning their backs,
[si:
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
and in The Explorers, none of the boys are ren-
dered in such a way as to show the features clearly,
but in both cases the story is told clearly and
that is the main requirement. Both these ex-
amples were obtained by seizing the opportunity
as it occurred and making the exposure without
any preliminary posing or arrangement of the
figures. In fact, I do not think, in either case,
the people shown in the pictures were aware that
they were being photographed. I think that this
is the best way to secure the naturalness and lack
of self-consciousness that are so important hi such
pictures.
In building up genre pictures with models who
are fully aware that a picture is being made, the
main difficulty is to avoid showing evidence of
conscious posing. The difference in the use of
the model by the painter and the photographer is
at this point made manifest. To the one he
appears as a suggestion, to the other he is the
fact. The photographer must, therefore, be en-
dowed with such distinguished gifts or conver-
sant with such clever devices as will make the
model forget himself. This can be done and often
has been done with entire success by photograph-
ers. Perhaps the best examples I can refer to
are the supremely perfect photographs of posed
models by Guido Rey of Turin, each in its way a
little masterpiece of composition and arrange-
[82]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
ment, and without a flaw technically. But it
seems to me that the photographer would do
better to avail himself of the peculiar facility
offered by photography for making the picture
almost instantaneously when the figures are
either totally unaware of what is being done or
are not making any conscious effort to adopt a
preconceived pose.
[83]
CHAPTER IV
Linear Perspective — Focal Length of the Lens with Relation to
the Point of View — Aerial Perspective — The Effect of
Atmosphere on the Tones of a Picture — Theory and Prac-
tice of Orthochromatic Photography — When to Use a
Color Plate — Full Correction Sometimes Unnecessary.
T)ERSPECTIVE is a science of which the
iL picture-maker should know something, for,
though it is usually taken for granted that the
lens will, automatically, render linear perspec-
tive correctly, it is often the case that correct and
scientifically accurate perspective is not the most
pleasing from the artistic point of view. It is
quite true that the lens will, if it is properly
manipulated, draw objects in correct perspective,
but if this correct perspective looks wrong it will
not be at all satisfactory to the artist.
The apparent truth of the perspective given
by the lens is governed entirely by the point of
view from which the picture is taken. If we are
using a short-focus lens and get very close to our
subject, in order to make it large enough properly
to fill the picture space, we shall be apt to get
violent perspective or what an artist would call
"bad drawing." The perspective is not wrong.
According to the laws of optics, it may be abso-
[84]
Fig. 22. A SUMMER CAMPER
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
lutely correct, but it is not pleasing or natural,
for the eye does not naturally see at once as wide
an angle of view as can be included by a short-
focus lens. The eye is, practically, a long-focus
lens. It covers only a comparatively narrow
angle, and in order to see as much as can be in-
cluded in a picture made with a short-focus lens
we have to move the eyes a little and look at the
various objects in succession.
For purely decorative or pictorial photogra-
phy, a lens of comparatively long focus should
usually be selected, because such a lens will pro-
duce an image that more closely approximates
what is seen by the eye. The use of a long-focus
lens will also obviate the necessity for getting too
close to the subject and thus obtaining violent
and unpleasant perspective. Distortion and exag-
geration are not the result of using a short-focus
lens, but of selecting a wrong viewpoint.
The focal length of the lens determines the size
of the objects photographed. A short-focus lens
will show everything smaller and will include
more of the surrounding objects than a lens of
longer focus used at the same viewpoint. The
size depends upon the distance between the lens
and the objects photographed. Suppose we are
making a portrait, and are using a nine-inch lens
and a 5 x 7 plate; if the camera is about ten feet
from the sitter we shall find that the figure is
[85]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
quite small in the picture. A full-length average
standing figure would be only about four or five
inches high and the head, of course, would be
quite small, only about half an inch or so in
diameter. If we want to make the head larger,
so that it will nearly fill the plate, there will be
two courses open to us. We can either move the
camera nearer the subject, or we can use a lens
of longer focus from the same viewpoint.
Unfortunately, the first is what is usually done,
with the result that we get unsatisfactory per-
spective, not because we are using a short-focus
lens, but because we have selected too near a
viewpoint. The lens is not at fault; the bad
drawing is caused simply by its being too near.
This is true not only of portraits but of all kinds
of pictures, but it is more noticeable in por-
traits because a much foreshortened hand, arm
or shoulder usually is very prominent. Suppose
we are photographing a landscape, such as a tree
with some hills in the background. With a ten-
inch lens on a 4 x 5 plate we can get a very satis-
factory arrangement, with the tree in the fore-
ground of the proper size, and the distant hills
about as large as they ought to be. Now, sup-
pose we substitute a five-inch lens for the ten-
inch lens, and photograph the same view from
the same standpoint. We shall get just the same
relative proportions in the size of the tree and
[86]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
the distant hills, but both will be smaller, only
half as large as in the picture made with the ten-
inch lens, and more of the surrounding country
will be included on the plate. But we want the
tree to be large enough to show up well in the
picture, so we proceed to move the camera closer
to the tree, until we can get it about the same size
on the focusing screen as it was in the picture
made with the ten-inch lens. The tree may now
be all right, but what about the distant hills?
They will be very small and the whole distance
will appear to be dwarfed and insignhicant, so
that anyone who knows the locality will see that
they appear to be only about half their proper
height, while the foreground and middle distance
will seem too large and flat.
This effect is caused by the wrong viewpoint
having been selected. If we were to enlarge the
portion of the negative made with the five-inch
lens from the same viewpoint as the ten-inch
picture, and to make the tree just the same size
as it was in the ten-inch picture, everything else
would be just the same size, and the two pictures
— the direct print from the ten-inch picture and
the enlargement of part of the five-inch picture
— would be exactly alike.
So, when using a short-focus lens (and, for pic-
torial purposes, anything less than nine or ten
inches for a 4 x 5 plate would be considered short)
£87]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
we must be satisfied to take our pictures small and
subsequently enlarge only the part we want.
It must be understood, and perhaps it is un-
necessary to mention, that the characterization
of the focal length is relative to the size of the
plate for which it is used. A 10-inch lens when
used for a 4 x 5 plate would be considered a long-
focus lens, but the same lens if used for an 8 x 10
plate would be a short-focus lens. So, if we trim
a 4 x 5 print until we have a little picture measur-
ing only, say, an inch by an inch and a half, and
if we had used a five-inch lens to make this
picture, we could consider it a long-focus lens,
because for a plate that size it would be, rela-
tively, a long-focus lens.
Sometimes it is roughly estimated that the sum
of the length and breadth of the plate is about
right for the focal length of the lens. That would
give twelve inches for a 5 x 7 plate, nine inches
for a 4 x 5, and so on. In any case a lens with a
focal length measuring less than the diagonal of
the plate is not advisable for picture-making ex-
cept for specific purposes. The diagonal of a
4 x 5 is 6.4 inches, of a 5 x 7, 8.6 inches, and of
a 6J x 8£, 10.7 inches.
The amount of view that can easily be seen
without moving the eyes or turning the head
includes about 25°, whereas the angle of view
included by a five-inch lens on a 4x5 plate is
[88]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
about 65°. A fourteen-inch lens used on a 4 x 5
plate would include just about the same angle
of view as is seen by the eye, but a nine- or ten-
inch lens, for a plate of this size, gives quite
agreeable perspective. Sometimes, in architectural
work, a short-focus lens, or, as it is sometimes
called, a wide-angle lens, has to be used in order
to include enough of the subject when it is not
possible to select a sufficiently distant viewpoint
to get it all in with a long-focus lens. Hence we
get rather abrupt and not the most pleasing per-
spective. So, if you want large pictures, as when
you want to photograph a head and shoulders on
a comparatively large scale, you must use a long-
focus lens or enlarge a small image, rather than
get the size by going too close to the subject.
As a general rule, it is advisable never to place
the camera nearer than seven or eight feet when
photographing a person. At seven feet, to make
a head four inches high a lens of twenty inches'
focal length will be needed.
Those who possess a symmetrical rapid recti-
linear lens might try the effect of using only a
single component of the lens, either the front or
the back combination. This will give a single lens
of about twice the focal length of the combined
lenses, which will be found to give sufficiently
good definition for portraits and for landscapes.
For outdoor work, landscape and marine pic-
[89]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
tures, a long-focus lens is usually more satisfac-
tory, because with it we can more easily isolate
and emphasize the principal object of interest,
and make it large enough without having to get
too close. Of course, no very definite rules can
be given with regard to this, for each worker
must be guided by circumstances. I might per-
haps state that most of my own outdoor pictures
are made with an eleven-inch lens (a Smith single,
semi-achromatic) which I use on a 4x5 Reflex
camera. The focal length of the lens and the
type used must be determined by individual cir-
cumstances, depending upon the size and type
of the camera and other details. Sometimes one
of comparatively short focal length must be used
in order to include all of the subject required, but
when there is any choice, the longest possible
focal length should be selected, so that a more
distant viewpoint can be taken, with the corre-
sponding advantage of more natural and more
agreeable perspective.
If the pictorial worker will bear in mind the
fact that the viewpoint rather than the focal
length of the lens determines the perspective of
the picture, he will prefer to get his original image
small and get the required size by enlarging from
part of the negative, rather than to get the image
larger by getting too close.
This is about all a pictorial worker really needs
[90]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
to know about linear perspective, but there is
another kind of perspective that is of great im-
portance in picture-making. This is known as
aerial perspective, and this kind of perspective
imparts "atmosphere" and depth to a picture,
and gives a suggestion of space and distance in
an outdoor view. It suggests atmosphere in a
picture because it is caused by the presence of
invisible particles of dust and moisture in the
air. By means of aerial perspective we can make
distant parts of the scene seem remote, and can
get a satisfactory separation of planes.
As the different objects in a landscape recede
farther and farther from the eye, they lose their
intensity of color and their contrasts become
softened. This is caused by atmosphere.
Atmosphere must not be confused with mist
or fog, for on days on which there is no mist there
is still atmosphere, and this — the particles of
dust and moisture — alters both the contrasts
and the local colorings of distant objects.
In Leonardo da Vinci's Note Book we find this:
"Objects being at a distance from the eye . . .
and when this is the case there must of necessity
be a considerable quantity of atmosphere between
the eye and the object, and this atmosphere inter-
feres with the distinctness of the form of the
objects and consequently the minute details of
these bodies become indistinguishable and un-
[91]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
recognisable." Again we find: " Shadows become
lost in the far distance, because the vast expanse
of luminous atmosphere that lies between the eye
and the objects . . . etc."
Let us suppose that there are a white house
and a dark oak tree far off in the distance. The
"vast expanse of luminous atmosphere that lies
between the eye and the objects" might reduce
the white house and the dark tree to the same
shade of gray, for the tree, seen through the vast
expanse of atmosphere, would look gray instead
of black, and the brilliant rays of light reflected
from the white house, in passing through the
atmosphere, lose so much of their brilliancy that
the house appears to be gray instead of white.
There are occasionally days in the summer
when the atmosphere is very clear and dry, when
there is presumably very little moisture in the
air, and on those days the distance is unusually
clear, distinct and dark in tone. I have seen
such days in New Hampshire, toward the end of
summer, when the hills across Lake Winnepe-
saukee look almost black, and one can almost
distinguish individual trees and houses many
miles away. A photograph made on such a day
would be entirely lacking in atmosphere. The
distance and middle distance would be just as
dark, and would appear to be just as close as
the foreground, and only the diminished size
C92]
Fig. 23. PORTRAIT OF A PAINTER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
of objects in the distant planes would suggest
perspective. The effect would be much the same
as is seen in photographs that are underexposed.
There would be no separation of planes, and the
whole scene would look flat, like the conventional
design on a willow-pattern plate.
It is often stated and commonly believed that
the use of an orthochromatic plate and a deep
color-filter will cut out atmosphere, but this is
not strictly true. The orthochromatic rendering
simply does not exaggerate the atmosphere, but
the ordinary plate with no color-screen, being
very readily affected by the blue, violet and
ultra-violet rays in the atmosphere, really exag-
gerates and increases a little the appearance of
atmosphere in the picture, while the orthochro-
matic plate with the color filter represents it
more as it really is. On days, therefore, when
there is already a good deal of visible atmosphere,
it might be better to employ orthochromatic
methods, unless even more mist and fog were
wanted in the picture.
The problem of adequately rendering the con-
trasts of light and shade in a photograph is a
difficult one, but when we add to it the compli-
cations of color contrasts we increase the diffi-
culty. Some years ago it was thought to be
inevitable that certain colors would photograph
too dark and others too light. This was regarded
[93]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
as an unavoidable limitation of photography, but
scientists have been investigating and working on
that problem and now, by using a panchromatic
plate and a properly adjusted ray-filter, we can
render colors according to their true visual in-
tensity. This is very desirable in many branches
of photographic work. White light, as we know,
is made up of all the colors of the spectrum, those
that we can see being red, orange, yellow, green,
blue and violet. There are also invisible rays
at both ends of the spectrum, the infra-red and
the ultra-violet. An ordinary photographic plate
or film is abnormally sensitive to the light rays
at the violet end of the spectrum and is strongly
affected by the ultra-violet rays, which are in-
visible though they are present in sunlight, but it
is practically insensitive to red and to the colors
at the red end of the spectrum. Therefore,
an ordinary plate sees red as black and is
affected only very little by orange and yellow,
so that those colors appear very dark while,
on the other hand, being so sensitive to blue
and violet, these colors are made to appear too
light. That is why we can use a red light in the
darkroom, as the plate is affected, practically, not
at all by red light.
"Through the thick corn the scarlet poppies peep
And 'round green roots and yellowing stalks I see
Pale blue convolvulus in tendrils creep:
[94]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
And air-swept lindens yield
Their scent, and rustle down their perfumed showers
Of bloom on the bent grass where I am laid,
And bower me from the August sun with shade;
And the eye travels down to Oxford's towers."
There is much color in nature, and unless the
colors can be properly rendered in a photograph
the tones and values will be incorrect. With a
plate that sees blue as white and red as black
and other colors more or less incorrectly, how
could we picture scarlet poppies, the greens and
yellows in roots and stalks, and pale blue con-
volvulus?
* Yellow is often a very bright color; its visual
intensity is very high, but its actinic value is
low. Blue may be a dark blue, of low visual in-
tensity, but it would be very actinic. When
colors are mixed, when we have brown, green,
purple and so on in a landscape, it is hard to tell
just what is going to happen.
If things worked out strictly according to
theory; if, in an ordinary outdoor scene, the
colors were pure colors; if a red object reflected
only red light, a green object only green light and
so on, it would be quite impossible to photograph
such a scene with an ordinary plate and get the
colors so that they would look right. An ordi-
nary plate is blind to yellowish green, orange and
red, and, therefore, according to theory, it would
[95]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
be impossible for an ordinary plate to photograph
grass or flowers except those that were blue or
white, but, as a matter of fact, practically all
objects reflect more or less white light as well as
their predominant color, and when they are
objects like grass and leaves which have com-
paratively shiny surfaces, they probably reflect
an immense amount of white light and blue light
from the sky. More especially is this the case
when they are wet. Then, too, just because an
object looks yellow or red or green, it does not
necessarily follow that it absorbs all the blue and
violet light-waves. Some time ago I made a
darkroom lamp, using a piece of ruby glass and
a piece of orange glass. The ruby glass looked
red and the orange glass looked orange, but the
two together were able to pass enough white light
to fog plates and films with great ease and rapid-
ity. And do we, for pictorial purposes, always
desire to reproduce colors absolutely correctly?
We want them to look right; we want the shades
of tone to suggest the original colors; but do we
always want absolute and scientific accuracy?
The ordinary plate, as we know, renders colors
incorrectly. Blue comes out too light, and yellow,
green and red too dark. A panchromatic plate
exposed correctly through a perfectly balanced
and accurately matched color-screen will render
every color and every shade of color with abso-
[96]
Fig. 24. THE FAIR-HAIRED BOY
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
lute accuracy. Yet with proper exposure and
soft development, which will prevent the sky
from becoming too dense in the negative, the
ordinary plate will often give a far more pleasing
and more restful picture; the sky will be simple
in tone and we will get the full effect of haze,
mist and atmosphere to soften and simplify the
distant planes. We shall get detail mostly in
the grays and bluish greens, while the rest will
be simplified. Full correction is rarely needed
in pictorial photography. The simplification of
the picture and the elimination of unessential
details are more easily accomplished by the
thoughtful and rational use of just so much color
correction as is needed for the special subject.
For all practical purposes I believe that an
orthochromatic plate, used sometimes with a
screen and sometimes without, will enable a
photographer to exercise some control over his
results, for he can use the screen or not accord-
ing to the effect he wants to get and the tones he
wants to emphasize. Personally I have seldom
used a ray-filter that multiplies the exposure
more than four times for outdoor work. When
used without a ray-filter, any first-class, rapid,
orthochromatic plate will do everything that an
ordinary plate can accomplish, and, with a ray-
filter, it is capable of much of a most desirable
type of work that is quite beyond the possibili-
[97]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
ties of ordinary photography. The orthochro-
matic plate, being blind to red, can be safely
developed by a good red light, whereas a pan-
chromatic 'plate has to be developed in the
dark.
Without a screen an orthochromatic plate is
very similar to an ordinary plate, except that it
is more sensitive to yellow and green. It is still
abnormally sensitive to blue, violet and ultra-
violet, just like the ordinary plate, and there is
practically very little difference between a good
ordinary plate and an orthochromatic plate used
without a ray-filter, but as soon as we use even
a pale color-screen and begin to cut down the
intensity of the blue and violet, we notice a dif-
ference at once. The screen allows the greens,
yellows and reds to pass through unchecked, while
it stops the ultra-violet and reduces the intensity
of the blue and violet rays. The cutting out of
the ultra-violet and the checking of the violet
and blue allow of a longer exposure being given,
and this extra time gives the greens, yellows and
browns a chance to catch up and get themselves
more strongly impressed on the plate. There
are times when we can produce a picture that is
pleasing and not obviously untruthful by using
an unscreened plate, and again there are times
when the violet and ultra-violet rays are too
strong, or when the delicate tints of the landscape
[98]
Fig. 25. CHABLIE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
are so beautiful that it would be a serious error
not to translate them as accurately as possible,
and then the screen should be brought into play.
A panchromatic plate, absolutely corrected, is
seldom necessary for pictorial work unless the
subject depends for its truth and effectiveness
upon the correct rendering of red (scarlet poppies,
yellow stalks and blue convolvulus, for instance).
For all ordinary purposes an orthochromatic
plate used intelligently, with or without a screen,
as occasion demands, will give such negatives as
the pictorialist can best make use of.
It must not be thought that there is any desire
on my part to depreciate orthochromatic methods
or to advise against taking advantage of the un-
doubted benefits to be derived from the proper
use of orthochromatic plates and ray-filters. For
certain kinds of photographic work they are in-
dispensable; for copying paintings and all colored
objects, and for commercial photography of many
kinds, a panchromatic plate and a properly ad-
justed ray-filter are absolutely necessary for the
best results, but we are dealing in these chapters
with the purely pictorial and artistic aspect of
photography, and the artist who knows when
and how to use a screen, and who knows also
when and how to obtain certain desired results
without a screen, is the skilled craftsman, whereas
the man who works by one fixed plan, whether
[99]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
he adopts orthochromatic methods or whether he
refuses to do so, is working mechanically.
It needs some experience to decide just when
and under what conditions a screen is needed and
when it would be better not to use it, for there
are times when a more pleasing, a simpler and
more interesting picture can be made with an
unscreened plate. Of course, when Nature hap-
pens to be just right (and that does happen quite
frequently, in spite of Whistler's assertion that
"Nature is very rarely right") he who tries to
improve upon panchromatic methods plus a
screen is making a mistake. Very frequently,
however, the desired effect can be better secured
without a screen; the dreary stillness of a gray
day can be emphasized, or the mystery and charm
of gleams of sunlight breaking through an early
morning mist with a hazy and atmospheric dis-
tance can be enhanced. When working in a big
city we frequently need to soften and subdue an
uninteresting and prosaic background, and often
we can do it by using an unscreened plate that
will tend to increase any fog, haze or smoke that
may be present, whereas if we used an ortho-
chromatic plate or a panchromatic plate with a
screen all the commonplace and uninteresting de-
tails in the background would be brought out
distinctly.
Another reason why I think full correction of
[100]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
color values is often unnecessary is because — as
was mentioned in Chapter I — the camera is
essentially a "copying machine," and our aim
in pictorial work is to interpret nature rather
than to reproduce things exactly as they are.
When a panchromatic plate is used with a cor-
rectly adjusted filter, the efficiency of the camera
as a copying machine is much increased. The
camera can then reproduce not only the correct
light and shade contrasts, but also correct color
contrasts.
Full color-correction demands approximately
correct exposure and development of the plate,
for the more nearly correct is the exposure, the
more truthfully will the color contrasts be re-
produced in the negative, so, by reason of the
necessity for scientific accuracy, we lose the
possibility of varying the effect by varying the
exposure and development. We cannot play
with the tones as we can with an unscreened
plate; we cannot expose for the tones that are
most desired, and modify the scale of tones in, the
picture by giving a full exposure arid: .^topping ..
development when the tones are wjiarfc* w£ *want.
With a panchromatic plate and a*jy^,:thpjc6rr;.*; •; J J ;\
rect normal exposure must be given, and* tne
plate must be developed to the proper normal
density, otherwise the tones and color contrasts
will be wrong. The operation is purely scientific
[101]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
and mechanical; there is no opportunity for per-
sonal control, nor is any modification possible or
desirable. So, when conditions are such that the
artist can get the effect he desires by copying
nature, and by reproducing as accurately as
possible the color contrasts in the subject, he
should use an orthochromatic or a panchromatic
plate with a proper compensating filter, and
should do all in his power to avail himself of the
wonderful efficiency of the camera as a copying
machine, but when he wants to modify the tones
in the subject, he is perfectly justified in doing
so by any possible means as long as, in doing so,
he merely emphasizes, eliminates, or modifies cer-
tain aspects of the subject, and does not actually
and obviously falsify the tones.
The tones may be simplified without being falsi-
fied by using an unscreened plate, so that, instead
of having every color and every shade of color
accurately differentiated, they may be massed and
rendered less complex by exaggerating instead of
truthfully rendering the atmospheric effect. The
pietcri^list is not bound by the rules of the expert
copyist, '"who, is more concerned in reproducing
;t|ie'^rkiii,;Textiire and high finish of the rosewood
case of a grand piano than in rendering the grace,
beauty and airy lightness of a group of silver
birches against a background of pine trees. The
beauty of a picture and the message we want to
C1023
Fig. 26. PORTRAIT OF JACK
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
convey may depend upon the correct translation
of tones and color contrasts, or they may depend
upon the emphasis of certain aspects of the sub-
ject. The artist must decide whether complete
orthochromatism is desirable, or whether modifi-
cation and simplification of the tones and con-
trasts will better enable him to get the effect he
wants. In this he can be guided only by experi-
ence.
For snow scenes, whether there is sunlight or
not, a screen is nearly always desirable, for other-
wise it is almost impossible to suggest the color
of snow and to get the proper tone-relation be-
tween the snow and the sky.
£103]
CHAPTER V
Simplicity — Sympathy — Restraint — The Law of Principality
— Emphasis.
of the most important qualities a picture
can possess is simplicity. This is true not
only of photographic pictures but also of draw-
ings, paintings or etchings. By being simple a
picture gains enormously in strength and effec-
tiveness; it wears well; one can live with it and
enjoy it without getting tired of it.
Simplicity is especially valuable in photographs
because it is so fatally easy to include in a photo-
graph too many interesting objects; to make it
so crowded with lines, masses and tones that it
becomes irritating and far from restful.
Every means of pictorial expression has its own
inherent difficulties; each art, painting, music or
poetry, is shackled with material fetters. The
impartiality with which the camera records every-
thing in the field of view is the greatest difficulty
which the artist who uses a camera has to guard
against, and he must do all he can to curb the
lavishness and prodigality of the lens. The eye
of the camera, the lens, is mechanical, it has no
accommodating brain behind it, and it records
[104]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
everything it sees in a manner very different
from what our eyes see. Just because it can take
in more detail at one time than the human eye,
the accuracy of the lens is often regarded as in-
fallible, whereas, from the artistic standpoint, a
lens is less accurate than the trained eye.
Simplicity of line is essential in a photographic
picture, because, if there are too many prominent
lines, actual or suggested, they lose their force
and fail entirely to have any expression or to
convey the desired impressions. Simplicity of line
does not necessarily imply that there must be
only one or two different objects in the picture,
but, if there are many different objects, they
should be massed together so that the lines of
the masses are prominent rather than the lines of
each individual object. The picture may repre-
sent, for example, a number of trees or a crowd of
people or a group of shipping, but if the different
objects are well massed, the lines of the picture
will still be simple, for the outlines of the masses
will be the ones that are strongly felt rather than
the outline of each tree, each person in the crowd,
or each spar or mast in the shipping group.
Simplicity of tone is necessary in a photograph
on account of the limitations of photography,
which can reproduce only a comparatively short
range of tones. So the tones have to be simplified,
because the range of tones in the subject is often
Lies:
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
far greater than the range of gradations possible
with any pointing process yet available. We can
get a long range of tones in the negative by using
a thickly coated or double-coated plate. There
might then be small portions that are bare glass,
together with gradations increasing in density to
those which were quite opaque, but we could
never print all these tones. If we had such a
negative and tried to make a print from it, we
would have to sacrifice some of the tones, either
at the top or at the bottom of the scale. If we
printed until the gradations in the highlights
were visible we would find the shadows much
overprinted, very black, solid and empty, and if
we printed for the shadows, the highlights would
be harsh and chalky and would be entirely lack-
ing in gradation. Therefore it is evident that a
very long range of tones is not desirable in the
negative, for the negative is merely a means to
the end and the picture is what we are working
for. So the artist, in making his negative, will
develop until the highlights have just sufficient
density to print out without blocking the shadows,
and he will expose so that the shadow detail, or
as much shadow detail as he wants, can be de-
veloped without overdevelopment of the high-
lights. This means full exposure and careful
development, not carried too far.
If the subject is one in which there is a full
[106]
Fig. 28. PORTRAIT, MR. B.
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
range of tones, it will sometimes be necessary
to sacrifice some of the middle tones and compress
the scale, so that we can get in the print the
darkest and lightest tones in proper relation, and
as many tones between as possible. If the high-
est light and the darkest shadow are approxi-
mately correct — the highest light in the print
being white paper and the darkest shadow being
the blackest deposit of silver or platinum our
print is capable of giving — the tones will look
right, even if some of the middle tones are miss-
ing. If it is necessary for us to shorten the scale
of tones, we must do it by compression, rather
than by leaving out any tones at the top or
bottom of the scale.
In our attempts to secure simplicity of tone
we shall often find that we do not need to use
even the full range of the printing paper. A
picture can often be adequately suggestive when
very few tones are used. In Wingaersheek Beach
(Fig. 19), there is no black and very little pure
white; the whole picture contains only a few
tones, yet it suggests the scene under the condi-
tions at the time the picture was taken. The
artist usually should be sparing in the use of
absolute black and white, and these should be
used, if at all, only in very small areas. An
accent of black or white will often strengthen a
picture and pull the tones together.
[107]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
In Fig. 20, At the Close of a Stormy Day, the
light in the sky is the accent that strengthens
the picture, just as the dark line at the horizon
is the accent in Wingaersheek Beach. Without
these accents, one light and one dark, the pic-
tures would be monotonous and lacking in
strength and interest. This same principle is
often exemplified in Will Cadby's delicate studies
in light tones: there is invariably one dark accent
in the picture that pulls the tones together.
Simplicity of tone must not degenerate into
monotony and an accent, black or white, will
prevent this. It will provide a standard to which
all the other tones will correlate. As an example
of this let us refer to Fig. 14, and imagine what
this would be like without the dark accent pro-
vided by the necktie. The flesh tones would then
appear I too dark in comparison with the light
tones surrounding the face, but the black tie cor-
rects this tendency and, by its contrast, makes
the face appear to be of about the right tone.
Simplicity of subject is, to a great extent, a
matter of selection. Simple subjects with good,
definite lines are the ones that make the most
attractive pictures, and such subjects can be
found very readily by one who has learned to
see them. The selection of the point of view also
affects, to a great extent, the simplicity of the
final result. Simplicity of subject, being so largely
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
a matter of selection, is almost entirely under the
control of the picture-maker. Each worker will
necessarily have his own choice in the matter of
subjects; to some, landscape pictures will make
a strong appeal, others may be interested in
marine subjects, harbor and shipping scenes, surf
and rocks, while some will find a great attraction
in human nature and may devote themselves al-
most exclusively to figure studies, genre and por-
traiture. But, though the choice of subjects may
be varied, each in his own particular line should
take care that the subject of the picture, what-
ever it is, is simple. There is a tendency among
"advanced" pictorialists to neglect the choice of
an interesting subject and to trust to an effective
pattern to make their pictures interesting. Such
pictures are often interesting, but they are inter-
esting more as studies in artistic technique than
as pictures.
In striving to convey impressions in a picture
an artist must have a certain amount of sym-
pathy with and understanding of his subject.
There must be a thorough grasp of the subject so
that the artist can enter into the spirit of it. If
you consider the work of leading pictorialists,
such as Mortimer, Cadby, Day or Mrs. Kasebier,
you will find that each is specially interested in
a special subject, in each case a thoroughly
worthy one. Subject is important in picture-
[109]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
making for, even if a picture is "the expression of
a theme," there can be no theme if there is no
subject, and the subject should have sufficient
interest and importance to be worth expressing.
It should have sufficient character to merit close
and intimate study. It should be one that in-
terests the artist so that he will be thoroughly in
sympathy with it. There should be sympathy
between the artist and his subject for, if it inter-
ests him, he cannot treat it in an uninteresting
manner. Each worker must choose his own sub-
jects. Often an artist will be sufficiently inter-
ested in many things to express them well in
pictures, but, usually, there will be one thing —
one type of subject — that makes a stronger
appeal to him than any other. Mortimer has
made many landscape pictures and figure studies,
and good ones too, but it is pictures of the sea
that specially interest him. It is a mistake, I
think, to imagine that a picture needs no subject,
that it can be merely a record of impressions, for
there must be a subject before there can be
impressions.
The importance of simplicity must be kept in
mind at all stages, from the selection of the sub-
ject to the mounting of the finished print. Some-
times certain conditions of atmosphere are needed
in order to simplify a subject; a background or
distance that is too busy and too full of compli-
[110]
Fig. 29. GEORGE, THE SCOUT
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
cated detail can frequently be blotted out and
the picture simplified by choosing for the expo-
sure a day and a time of day when there is a slight
mist or haze over the distance. Sometimes a
picture can be simplified by liberal trimming or
by enlarging from only a small portion of the
negative. :
One of the greatest obstacles a photographer
has to overcome in making his pictures simple is
the propensity of the lens to render detail with
absolute impartiality. It necessarily makes no
discrimination between the essential and the un-
essential. Everything in the field of view is de-
picted with equal emphasis, so it is necessary for
the photographer to modify this as far as possi-
ble by selective focusing and by careful selection
of the most suitable conditions of light and
atmosphere. Selective focusing means getting the
important parts of the picture a little sharper and
more clearly defined than those that are less
important. This can often be done in outdoor
genre pictures and figure studies by focusing on
the figures and letting the background be slightly
diffused and out of focus. This must not be
carried too far, because the difference in sharp-
ness, if carried to extremes, is irritating and dis-
turbing to the eye and thus defeats the object in
view. So, in striving to get breadth and to elimi-
nate fine detail, many ingenious dodges have
[1113
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
been resorted to, such as enlarging through bolt-
ing-cloth or throwing the entire picture a little
out of focus in making the enlargement. Possi-
bly the best way to get breadth and carrying
power without destroying detail is by the proper
use of a semi-achromatic lens. Such a lens will
render detail clearly, yet without the insistent
and biting harshness of an anastigmat. It will
give a more gradual blending of definition with-
out an abrupt change from sharpness to absolute
lack of sharpness, which is unnatural and disturb-
ing. There are none of the disconcerting halos
and grotesque distortions of out-of-focus objects
which are sometimes seen when using a fully
corrected lens at a large aperture.
In portraiture and figure studies there is very
little excuse for lack of simplicity, for the subject
and its arrangement are almost entirely under
the control of the artist. If the background is
not sufficiently simple, he can make it so, either
by a change of position or location in an outdoor
picture, or by removing unneeded objects from
the background if he is working indoors. Often
a picture on the wall or an ornament or piece of
furniture comes'in the wrong place in the picture,
but it is usually possible to remove it. The pose
of the sitter and the disposition of the leading
lines can be arranged by the photographer to a
very great extent, either by suggestion or by
[112]
Fig. 30. BUILDING THE FIRE
Fig. 30A. YOUNG ARTISTS
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
actual manipulation. The arrangement of the
train and veil in a picture of a bride is an example
of such manipulation.
Simplicity in a portrait adds very much to its
interest and charm. The face is usually the
main object of interest in such a picture, and if
the face can be seen easily and without having
to search for it carefully among a number of
equally prominent, though far less important, de-
tails, the picture will make a stronger and more
direct appeal. A study of the works of the great
painters will show that they fully appreciated
the importance of simplicity. Most of Velasquez'
famous figure pictures are extremely simple and
so are Rembrandt's. Whistler's portrait of his
mother and the very similarly arranged portrait
of Carlyle are both quite simple in arrangement,
and in line and tone, and both are wonderfully
effective. Whistler and other great artists real-
ized not only the importance of simplicity, but
also the fact that it needs considerable thought,
care and skill to get this quality into a picture, for
nothing is so difficult of achievement as simplic-
ity. The gift of reproducing it is rare; the gift
of appreciating it is less so, but is still far from
universal. There are many photographers who
have not learned to appreciate the strength,
effectiveness and restfulness obtained in a pic-
ture by ruthless elimination of the unessentials.
[113]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
Profuse ornamentation, overadornment, "fussi-
ness" of every kind is easy to accomplish; but
simplicity stands as the desirable and difficult
of attainment. Take as an example not only
pictures, but anything from a frock to a marble
palace. Restful simplicity is the hardest note to
strike. The propensity of the lens to include too
much is one of the important things to guard
against, and the photographer has to curb this
propensity in every way possible.
In using a semi-achromatic lens to subdue
detail, it must be kept in mind that detail as
such is not detrimental to the success of a picture,
and that clear definition is not antagonistic to
pictorial results. Detail is not detrimental unless
it destroys simplicity, and clear definition is
eminently desirable. Some of the best examples
of painting, especially miniature painting, show
exquisite detail and this is considered to be a
special merit, but in such works of art the draw-
ing of detail is done with discrimination; the
important parts are clearly drawn, the unim-
portant parts either slurred over or suggested,
and the unnecessary parts and redundant detail
are left out. The lens draws fine detail every-
where, the unimportant parts being treated with
the same care and precision as the important
parts, without discrimination, and this is its weak
point. The artist does not object to fine detail,
[114]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
but to the lack of discrimination of the lens in
drawing it. Stop down an anastigmat lens and
everything is sharp; use it at a large aperture,
focusing the point of interest, and the streak of
definition runs right across the picture from edge
to edge. Both methods are undesirable, and the
nearest approach to discrimination in the draw-
ing of detail is provided by the soft-focus, semi-
achromatic lens, which, if used intelligently and
with a due appreciation of its limitations, will
give the artist something approaching the quality
he desires. With such a lens one can get clear
definition that is not sharp or hard, for there is
a difference between clearness and sharpness.
Clear is defined as "pure, bright, undimmed, with-
out blemish, transparent," as, for example, a
clear day, clear-cut features, clear water, clear
definition. The word sharp means, "having a
thin cutting edge, affecting the senses as if
pointed or cutting, severe, keen, barely honest,
shrill." Examples: a sharp wind, sharp words,
sharp practice, a sharp, shrill voice, sharp
definition.
The quality of definition obtained by the use
of a soft-focus lens should never be allowed to
degenerate into fuzziness; there should always
be firmness and certainty in modeling and tex-
tures. The clearness and coherency of a picture
depend to some extent upon the tones and grada-
[115]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
tions as well as upon the quality of definition,
and the degree of softness in the definition must
be governed a good deal by the size of the picture.
Clearer definition is demanded in a small picture
that is to be examined closely than in one that
would be large enough to hang on the wall, not
to inspect at close quarters. As long as the pic-
ture closes up and becomes clear and coherent
at a little distance, it cannot rightly be stigma-
tized as "fuzzy."
Closely allied to simplicity is a quality that we
can best describe as restraint. Personal restraint
avoids over-elaboration and over-expression; so-
cial restraint leads the artist to avoid subjects
and methods that might be displeasing to others,
and artistic restraint never oversteps the limita-
tions of the medium.
I was out on a tramp one day with a troop of
boy scouts. One of the boys was a little more
energetic, a little more alert and more observant
than the others, and he was very much in evi-
dence on this trip. George is very much inter-
ested in scouting and all that is connected with
it, and he has the happy knack of making the
most of his opportunities. On this walk George
discovered a woodchuck's hole when no one else
saw it. He knew what it was and looked around
for the other hole, for he knew there would be
two of them. The result was that George at-
[116]
Fig. 31. READY FOR THE PARTY
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
traded more attention than any other scout, and
my recollections of that trip are chiefly con-
cerned with George's energy and enthusiasm, and
the pleasure and profit he derived from the out-
ing. In a symphony or concerto or other musical
work there is usually one theme or motive that
runs through the entire composition. In a melo-
drama there is usually one scene that forms the
climax of the play, and in a well-constructed
short story there is one incident or one situation
that holds the interest and attention. All these
things are examples of the law of principality,
and in picture-making we find the same principle
used to secure unity of interest and to provide
a point of focus for the eye to rest upon.
We have seen that it is essential to have only
one principal object of interest in a picture.
Without it the picture is not completely satisfy-
ing, for the eye is apt to wander over the surface
of the picture, seeking rest and finding none.
If the principal object of interest in a land-
scape is not sufficiently prominent to take its
proper place in the picture as the point of focus
for the eye to rest upon, it may be necessary to
emphasize it, so that it will be unmistakably evi-
dent that it is the principal object in the picture,
and to make it so by any legitimate means at our
disposal. Sometimes there are so many different
things in a landscape that it is hard to tell just
[117]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
which is the principal object, and it is necessary
to emphasize one in the picture. Another reason
why emphasis is often necessary is that the human
vision is stereoscopic and the object we are look-
ing at stands out from its surroundings, but an
ordinary camera with only one lens sees every-
thing without any stereoscopic relief, and objects
are sometimes apt to sink into the background
and not appear as prominent in a picture as we
thought they were. The lack of color sometimes
robs an object of much of its prominence. Then,
also, the eye sees only a very narrow angle com-
pared with an average lens. When the eye is
fixed on one particular object in a landscape, it
will see only about 2° or 3° clearly, while the lens
can see about 45°. The eye, unlike the lens,
has a human brain behind it and sees just what
the brain is interested in, ignoring everything else.
When the eye is fixed on one object, everything
else is blurred and out of focus. It is really re-
markable how differently two people can see the
same things when their interests are different.
George, the scout, for instance, would probably
see all kinds of things that I would not see, if we
were out together, and perhaps, if I were think-
ing about pictures, I would see some things that
he would not notice at all. Our interests would
be different, and different messages would be
telegraphed from the brain to the eye.
[118]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Therefore, it will be obvious that in order to
make an object sufficiently prominent it is some-
times necessary to emphasize it in a picture so
that it will unmistakably be the chief point of
focus.
Emphasis can be obtained in many different
ways; by isolation, by the elimination of every-
thing else that might compete with the principal
object, by the position of the principal object in
the picture-space, by the radiation of lines lead-
ing the eye directly to the principal object, by
contrast of tone, and so on. The little child in
Plum Island (Fig. 13) is obviously the chief ob-
ject of interest in the picture. He is the only
human being in sight, he is placed in a strong
position in the picture-space, the line of the surf
leads the eye directly to him and he is strongly
emphasized by contrast in tone. Thus we have,
in this picture, a definite object to provide a
resting place for the eye and to prevent it from
wandering outside the picture margins, and a
feeling of unity is established.
In a portrait the face is usually the chief point
of interest and it is sometimes necessary to subor-
dinate everything else to this one thing. That is
one reason why it is always necessary to con-
sider very carefully the position of the face in
the picture-space. We can subordinate the rest
of the picture because, when we are looking at
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
a person's face, we can see very little else and
are only dimly aware of the details in the clothing.
In a landscape in which there are many differ-
ent objects, the one thing that we are looking
at and thinking about is the thing we must em-
phasize, because we shall find that, though this
object appears to be quite prominent when we
are looking at it, in the photograph everything
that is in the same plane will be rendered im-
partially and with equal emphasis. When the
eye is fixed on one particular object in a land-
scape, the highlights and shadows acquire an
importance that makes them appear stronger
than they really are and, unless the principal
object is already sufficiently differentiated, like
the child in Plum Island, it may be necessary to
strengthen a highlight or a shadow in order to
make it so. Of course, if the object is already
quite prominent, if it is something that would
naturally stand out from other objects, like the
puff of steam in The Harlem River (Fig. 11), or
the white sail in Starting Out (Fig. 12), no modi-
fication of the highlights or shadows is necessary,
as they are already strong enough. When addi-
tional emphasis is needed, it can often be obtained
by a slight modification of the negative or by
control in printing. This must never be over-
done, and it will be found that just the very
least darkening of a shadow or the slightest rais-
[120]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
ing of a highlight will be all that is necessary. It
is in this respect that the pigment printing proc-
esses offer great facilities, though in some re-
spects this very facility is a disadvantage. It
is so easy to modify such prints that the hand-
work is often overdone, with disastrous results.
Manipulation of this kind may be regarded as
being perfectly legitimate, for it is only carrying
out the idea of the mechanics of suggestion in a
reasonable way. Such actual manipulation as
this is not needed in many pictures, for selective
focusing, skilful placing in the picture-space, and
the selection of an already prominent object will
give quite sufficient emphasis. Often, in land-
scape pictures or figure studies outdoors, we can
emphasize our principal object or figure by hav-
ing it clearly focused and the rest of the picture
slightly less sharp. In some pictures, such as,
for instance, a flower study, where there are
several similar objects in the picture, one of them
may need to be emphasized by strengthening the
light and shade contrasts a little.
The strength of a highlight or a shadow depends
very much upon the surrounding tones. It is
possible to demonstrate this very easily and
very clearly by cutting from a sheet of gray paper
two small squares or circles. If one of them is
placed in the middle of a sheet of white paper
and the other in the middle of a sheet of black
[121]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
paper, the one surrounded by white will look
darker than the one surrounded by black, al-
though we know that they are both exactly alike.
We can make use of this illusion to modify a
tone or an accent. Sometimes emphasis can be
secured by placing the lightest tone and the
darkest tone close together, as in the hull and
white sail in Starting Out.
[122]
CHAPTER VI
Line Composition Applied to Figure Studies — The Vertical Line
— Repetition of Line — The Curved Line — The Lost Edge
— The Triangle— The Rectangle— The S-Shaped Curve—
The Figure 8 — The Hands in Portraiture — The Placing of
the Head in the Picture Space — Groups — The Back-
ground.
IN applying the principles of pictorial composi-
tion to portraiture and figure studies, we shall
be working very much along the same lines as
when dealing with outdoor subjects, such as land-
scape and marine pictures, but as we have more
plastic material to work with, we have far more
scope and can do more in the way of arrangement
than when using inanimate objects. The artist
can arrange the lines and masses in such pictures
according to his own ideas, and should have a
definite theme or motive in the arrangement that
will help to make the picture interesting apart
from the interest in the person or the persons
depicted. Instead of selecting his pictorial ma-
terial from nature, which requires him to take
what he can find and make it conform to his
ideal to the best of his ability, the portrait pho-
tographer can, in much the same way as the
painter, arrange and build up his composition, and
[125]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
construct the pattern of lines, masses and tones
more or less as he wants it, and when everything
is right, he can photograph it. Thus the com-
position in portraiture and figure studies may be
constructive rather than selective, though it will
be found that selective composition also plays
an important part in portraiture.
The lines of the picture in a figure study may
often be determined by the placing of the "ac-
cents" and are then unseen lines such as were
referred to in Chapter II, that is to say, not
actual outlines and edges of tone, but the imagi-
nary lines by which the eye will instinctively
connect any two prominent objects in the picture.
In order to be able to build up and construct
a picture the artist should know the rules and
recognized formulae in pictorial arrangement.
He need not always adhere strictly to rules, but
he should know them so that he will know what
he is doing when he breaks them.
The function of composition is to make a pic-
ture interesting, and the disposition of the lines
in the picture, the opposition of lines, and their
placing in the picture-space will all help in giving
the desired interest. Such things as this, depend-
ing as they do upon the pose of the figure and the
selection of the viewpoint, are to a great extent
under the control of the photographer, and a sug-
gestion from him as to the general pose, together
[124]
Fig. 32. AN OUTDOOR HOME PORTRAIT
, c ec. ,•;.«
. ' , r 9 « •
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
with the proper placing of the camera at the right
distance and at the right height, will often give
a line arrangement that is satisfactory.
The simplest pose of all is the full-length, stand-
ing figure. This has great possibilities, because
the most attractive and commanding line in art
is the vertical. The full-length standing pose is
an obvious and natural one for the human figure,
because in this position it occupies almost double
the space it would if seated. There is, however,
a serious objection to this method of represent-
ing the figure. This is the monotony and regu-
larity, as well as the suggestion of the picture-
space being divided into strips, caused by the two
oblong spaces on either side of the subject. This
can be overcome very simply and easily by the
introduction of an opposing horizontal line or
oblique line to tie the figure to the edges of the
picture-space and give a suggestion of a cross or
a triangle.
This principle is illustrated in the two portraits,
Figs. 21 and 22. In both cases we have a full-
length standing figure strongly contrasting with
the background, and a very similar line arrange-
ment may be observed in each. The extended
arm with the hand on the doorknob in Fig. 21
makes a strong enough line and, similarly, in
Fig. 22 the boy's arm has the same effect. The
placing of the figures, a little out of the exact
[125]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
centre of the picture-space, gets rid of the effect
of similar vertical strips on each side of the figure.
In Fig. 23, the extended palette furnishes the
opposing vertical, as an accent rather than as a
line, and in this instance the merging of the out-
line into the background also helps to lessen the
force of the vertical line.
The repetition of a line in another part of the
picture dissipates the force of such a line. In
both Fig. 21 and Fig. 22 we see this exemplified
in the edge of the door and in the light tree trunk.
Without some balancing influence of opposing
lines or prominent accents, a vertical composition
is apt to be weak and far from interesting.
Sometimes a suggestion of a simple curve
makes a pleasing line arrangement. In Fig. 24,
we can feel a curve from the head to the hands.
The head, because of its placing in the picture-
space, is obviously the main object of interest,
and is adequately balanced by the hands, which
form the only other light mass in the picture.
The device of losing the outline is one that is
often employed by painters to lessen the insist-
ence of lines. It is simply a method of simplifi-
cation by elimination; by merging the contour
into the background we make the substance of
the body a part of the tone which envelops it.
The line then becomes the unseen line rather than
an actual, structural outline. By careful selec-
[126]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
tion of a background of the right tone, and by
creating shadows on the background, a photog-
rapher can often avail himself of this device as
has been done in Figs. 23 and 24 and in some
others.
In the effort to make the subject fill the space,
the artist often has recourse to another of the
fundamental forms of construction, the triangle.
This is in many ways one of the easiest arrange-
ments to secure in a picture, and it has the merit
of being not only an excellent space-filler, but
also one that is capable of almost unhmited
variety. It may take the form of a long upright
pyramid, as in Fig. 25, or of a more stable tri-
angle with a broader base. In any case it affords
a shape endowed with physical stability, and it
allows the lines of the subject to tie with the sides
of the picture. This does away with the difficulty
of dealing with the spaces left at the sides of the
figure, for these spaces, instead of being rectangu-
lar, become triangular. Thus we get the relief
experienced by the introduction of similar, echo-
ing shapes; repetition with variety. Ah* that is
necessary to secure such a scheme of lines is to
broaden out the lines of the figure in some natural
way at the bottom of the picture. In a seated
figure, as in Fig. 6, all that has to be done is to
get one hand as far forward and the other as far
back as possible, thus getting three accents indi-
[127]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
eating the angles of the triangle. Other variations
of the triangular arrangement are shown in Figs. 10
and 3. In Fig. 10, the light mass of the child's
dress forms a very definite triangular area, and
Fig. 3 is all triangles.
Another frequently used line arrangement is the
rectangle, of which an example is shown in Fig.
26. This differs from the cross and the triangle
in that it has not in itself the qualities necessary
to give the required balance, and so depends for
balance upon some object within the angle, which
can usually be supplied by something in the back-
ground. In the example given, the balance is
supplied by the light spots on the background
and the little strip of white below the collar.
These are comparatively unimportant in them-
selves, yet, without them, the composition would
be somewhat lacking in balance. They furnish
the needed attraction within the angle and be-
cause of their unobtrusiveness they do not pull
too much.
In portraiture, just as in landscape work, a
curve has in itself greater possibilities for beauty
than any arrangement of straight lines. A simple
curve, or the more complete S-shaped curve,
which is, as we have seen, an excellent space-
filler, often can be incorporated in the lines of a
figure picture. Such a line, either the curved
S-line or the more angular Z-form, not only fills
[128]
Fig. 33. IN THE STUDIO
,-, :s ;:•.:•«•••••:
c c c c
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
the space satisfactorily, but also ties the subject
very well to the sides of the picture-space. With
either of these forms there is very little depend-
ence upon the background for balance, for both
have sufficient balance in themselves. As a line,
the letter S is so complete that the feeling among
artists is, when possible, to let it alone. Such a
line can often be used for full-length standing
figures, and it may also be found in pictures
showing only the head. In Fig. 5 we have an
example of the use of this line, which can easily
be traced in the outline of the head and face and
up to the hand and flower. This line has the
valuable quality of suggesting movement and of
giving a semblance of life and energy. In this
respect it differs from the simple curve, which is
essentially a line of repose. It also conveys an
idea of unity and completeness.
Sometimes we can get an elaboration of the
S-shaped curve, taking the form of a figure eight,
such as is seen in Fig. 27 (Frontispiece). This is
a scheme that might easily be worked out iri
portraits of ladies in evening dress.
We have spoken of the use of the hands in a
portrait as accents and points of direction for
the unseen line. Though it adds to the difficul-
ties, I think it is advisable to show one or both
hands in a portrait, provided they can be treated
naturally and gracefully. A really natural hand,
£129]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
one that has not been obviously arranged by the
photographer, is a valuable asset in showing
character. If the self-consciousness of the sitter
is such that the hand is not entirely natural, it
is better to leave it out altogether, for a bad hand
will rum an otherwise attractive portrait. Some-
times it is necessary to give the hands something
to do or something to hold, as in Figs. 23, 5 and 6.
In Fig. 23, the hand holding the paintbrush shows
considerable energy and is obviously natural.
Sometimes the photographer has to change the
position of the hand a little to make it photo-
graph better, and with some people the necessary
changes can be made without loss of naturalness,
provided it is done tactfully and without drawing
too much attention to the hand. Making the
sitter conscious of the hand usually results in
awkardness, and a stiffness and woodenness in
the pose that is very disagreeable.
As a rule a hand will photograph better, and
without giving cause for the complaint that it
looks too big, if it is turned with one side towards
the lens, not showing the full width. If a lady is
photographed with her hand in her lap, turn the
hand so that it is lying with the palm upwards
and it will look more graceful. The fingers should
not be folded, which will make the hand look like
a clenched fist, neither should they be too much
spread apart. Just as a suggestion, it is often a
[130]
Fig. 34. JIMMIE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
good plan to rest the thumb against the second
finger and have the other fingers curved a little,
but not too much. This will give an arrangement
that will look well from almost any position.
Sometimes the hand can be used to support the
head, but this should not be done unless the
pose is quite natural and characteristic. Never
deliberately arrange such a pose, but if, during
the proceedings, the sitter should happen to
adopt such a position quite unconsciously and
naturally, photograph it just as it is, provided it
looks well. The hand supporting the face should,
if possible, be on the shadow side, away from the
camera, though, as is the case in Fig. 28, this is
not an infallible rule. In this the obvious na-
turalness of the hand offsets its possible lack of
grace. Personally I think that a portrait in
which the hands are not shown is incomplete,
unless of course it is a large head, and, although
it sometimes adds to the difficulties, it is always
worth while to make an effort to include a natural
and well-drawn hand, or both hands, in the
picture whenever possible to do so.
There is a distinct tendency in modern por-
traiture to devote the greater part of the pic-
ture space to the head and face. Certainly a
large-sized head will command more attention and,
as the likeness is mainly though by no means
entirely shown by the face, a large head will tell
[131]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
its story plainly, and will give greater opportuni-
ties for showing the features in clearer and more
perfect detail. It might be thought that a pic-
ture that includes only the head and shoulders
would be easier to make and would demand less
skill in posing, but I think that just as much
thought, care and skill are needed to pose for a
head as to pose for a full-length or three-quarter
figure. Possibly the composition is simpler, but
the problems of filling the space adequately and
of getting a suggestion of character, personality
and likeness are practically unchanged.
Unless the head is set naturally and easily on
the shoulders, there will be a suggestion of con-
straint and stiffness in the pose, which will de-
stroy likeness. Let us look at Fig. 29. The
forward-leaning position is characteristic and
natural, thoroughly typical of this young sitter.
Other examples of natural and characteristic poise
of the head are shown in other examples.
In making a large head, we may select a point
of view that will show the full face, a three-
quarter view, or a profile, and of these three,
probably the three-quarter view is the most ex-
pressive and the most agreeable, on account of
the variety it introduces in the lines of the neck
and shoulders. The full-face view gives less
agreeable lines with less variety and balance than
the three-quarter view, but sometimes the direct
[132]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
gaze results in a more forceful and more compel-
ling picture, while the profile often gives an op-
portunity to get a very interesting continuous
line. Fig. 14 is regarded by the boy's friends as
a good likeness, and the outline of the head and
face is decidedly interesting.
The placing of the head in the picture-space
must be carefully considered. In a direct profile
picture, it is always well to have more space in
front of the face than behind the head. In any
picture showing only the head and shoulders, if
the sitter is leaning forward, it is necessary to
leave sufficient space at the top to make us feel
that there is enough room for him to raise his
head and straighten up without hitting the top
edge of the picture. A very erect and upright
pose needs only a very little space at the top,
above the head. The trimming of the print and
the amount of space around the head will be
taken up in detail elsewhere, but in making large
heads there will be a loss of dignity and impor-
tance if the face is too low in the picture-space.
Too much space at the top will be apt to give
the impression that the sitter is sliding out at
the bottom of the picture.
Another reason why the head should be kept
well up near the top is that the eyes in a portrait,
being the centre of interest, must not be too low
in the picture-space. They should always be
[133]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
well above the middle and, if too much space
were left above the head, the line of the eyes
might coincide with, or even be a little below, a
horizontal line through the centre of the picture-
space. It is not generally known by those who
have not studied drawing that the eyes are,
normally, exactly in the middle of the face, and
that the space below the eyes to the point of the
chin is equal to the space above the eyes to the
top of the head. So, if the head be represented
as an egg-shaped area, the eyes will be situated
on a line exactly bisecting the area in a horizontal
direction, and there will be just as much space
above the eyes as there is below. Therefore, if
the eyes are to be above the middle of the pic-
ture, as is generally desirable, to give them force
and prominence, the head must be well raised in
the picture-space and, if held erect, may well be
quite near the top.
Sometimes, and especially when the sitter is
wearing a hat, it is necessary even to cut into the
head or the hat to prevent the eyes from being
too low. This has been done in Fig. 28. Trim-
ming like this, which actually cuts away a part
of the image, must be done carefully, and only
when there is a perfectly good reason for it, as
in the example shown. The tendency to imitate
the methods of other artists must always be
governed by a careful investigation as to the
[134]
Fig. 35. THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS .
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
reasons why they do certain things. It is a mis-
take to chop off part of the head in a picture,
just because Coburn or Diihrkoop have done it
in certain instances, unless you are sure that
your reason for doing it is just as good as theirs.
The dissatisfaction often voiced in regard to what
is known as artistic photography is usually due
to the fact that many of the pictures in ques-
tion are really anything but artistic, copying, as
they do, perhaps, some of the mannerisms asso-
ciated with the photographs of a true artist, but
lacking the qualities which formed the basis of
the real worth of the pictures. To make pictures
that are fuzzy and blurred, just because some
photographers sometimes use a soft-focus lens in
order to get a certain desired effect, and then to
label them artistic photographs, when they often
possess little or no artistic merit, is as foolish as
it is futile. So, if the trimming of the picture or
the arrangement of the subject in the picture-
space is in any way unconventional, it is neces-
sary that there should be a good and satisfactory
reason for such departure from the beaten track.
In making large heads, if direct prints are
wanted rather than enlargements, a long-focus lens
must be used in order to get the required size,
rather than a near viewpoint. This point is dealt
with in Chapter II. If a lens of sufficient focal
length is not available, the artist must be content
[135]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
i
to make the head small on the negative, and
then enlarge the portion he wants to the required
size, for the viewpoint should rarely be closer
than seven or eight feet.
In making group pictures, the same principles
regarding lines and spacing must be applied.
Sometimes, if there are three or more figures in
the group, they can be arranged in such a way
that a line connecting the heads, hands or other
accents will form a triangle, a circle, an ellipse,
or some other agreeable shape that fills the space
in a pleasing manner.
In Fig. 30, the four boys at the left of the pic-
ture give a suggestion of a triangle and easily
hold the attention, the little fellow on the right
being a secondary object of interest necessary to
give good pictorial balance.
You will notice I said in a preceding paragraph:
"If there are three or more figures in the group,"
and this is an important point, for a group of
two is very hard to handle pictorially. If both
are equally prominent, there will be competition
and a constant effort to decide which is more
important. In order to get principality in a
group of two, one of the figures must be unmis-
takably more important and must dominate the
picture. In a group consisting of a mother and
child, the mother should be content to occupy a
subordinate position in the picture, in order that
[136]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
the interest may be concentrated on the child.
One of the most charming of Sargent's paintings
shows a boy being read to by his mother. The
mother sits, behind and to the side, so that the
interest is centered on the child, who sits gazing
dreamily out of the picture, completely absorbed
in the story. Such a picture as this might more
correctly be classified as a genre than as a por-
trait, and this seems to be the solution of most
problems of two-figure arrangement.
If both figures can be interested in something
in the picture, this will solve the problems of
principality and subordination, for then the thing
they are looking at, or their occupation, will
dominate the picture, and both figures will be
subordinate. In the group shown in Fig. 30 A, the
occupation of the boys is the dominating interest,
and the lack of principality is not strongly felt.
There is unity, due to the fact that neither figure
appears to be striving for prominence and prin-
cipality.
The background in a portrait or a figure study
must be carefully considered, for the background
not only serves as a support, but also helps to a
large extent in carrying out the motive of the
picture. It can very materially influence the im-
portance of the figure, and can make or mar the
composition and artistic unity of the picture.
The extent or area of the background in relation
[137]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
to the size of the figure is a point that is some-
times hard to decide. Just how much sur-
rounding space does a figure needP This can be
determined only by the good taste and cultivated
judgment of the artist, for it is quite impossible
to give any hard and fast rules. All that can
be said is that there should not be too much
space, or it will be apt to dwarf the figure, and
there should not be too little, for then the figure
will look cramped and crowded. Somewhere be-
tween these two extremes the background will
look right, and it looks right when it is least
noticeable, when it becomes subordinate to the
figure, and does not attract attention to itself.
In the illustrations to this chapter it will be
seen that in nearly all of them the background
is quite plain and quiet in tone, and that there is
nothing at all in it to attract the eye. In these
instances the background serves merely as a sup-
port for the figure, and plays no part in carrying
out the motive. In Fig. 23, the canvases on the
wall, like the palette and paintbrush, help to tell
the story, and to make it plain that the picture
is a portrait of a painter. Therefore they have a
definite meaning and are a necessary part of the
picture. There are times when a more extensive
background and one that is not quite plain will
help the picture. One of the interesting aspects
of home-portraiture is the opportunity it affords
[138]
Fig. 36. SWAPPING PICTURES
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
to introduce into the picture some of the home
interest. This can be done by including in the
portrait a part of the home, in the shape of inti-
mate surroundings that will be instantly recog-
nized by those who are familiar with the home in
question. If a setting can be found that is inter-
esting and attractive by reason of good lines or
decorative masses, it will add much to the value
of a home portrait if it can be used as a back-
ground for a single figure or a group. Examples
of the use of such backgrounds are seen in Figs.
31 and 32. Both are fairly extensive; that is to
say, there is a considerable area of background in
relation to the size of the figures, and this tends
perhaps to make the pictures look a little theatri-
cal, but in both cases they "belong" and are not
in the least out of keeping. In Fig. 31 the line
of the staircase is interesting, and the little figure,
in full light, has sufficient "pull" easily to domi-
nate the picture and not be overpowered by the
background. The little table in the corner gives
the necessary balance. In Fig. 32, the rectan-
gular shapes of the windows fill the space, but
are subordinate in interest to the group.
In selecting or arranging a background, the
photographer must always keep in mind the im-
portance of simplicity. This is one of the main
difficulties in home-portraiture, for, unless great
care is taken to keep the background simple,
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
there is danger of the sitter becoming merely
an item in an arrangement of bric-a-brac. Any-
thing that does not definitely help the picture
should be removed. If that is not possible, a
plain background of some kind should be
substituted.
Another example of a background that helps
to tell the story and explain the motive of the
picture is given in Fig. 33. This is a plain back-
ground, but there is a good deal of it; the idea
here was to show a characteristic pose of the
artist and a habit he had of putting his canvas
on the floor. As the building was about to be
demolished, he was anxious to have a memento
of the interesting crack in the plaster on the wall.
The background must always be appropriate, and
in keeping with the subject and with the char-
acter of the picture. Nothing should be intro-
duced into the picture that would not naturally
be there. The days of the marble pillar and the
velvet curtain have passed, and there are en-
couraging signs of the recognition of the impor-
tance of simplicity.
The tone of the background is an important
point, and it must be carefully considered, es-
pecially in pictures showing a fairly large head,
for the tone of the face is influenced very much
by the tone of the background. The flesh tones
appear light or dark according to whether the
[140]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
prevailing tone of the background is dark or light,
for tone is very largely a matter of contrast. A
small area of gray on a white ground will look
considerably darker than it would appear if sur-
rounded by dark tones, as was pointed out in
Chapter V, page 121. The tone of the background
influences the tone of the face in a portrait, and
a face seen against a white background will
appear darker than it would if a darker ground
were used. This of course is very largely a
matter of exposure, development and printing,
and depends also upon the lighting of the face
when making the exposure. The question of
tones in portraiture will be discussed more fully
and at greater length in the following chapter,
but the point to observe is that if your sitter is
naturally dark, or is unnaturally dark by reason
of exposure to the sun, and you desire to make
the face appear as light as possible in a picture
you should use a dark background, and then the
contrast will give an impression of light flesh-
tones. To get good tones against a white back-
ground, and to get sufficient modeling without
causing the face to appear too dark, is a task
that calls for the utmost nicety of adjustment
of exposure and development in making the
negative, and correct timing in printing.
C141]
CHAPTER VII
Tones in Portraiture — Roundness and Solidity Brought out by
Lighting — Ordinary Lighting — Outdoor Portraits — Home
Portraiture — Unusual Lightings — The Outfit for Home
Portraiture.
is as much difference in the meaning
JL of the words tone and tones as there is in
the words nerve and nerves. When for instance,
we speak of the tone of a private school being
good, we mean that the members of the faculty
are refined and cultured gentlemen and ladies,
and that they inculcate refinement and good man-
ners in the pupils. Refinement, then, is a char-
acteristic of good tone, and the tone of a photo-
graph may be considered satisfactory if it is quiet
and refined, not crude or startling, not vague, un-
certain or muddy. There should be no very vio-
lent contrasts and no spottiness of light and shade,
and, above all, the tones must be right. The tone
of a photograph depends very much on its tones,
that is to say, on the correct rendering of the
gradations of light and shade. In portraiture and
figure studies, just as in outdoor work, it is im-
portant that the rendering of the gradations
should be correct, or at least appear correct.
[142]
Fig. 37. PORTRAIT, F. S. H.
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
The tones on the face in a portrait should suggest
the color — for black and white can suggest
color — and in order that this may be so, the
tones should correctly reproduce, not only the
general tint and gradations of color, but also the
gradations of light and shade necessary to give
modeling, roundness and solidity.
Let us deal first of all with gradations of light
and shade, ignoring for the present the general
color or tone of the face, for the latter is modified
to a large extent by the key of the picture and
by contrast with the background. In a portrait
with a predominance of dark tones, dark clothing
and dark background, the face and hands, being
the only light areas, will appear lighter by reason
of the contrast with the dark tones. On the
other hand, if the prevailing tones are light, for
instance, white clothing and white background,
the contrast will tend to make the flesh tones
appear dark. This is more a matter of exposure
and development, and of correct timing in print-
ing, than of lighting, but the modeling of the
face, the gradation of highlights, halftone and
shadow which indicates the shape of the fea-
tures, is purely a matter of lighting.
The head is round and solid, and the aim in
lighting should be to suggest its roundness and
solidity by means of highlights, halftones and
shadows, so that it will look round instead of flat.
[143]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
Sometimes in pictures taken outdoors, with light
falling on the face with equal intensity from all
sides, we get merely a map of the features; the
face looks like a flat disk, with eyes, nose and
mouth in then* proper positions, but entirely lack-
ing, in roundness and indications of shape. We
may get enough to give a recognizable picture
but, without the third dimension, the likeness is
not complete. An egg, equally illuminated from
all sides, would look flat, and there would be no
modeling to indicate its spherical shape. The
object of lighting is to bring out the roundness,
modeling and individuality of the features. The
draftsman can suggest relief by the skilful draw-
ing of lines, but the photographer depends upon
shading for the relief and modeling of the features.
The first and most important thing to do, then,
is to learn to see lighting. This sounds obvious,
but there are really very few people who can see
shadows and halftones on the face, unless they
have cultivated the ability to do so. When light-
ing, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, shading,
can be perceived and appreciated, the adjustment
of the light to get pleasing relief and roundness
is a very simple matter.
An egg or a round ball, lighted from one con-
centrated light-source, would have one highlight
just at the spot where the maximum light is re-
flected back to the eye, and around that high-
[1443
Fig. 38. SUNLIGHT EFFECT
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
DIAGRAM SHOWING ORDINARY REMBRANDT AND LINE LIGHTING.
C1453
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
light would be halftones and gradations of tone,
merging gradually into shadow. If there were no
light reflected into the shadows, they would be
quite dark on the side away from the light.
Much the same thing is seen in lighting the
face, but it is complicated a little by the irregu-
larities of the features, and the individual fea-
tures, the forehead, the nose, the cheeks, the
mouth and chin, each have their own individual
lights and shades. There should be one principal
highlight on the face, and if only one source of
light is used, the side away from the light will be
in shadow. To get the maximum modeling and
the full range of tones, the face should be lighted
from one side and slightly from the front, so that
the light falls on the face at an angle of approxi-
mately forty-five degrees. With the sitter in the
position indicated in the diagram we shall get
what is known as "ordinary lighting." When we
have acquired the ability to see lighting, we shall
observe that under these conditions there is a
highlight reflected by the ridge of the nose, and
since the skin of the nose is close in texture and
somewhat tightly drawn, this highlight is usually
rather strong.
There is another light reflected from the dome
of the forehead; another from the curve of the
chin, and sometimes a fourth from the cheek-
bone. Brilliant little catchlights are also re-
[146]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
fleeted from the eyes. Around these highlights
are halftones, merging gradually into shadow on
the parts of the face that recede from the camera,
and on the side away from the light there will be
shadow, relieved more or less by light reflected
from the side of the room or from other adjacent
surfaces. If the window is small and the sitter is
placed close to it, the lighting will be very strong
and the shadow dark, but if the sitter is placed
at some distance from a large window, the light-
ing will be softer and the shadows relieved by
reflections from the opposite wall.
Of course we may place our camera where we
wish and can take the picture from any point of
view, as indicated in the diagram. The sitter is
supposed, in this diagram, to be facing towards
the camera marked Cl, so that a picture taken
from C3 would give a profile view of the face.
This is the method of arranging the lighting
to give the maximum of modeling, and a full
range of gradation from highlights to deep shadow.
The only problem is to photograph it with suffi-
cient technical skill, so that the gradations of
tone and the modeling will be correctly rendered
in the picture, and this is merely a matter of
correct exposure and proper development and
printing. The tones are correctly rendered in the
print only when the gradations of light, halftone
and shadow are reproduced in their proper rela-
[147]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
tion to each other. The technical problems of
reproducing gradations of light and shade in their
proper relation, and the influence of exposure on
the truth of the gradations will be taken up in
more detail later. I want now to point out what
the artist should look for in the subject.
There is often a tendency to make the general
tone of the face in a portrait too light, so that
the highlights are not apparent. The lightest
tone we can get in a print is represented by the
white paper. The lightest tone in a portrait
subject, lighted as described, is the bright catch-
light in the eyes and possibly the highlight on a
starched white collar. These are only very minute
areas, therefore there can be only very minute
areas of white paper in a print, if the tones are
correctly rendered. Next we have the highlights
on the face and the whites of the eyes, slightly
lower in tone, and, therefore, not white paper,
and then, in turn, the lesser lights, the halftones
and shadows on the face, hair and clothing, the
darkest shadow being represented (if we are using
a full range of tones) by the blackest deposit of
platinum or silver on the printing paper. To
represent any part of the face as white paper,
except the catchlights in the eyes and highlights
on the teeth, is absolutely wrong, not only on
account of the light and shade gradations but
also on account of the color of the face.
[148]
Fig. 39. THE COMPOSER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
In this connection I would ask the reader to
turn back and carefully observe the lighting on
the face of the boy in Fig. 8. In this portrait
there is absolutely no white paper except the
very small catchlights in the eyes and the high-
lights on the teeth. The teeth are not even
dead white; there is in the original print a quiet
perceptible difference between the tone of the
teeth and the highlights on them, and in Fig. 34
there is very subtle and delicate gradation of
tone on the face. In both instances the faces
appear to be white, but truth of tone is preserved
by the sparing use of the lightest possible tones.
If the face or any part of the face, except the
highlights, were to be represented in a picture
as white paper, we should have nothing lighter
in tone to represent a white collar or anything
really white. So we would be forced to make the
face and the white collar exactly the same, which
would be far from truthful. We can make the
face look white, that is to say, white enough to
show that the subject is not negroid, and still
preserve truth of tone, by means of contrast with
dark tones in the rest of the picture, as in the
case of Fig. 15, or by means of very delicate and
subtle gradations, as in Fig. 34. In each case
we have modeling and gradations of light and
shade, and the suggestion of color and flesh tints.
When we have a full and comparatively long
[149]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
range of tones, such as we can get with the ordi-
nary 45-degree lighting, it is not difficult to get
the proper suggestion of color in the face, because
we can use plenty of halftone and shadow, but
when we shorten the scale of tones and use a
flatter lighting so that we lessen the effect of
contrast, we have to be even more careful to pre-
serve truth of tone and the suggestion of flesh
tint. If the background is light, as in Fig. 34 and
in Fig. 14, the color in the face can be suggested
by making the gradations very delicate and only
barely visible, for the contrast of the flesh tones
with the background will tend to make the face
look too dark if the halftones are too strong, but
if the background were dark, the modeling would
have to be a little stronger to avoid a suggestion
of flatness, because the contrast of light flesh
tones against dark would tend to make the face
appear too light and lacking in color.
When we have a softer and flatter lighting, with
the highlights less strongly accentuated, as in
Fig. 35, the tones suggest color rather than con-
trasts of light and shade, and the problem then
is somewhat analogous to the problem of ortho-
chromatism, so that we have to try and indicate
by the varying shades of gray the visual inten-
sities of the colors in the subject. The Day
after Christmas represents a rather dark-skinned
Italian child with black hair and dark eyes, wear-
[150]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
ing a light blue blouse with white stripes. The
background was light gray. In this picture the
lighting is very soft and flat, and there is only
just sufficient modeling to suggest roundness.
When the face is in shadow against a white
background, the flesh tones will look compara-
tively dark, and they must be so represented in
a picture to preserve truth of tone. In Fig. 36,
the faces of the boys, seen against the sky, are
quite dark in tone, but still are in correct rela-
tion to the other tones in the picture.
In portraits taken outdoors, in the shade, we
usually get softer modeling, and the highlights
are not accentuated as much as in indoor pictures.
This is because the light is more diffused and
illuminates the shadows. Of course, if portraits
are made in sunlight we get stronger contrasts,
but this is another story and will be taken up
later.
Portraits outdoors in the shade have usually
less contrast of light and shade, by reason of the
diffused lighting, but they should show color con-
trasts, and this will preclude the face being
rendered too light. The correct rendering of
tones in outdoor portraiture is very similar in
many ways to the correct rendering of tones in
landscape pictures, which was dealt with in a
preceding chapter. The use of an orthochro-
matic plate and a color-filter will help in ren-
[151]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
dering tones correctly. When the increased
exposure is not a serious obstacle, the ray-filter
should always be used, for the problem is one of
reproducing color values correctly and is not, as
in landscape work, the problem of reproducing
color values modified by atmosphere, which is
altogether different. When working indoors, a
color-screen is rarely practicable, but outdoors,
in good diffused light, it may often be used with
advantage. Figure 37 was made on a Cramer
Instantaneous Iso plate with a three-times filter,
and the tones suggest color very adequately. A
full exposure and careful development, as was
pointed out in Chapter IV, will give good tones
and color values, provided the highlights and
gradations are not blocked up by overdevelop-
ment. Underexposure must be guarded against
at all times, or the tones will be irremediably
ruined.
The main difference between indoor portraits
and those made outdoors in diffused light is that
in the former case the lighting, because the light-
source is comparatively concentrated, is apt to
be too cbntrasty and give too long a range of
tones from highlight to shadow. Therefore, we
have to do all we can to lessen the contrast
(diffusing the light with cheesecloth screens,
using a reflector, or placing the sitter back in
the room almost directly facing the window, are
[152]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
all methods of lessening contrasts) whereas, in
making portraits outdoors in the shade or on a
dull day, the lighting is apt to be too flat and
we have to try and increase contrasts. This we
can often do by placing the sitter in the shade of
a tree or a building, so that the light is a little
stronger on one side than on the other.
Having arranged the lighting so that the con-
trasts are about right in the subject, we have to
expose, develop and print so that we shall get
the contrasts about right in the picture. Thus
the correct rendering of tones becomes a matter
of exposure and development and also, to a great
extent, a question of orthochromatism. The
purely technical side of the problem will be taken
up later; we are concerned now only with truth
of tone as indicated in a picture. The artist
must always bear in mind the fact that flesh-
tones can only very rarely be as light as the tones
of white clothing, and that there can be only
•very small areas of white on the face in a por-
trait, only, as we said before, the catchlights in
the eyes and the highlights on the teeth, for the
tones on the face must suggest color and we
should always be able to teU from the tones of
the picture whether the complexion is naturally
light or dark, for then and only then will the
tones be true.
When we come to deal with sunlight in outdoor
C153]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
portraits, we have to overcome the tendency to
get too much contrast of light and shade. We
must have a certain amount of contrast to pro-
duce the right effect, but we must get it rather
by leaving out some of the middle-tones than
by making the highlights too white and the shad-
ows too black. There will be a tendency to get
very dark shadows and it is quite right that
they should be dark,-but we must always try and
preserve detail in the shadows, and not make
them too black and solid. This also is purely a
matter of exposure and development. Full ex-
posure will give detail in the shadows, and proper
development will give gradation in the highlights.
By getting both the highlights and the shadows
about right, we can get the effect of sunlight,
even though we may have to compress the scale
of tones and leave out some of the middle tints.
Harsh, chalky highlights and dense, black shadows
do not suggest sunlight, but only suggest under-
exposure and overdevelopment. The suggestion
of sunlight is conveyed by the fact that the cast
shadows have a definite edge and outline, and
that there are patches and spots of light on the
face, rather than a gradual blending of light and
shadow, but the patches and spots of light must
be luminous rather than dense and chalky, and
we must still be able to see color and flesh tints
both in the light parts and in the shadows. In
[154]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Fig. 38 there is gradation and tone in the high-
Lights; we can see the color and texture of the
skin and the suggestion of freckles. The only
really black shadows are the very small areas in
the mouth and under the chin. The whole secret
of success in sunlight effects is full exposure,
followed by not too much development. This
will usually give a satisfactory negative and one
that will give a good print. The tendency to cut
down the exposure because the light is very
bright must be avoided, because we have to
expose for the shadows, which are comparatively
dark, and must allow for the fact that the subject
is "close up," and that the shadows are, there-
fore not modified to any great extent by the
atmosphere.
The photographer who is anxious to put into
practice his artistic ideas and ideals would do
well to devote some attention to one of the most
fascinating branches of picture-making with the
camera, home portraiture. This is a field which
is as yet by no means exhausted, and in which
there are many possibilities for real picture-
making. Although home portraiture at the pres-
ent time has come to be recognized as a branch of
professional portraiture and is undertaken very
extensively purely as a means of making money,
the first home portraits were made by amateur
photographers, and even now the best work of
[155]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
this kind is produced by amateurs. Such workers
as Mathilde Weil and Eva Watson-Schiitze opened
the eyes of the professional to the money-making
as well as the pictorial possibilities in home por-
traiture, and now it is so widely exploited that
there is a tendency to make home portraits in a
conventional and stereotyped way. The home-
portrait photographers are getting into a rut in
much the same way as the studio workers, and
many of them are trying to make home portrai-
ture conform to the traditions of professional
studio work. The practice of hanging up a strip
of black cloth behind the sitter and then working
in on the negative a path, a gate and some highly
improbable foliage, or a lattice window, which-
ever happens to be in style at the moment, raises
such pictures only a very little above the level
of those made in front of a painted background,
which were necessarily all very much alike except
for the fact that a very elaborately carved chair
or settee was sometimes added to the rural land-
scape. There are certain recognized conventions,
and the professional home-portrait operator has
a set of poses on which he rings the changes until
he has used up all his plates. TheOise of artificial
light has added one or two more possibilities, and
now there is usually a negative or two made at
the fireplace, with an almost-convincing fire
worked in afterwards to hide the electric lamp.
[156]
Fig. 40. JOHN
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
But although home portraiture has been taken
up so extensively by professional workers, its
possibilities in the way of really artistic results
are still practically untouched. Who is more
eminently fitted to investigate these possibilities
than the amateur who can begin in his own home
and branch out in the homes of his friends and
acquaintances? The very fact that there are
many difficulties to overcome makes the work all
the more interesting. Every picture offers fresh
problems, and each different subject, according
to the age, sex and temperament of the sitter,
has its own special difficulties, so that there is
practically no end to the opportunities for
experiment.
And home portraiture is so entirely rational
and appropriate, for most people, more especially
the interesting people, can only be thoroughly
at home when they are literally at home. Many
people leave a large part of their personality
behind when they pose for a picture amid the
elaborate furnishings and the barbarous and
complicated accessories usually associated with a
professional studio. The massive and imposing
studio camera and stand are alone almost suffi-
cient to inspire awe in all but the most sophisti-
cated, and, in any case, even a simple studio will
inevitably deprive the picture of much that is
natural, interesting and artistic. A musician or
[157]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
a painter would naturally feel more at ease in his
own music room or studio, and what could be
more fitting than to photograph a musician at
his own piano, or a painter surrounded by his
own pictures (Fig. 39)? This applies even more
strongly to children, who are very sensitive, as
a rule, to environment. It will be obvious, I am
sure, that John, curled up in the window seat at
home, reading his own Book of Knowledge, ex-
plaining and pointing out that the sixth star in
the top row on the American flag is the star of
Massachusetts, is more likely to be the John that
luV family and friends know, than if he were pos-
ing in a strange and interesting looking room
that he has never seen before, and having to sit
still instead of being allowed to wander around
and ask questions about everything he sees
(Fig. 40).
Unconventional but entirely natural lighting
can often be used in making home portraits,
though, if it is thought to be more desirable it
is quite possible to use a plain, straightforward
"ordinary lighting," such as is illustrated and
explained by the diagram on page 145. All kinds
of fancy lightings are possible, and not at all
hard to get, in almost any ordinary room, includ-
ing the so-called "Rembrandt" lighting, and the
rather hackneyed "line" lighting of the studio.
The artist will probably try to avoid these things,
[158]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
and will photograph his subjects lighted in the
way their friends are accustomed to seeing them.
He will use the light to emphasize the character-
istics that he wants to bring out clearly, and if
the lighting is unusual and unconventional and
totally opposed to the canons of professional
practice, that need not matter, as long as it is
what he considers suitable and proper for that
particular picture.
A picture is not necessarily artistic just because
it is unusual, unconventional or startling in light-
ing or arrangement, and there is ample scope for
the display of artistic perception and feeling even
in a simple picture such as, for instance, Fig. 8.
Simple, straightforward lighting, such as the
"ordinary lighting" of the diagram, will often
bring out the character and personality of the
sitter far more truthfully and more convincingly
than a freakish and startling scheme of lighting.
But, in order to be able to use any lighting effec-
tively, the artist must have a sound knowledge
of the elementary principles.
At the beginning of this chapter I have given
a diagram and have explained a method of getting
what is known as "ordinary lighting." This is
so called because it is the method of lighting fre-
quently used in the professional studio, and it is
the basis of good, normal, everyday lighting.
This method of lighting is the result of many
[159]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
years of study and experiment, and it has been
found to bring out likeness and the shape and
modeling of the features very simply and easily,
so it will be well for the artist to study and master
it before he experiments with the unusual and
unconventional. With ordinary lighting, the
maximum of modeling and gradation of light and
shade can be secured, and the artist must learn
to see modeling and gradations before he can
use lighting to the best advantage. I am urging
the reader to master this conventional scheme
of lighting, not because I consider it to be always
the best or the most suitable method, but because
I think it is necessary for him to know what it
is and how such a lighting can be obtained. It
may be regarded as a foundation on which to
base experiments and departures from the
usual.
The lighting in home portraiture need not and
should not be copied from the methods of the
studio, for the principal characteristic of such
work should be originality and the interpretation
of individuality, but experiments and originality
must be based on knowledge of general principles
and on an appreciation of the important part
played by lighting in suggesting the third dimen-
sion, the roundness and modeling that convey
likeness. Just blind groping in the dark will not
accomplish very much. With the sitter in the
[160]
Fig. 41. ANNISQUAM BRIDGE, SUNLIGHT
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
position indicated in the diagram, facing towards
the camera at Cl, we can get a full-face picture
with very effective lighting. There will be a full
range of gradations on the face, highlights on the
forehead, nose, cheek and chin, halftones on
those parts of the face that recede from the
camera, and shadow on the side away from the
light. There will be more light than shadow on
the face, roughly about three parts light to one
part shadow. This is ordinary lighting. By
taking the camera around to C2, without chang-
ing the position of the sitter, we can get a three-
quarter view of the face on which we shall see
more shadow than light. This is the arrange-
ment sometimes described as "Rembrandt" light-
ing. Then, still leaving the sitter in the same
position, we can take the camera further around
to C3 and can get a profile with a very effective
"line" lighting. If we are careful, when photo-
graphing from these last two positions, to give
sufficient exposure to get proper detail in the
shadows, such pictures should be very interesting.
In The Artistic Side of Photography, A. J. Ander-
son writes: "As soon as the photographer has
learned to see modeling by means of its high-
lights, shadings and shadows and not by his
stereoscopic vision, he will find that all the
world's a studio and all the men and women
merely sitters. As soon as he has learned to see
[161]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
in this manner, he may be certain that when a
person looks well, he will photograph well."
The very nature of home portraiture precludes
hard and fast rules. Every worker must carry
out his own ideas in his own way. He should
understand lighting thoroughly, so that he can
use it to get any effect he wants.
The outfit for home portraiture need not be
at all elaborate or extensive. Good work can be
done with practically any kind of outfit, though
there are certain features in the apparatus that
are desirable and helpful. If large heads are
wanted, a long-focus lens must be used, and often
the rear combination of a rapid rectilinear lens
will do very well. Personally I have found a
lens of the semi-achromatic type better adapted
for this kind of work than an anastigmat, though
sometimes the crisp definition of the anastigmat
is more suitable. This is a matter for each to
decide for himself. Possibly it will be helpful to
some of my readers if I describe briefly my own
outfit, not that it is necessarily any better or
more satisfactory than others, but because it has
been found to be entirely adequate for my pur-
poses. I use an ordinary 6| x 8| view camera
and a rather solidly built tripod. A specially
designed "home portrait" tripod is convenient
but not an absolute necessity. I have an extra
back that can be used on this camera to accommo-
[162]
Fig. 42. SURF AT BASS ROCKS
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
date 5x7 plate holders. The lens I use most
frequently is a 14J-inch Verito, which is fitted
with a Studio shutter. I also possess and occa-
sionally use an old fashioned Voigtlaender Eury-
scope Portrait lens of about 10 inches focal
length. This has Waterhouse stops that slide
into a groove in the lens barrel. As it has no
shutter, I use a lens cap. I have a piece of stout
wire bent in such a way that it fits into screw-
eyes on the camera front and projects over the
lens, and over this I hang a dark cloth for a lens
shade. I never use any kind of artificial back-
ground for home portraits and only very rarely
a reflector. By so placing the sitter in relation to
the light that there are no very heavy shadows
on the face, the need for a reflector is done away
with. I use either glass plates or Eastman Por-
trait Films, as is most convenient. The films
save weight when it is necessary to carry the
camera any considerable distance. I have never
used any kind of artificial light for portraits,
except for occasional experiments in my own
home.
£163:1
CHAPTER VIII
The Definition of Art — The Need for Cultivated Good Taste —
Picture-making Largely Instinctive — Landscape Photog-
raphy— Imagination — The Selection of Suitable Condi-
tions—The Illusion of Relief — The Illusion of Distance —
The Illusion of Movement — Underexposure Fatal to Suc-
cess—Night Photography— Still-life and Flower Studies.
IN preceding chapters I have endeavored to
point out some of the principles of art which
are observed by painters, sculptors, photographers
and all whose aim is to produce a work of art.
Art has been variously defined by different
writers. The most satisfactory definition, per-
haps is this: "The production of beauty for the
purpose of giving pleasure." When applied to
picture-making by photography or otherwise, a
better definition would be: "The beautiful repre-
sentation of nature for the purpose of giving dis-
interested pleasure." Either definition is applic-
able to photography, for we must keep in mind
H. Snowden Ward's definition of a photographic
picture: "A thing beautifully photographed,
rather than a beautiful thing photographed."
So the aim in picture-making is to represent
nature beautifully, in such a way that the repre-
sentation will give some pleasure to those who
C164]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
are capable of appreciating beauty. Nature, in
this respect, must be held to include human
nature, for in picture-making we can use both
animate and inanimate objects. Portraiture,
genre studies and all pictures including human
beings are in one class, and landscape or marine
pictures, with still-life studies, comprise the
second. There are, thus, broadly speaking, two
classes in picture-making; those that include the
human figure and those that do not, and there
is a distinct difference in the possibilities of beauty
in these two classes. In the representation of
inanimate objects, as in a landscape, we are
limited to the arrangement of things that are
expressionless in themselves. The beauty of a
landscape picture depends only to a small extent
upon the beauty of the actual objects photo-
graphed. It has been said: "The nobler human
attributes and passions, as wisdom, courage,
spiritual exaltation, patriotism, cannot be con-
nected with a landscape and so it is unable to
produce in the mind the elevation of thought and
grandeur of sentiment which are the sweetest
blossoms of the tree of art" (Govett, Art
Principles).
A landscape picture is distinguished from a
topographical record in that it affords a sugges-
tion of some emotion, and the beauty of the
picture depends upon the truthfulness with which
[165]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
an interesting aspect of nature is represented.
Truthfulness of representation does not neces-
sarily mean microscopically sharp definition and
a profusion of fine detail, but, rather, the exact
interpretation of a mood of nature. Grace of
line, interesting spacing, truthful tones and the
attributes of beauty that are understood to be
experienced in the contemplation of a pleasing
pattern or design, are the qualities that are essen-
tial in a work of art. The production of a land-
scape picture, considered as a separate branch
of art, is regarded by some as being on a lower
plane than the making of pictures which include
the human figure, because in a landscape picture
the artist can produce only sensorial and not
intellectual beauty and, furthermore, because
some of the highest qualities of beauty in nature
— grandeur and sublimity — can be suggested
only to a very limited extent in a picture on ac-
count of the necessity for representing the scene
on a very much reduced scale. Actual magni-
tude is required to produce either of these
qualities in any considerable degree; the actual
element of space can be suggested only very
slightly.
Suggestion is a most important element in
picture-making. In landscape pictures, in which
we will include also marine and still-life studies,
the success of the picture depends entirely upon
[166]
Fig. 43. ROCKY NECK, EAST GLOUCESTER
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
the effectiveness with which certain emotions and
sensations of beauty are suggested. Composi-
tion, the mechanics of suggestion, is the means
by which we achieve beauty in a landscape pic-
ture. We cannot improve upon nature, but we
must curb the prolixity of nature. We must
condense and simplify, must select just what will
give a suggestion of the emotions which led us
to think that the material before us would make
a satisfying picture.
Emphasis of one particular feature is usually
necessary; it may be a graceful line, or it may
be an interesting mass, but for the proper enjoy-
ment of a picture, this one predominant feature
should be given full sway, and should not be
weakened in force by the introduction of other
interests.
In landscape work the need for broad and
impressionistic treatment is strongly indicated.
The softening of obtrusive detail, the massing of
light and shade, are often necessary for the pur-
pose of simplification. There is a sense of free-
dom and satisfaction to be derived from long,
flowing lines and broad, simple masses. Such
pictures wear well and are easy to live with. So
we cannot too strongly emphasize the importance
of simplicity.
Both the accompanying pictures are simple,
and in both there is some evidence of the at-
C167]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
tempt to interpret a mood of nature. In Fig. 41
the theme is "sunlight," the hot, blazing sun-
light of an August afternoon. The picture was
simplified by trimming off the sky in making
the enlargement. In Fig. 42 the never-ceasing
surge and swell of the ocean is the motive of the
picture, and everything has been subordinated
to this.
In a broad sense all artists are impressionists;
they do not picture the objects themselves, but
only what they are conscious of seeing. There
is no virtue in elaboration. The artist, and more
especially he who uses a camera, must endeavor
to be, not a mere recorder of external facts, but
one who forms a vivid mental impression and
tries to make us realize his impression. The
interpretation of a mood is more to be desired
than a bald statement of fact.
The simplification of a picture begins with the
selection of the subject. We feel by instinct, or
we have learned by experience, that a certain
arrangement of line will induce certain emotions.
In a portrait or still-life study, we can actually
arrange such lines as we feel are needed in the
picture, but we cannot thus arrange the lines
of a landscape — we can only select. The same
impulse that suggests arrangement will also
suggest selection.
A certain amount of mechanical construction
[168]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
and ingenuity is needed in composing a landscape
picture. The artist must try to see lines and
masses as forming part of a pattern, not as actual
objects. The line arrangement, the pattern or
design of the picture, can be modified very con-
siderably by changing the point of view from
which the picture is taken. We aim to produce
certain illusions capable of stimulating the in-
voluntary sensation which we name pleasure, and
these illusions, as we have pointed out in pre-
vious chapters, are produced very largely by the
arrangement or selection of certain lines, tones,
and distributions of light and dark.
There are certain mechanical principles under-
lying the production of such illusions. These
principles are what we strive to understand when
we study perspective, both linear and aerial, and
when we consider the advisability or otherwise
of using orthochromatic plates and ray-filters.
There are laws and rules governing the pro-
duction of a picture, as of all works of art. The
musician must understand and obey the rules of
harmony and counterpoint, the writer must study
the correct use of words and the proper construc-
tion of sentences, and the picture-maker, whether
he be a painter or a photographer, must keep in
mind the principles governing the mechanics of
suggestion, on which his pictures depend for their
effectiveness.
[169]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
It must not be understood, however, that
picture-making of any kind, whether it be paint-
ing, drawing or photography, is a matter of exact
compliance with hard and fast rules; this is not
the case at all. There are certain recognized
methods in making pictures that have been uni-
versally adopted by artists of all times, and thus
have become crystallized into principles of com-
position, but it will be found that picture-making
is almost entirely a matter of good taste, and
that it is largely instinctive when the taste has
been trained and cultivated. If a photographer
can compose at all; if he can make pictures that
are pleasing to himself, and that are regarded by
competent judges as being interesting; if he can
make pictures that suggest to others the impres-
sions that he himself felt when he arranged or
selected the material, he will do so even if he has
never heard of any rules. When he has made the
picture, he will find that, on analysis, a reason
can almost invariably be given to explain why a
certain impression is conveyed, and why the
picture makes the appeal it does. It may be
because there are graceful or forceful lines in the
picture; it may be on account of decorative
masses or a delicate nuance of tone; it may be
that the picture starts a train of thought and
appeals to the imagination; but it can appeal
only to those whose tastes and instincts are
Fig. 44. SUNRISE ON LAKE WINNEPESAUKEE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
similar to those of the artist. If some people can
see nothing in a picture, if it means nothing to
them and makes no appeal, it does not necessarily
follow that the picture is at fault. They may
not have the requisite imagination or taste to
understand the picture. It is just the same in
music. Some can enjoy a Tschaikowsky sym-
phony, while others can appreciate only a jazz-
time quartette.
I have selected as illustrations of the various
principles referred to, pictures that I have made
myself and, in nearly every instance, have been
able to pin to the picture a rule or principle that
has been discussed in these chapters. It might
be imagined that I had this rule in mind at the
time, and made the picture to fit the rule. As
a matter of fact, I do not remember being con-
scious at all of any rules or text-book instruc-
tions. In making the picture Plum Island, for
instance, I did not stop to think at all about the
dark accent made by the child against the deli-
cate light tones, or the direction of the line of
the surf. When making the portrait, The Fair
Haired Boy, I did not consciously consider the
fact that a curve running through the picture,
from the head to the hands, would be a pleasing
line arrangement, and when photographing The
Painter, I do not think that the idea of the steel-
yard balance occurred to me at all. I felt that
[171]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
these selections were right and, on the strength
of that instinctive feeling, I just went right ahead
and made the exposures. Then, after the pictures
were finished, I discovered that they conformed
with certain recognized formulae, that the child
in Plum Island formed a necessary and agreeable
accent, that the distant vessel balanced the group
in The Painter, and so on.
I think most pictures are made in this way,
entirely by instinct, and that the rules and prin-
ciples can be tacked on afterwards. This probably
will explain why there are pictures that we like,
but that seem to conform to no rules. To "study
up" on composition and then go out with the
camera and a set of rules, with the idea of making
pictures, does not seem to me to be at all the
way to do it. It is, of course, very necessary to
read and assimilate the rules and principles of
picture-making, but when you are actually mak-
ing pictures, forget all about the rules and prin-
ciples, and rely on your own good taste and
judgment.
I do not believe that the ability to compose
successfully can be learned entirely from books;
it is a matter of good taste and judgment, cul-
tivated and improved by the study of good
pictures, and by the habit of looking for and ex-
pecting to see beauty in every phase of nature.
The natural and inherent good taste of an artist
[172]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
is possibly an unconscious knowledge of the prin-
ciples of composition. As soon as we become
conscious of this knowledge, the good taste and
instinctive feeling become judgment and selec-
tion. But the good taste must come first, for,
unless an artist can compose by instinct, I do not
believe he will ever learn to do it by rule. Learn
all you can from the study of a large variety of
good pictures. If a picture appeals to you par-
ticularly, try to analyze it and find out the
reason why it impresses you as being beautiful
or interesting.
To learn to see pictorially is the first essential
duty of the would-be picture-maker. It would be
no use to learn from a book that the S-shaped
curve, for instance, is a desirable line, if one
cannot see and appreciate such a line in nature.
Good taste and judgment can be cultivated,
as are other faculties, and the foundations of
success as an artist are good taste and an appre-
ciation of beauty. These must come first, and
the ability to record impressions of beauty will
follow later.
In landscape photography, the photographer
must learn to see his subject as a pattern; he
must look for lines and masses, and must learn
to see them as parts of his design. The suggestion
that is often given, to study the subject through
a rectangular frame of blackened cardboard, is
[173]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
a very good one, especially for the beginner.
The amount of subject included in the frame can
be varied by changing the distance between the
cardboard and the eye. In order to eliminate
color, and to get an idea as to how a subject will
appear in monochrome, it should be studied
through blue glass. Another way to study the
subject with a view to ascertaining the decora-
tive quality of the masses is to throw the image
out of focus on the focusing screen, so that all
detail is lost and only the important masses can
be seen. A tree is useful to the artist only when
the direction of its lines is good, and the shape of
the mass is satisfactory. The line of surf along
a sandy beach may be a good line or a bad one,
and the judgment and good taste of the artist
will enable him to decide whether it is good or
bad, just as his taste and judgment enable him
to decide as to the shapes of the masses. The
good taste must be cultivated until it becomes
instinctive and reliable. The only way to do
this is by studying and analyzing good pictures.
Rules and laws of composition will not develop
taste and judgment, they will only explain why
certain shapes and certain directions of line are
preferable to others, and give some assistance in
establishing a criterion. If a study of composi-
tion were all that is necessary, every photographer
and every painter could be an artist.
[174]
Fig. 45. THE WASHINGTON STATUE AT NIGHT
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
The quality of imagination is another very es-
sential attribute of the artist. He conceives an
idea and puts it into such form that it can be
recognized by others. This is true of painting
or photography, music or poetry. He does noth-
ing more. The greatness of the picture, the
music, or the poem is governed by the quality of
the imagination shown in its conception. Imagi-
nation is a natural gift that can be strengthened
by study, and a photographer, gifted with a vivid
imagination, who, by diligence and application,
has acquired skill in the manipulation of his
tools, can make pictures that will express to
others just what he intends them to express.
Imagination alone will not suffice to produce
great pictures; there must be sufficient facility
of execution to carry out the ideas in the artist's
mind. Technical facility can be acquired by
careful and intelligent practice. Imagination can
be cultivated by the study of good pictures, and
by the cultivation of the mind. Hard work is
the secret of success in art as in everything else.
The great painters acquired their excellence by
study and application. According to his biog-
raphers, the triumphs of Claude were due to his
untiring industry, while Reynolds held that noth-
ing is denied to well-directed labor. And so with
many others down to Turner, whose secret,
according to Ruskin, was sincerity and toil.
[175]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
Knowledge and experience are the foundations
upon which imagination can build. Years of hard
work are necessary, but it is unfortunately hard
to convince some students of the necessity for
long and hard study. Many seem to be under
the impression that inspiration will come to their
assistance, and that genius will enable them to
dispense with much of the labor which others,
less fortunate, must undertake. Some mistake
eccentricity for artistic merit, and think that a
picture that is weird and unusual in subject or
treatment is a worthy achievement. The uncon-
ventional, or, as Mr. W. H. Downes calls it, the
"unexpected pattern," often makes a picture
interesting, but eccentricity carried too far is
annoying.
Probably landscape work is more often the
first choice of the budding pictorialist than any
other branch of photographic picture-making, and
it offers a wide field for the exercise of imagina-
tion. Nature's moods are many and varied, and
there is ample scope for individual treatment.
The chief point to bear in mind is that a simple
subject is usually more permanently pleasing than
one that is too complex. The selection of suitable
atmospheric conditions is of great importance, for
the "interpretation of a mood" can only be
effected when there is obvious evidence of the
existence of the particular mood. There can be
[176]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
no definite rules given as to what these condi-
tions are to be. Nature is interesting at all times,
but, as a general rule, very harsh and glaring
sunlight, when the sun is high in the heavens,
should be avoided, because at such times there
is often an utter lack of relief, roundness and
modeling in the trees and other objects.
The reason why we can see things stereo-
scopically is because we have two eyes, just like
a stereoscopic camera. The two slightly different
images are merged into one, and we get the sug-
gestion of solidity, roundness and relief. This
stereoscopic vision also enables us to gauge dis-
tances, to judge the flight of a tennis ball, and
to place things in their proper relative positions,
one behind the other. The ordinary camera has
only one lens, and sees everything as if it were
flat. Therefore the relief and roundness of the
objects represented by it must be suggested by
shading and by perspective. Thus shading is of
great importance, and good shadows can best
be secured when the sun is low, and when one
side of all objects is more strongly lighted than
the other. Sunlight coming from one side gives
the maximum of relief, and the long shadows of
the early morning or late afternoon are often very
beautiful and decidedly interesting.
In picture-making the eye has to be considered
before the mind, and it is of immense importance
[177]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
that the brain should have the least possible work
to do in assisting the eye to interpret a picture.
The aim of the artist is to produce an illusion,
and the more nearly a picture corresponds to
nature, the more complete the illusion. Exact
imitation of every detail will not produce as
striking an illusion as will a picture in which such
things as relief, distance and movement are
vividly suggested, and in which the artist has
generalized these essential qualities. The illu-
sion of relief, as we have seen, can best be pro-
duced when the lighting is such that one side of
an object is more strongly illuminated than the
other, as when the sun is low and towards one
side. The illusion of opening distance is sug-
gested when the atmospheric conditions are such
that the distant planes are less clearly seen than
those near at hand.
In Fig. 43 the distance looks distant, not only
because the houses are small compared with the
fence in the immediate foreground, but because
they are less distinct and are grayer and lighter
in tone than the objects close at hand. The
veil of atmosphere between the eye and distant
objects tends to make them uniform in tone, as
explained in Chapter IV, and it is this atmos-
phere that makes distant objects less clearly seen
than those close at hand, like the distant houses
in Fig. 43.
[1783
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
In a landscape picture there should usually be
at least two distinct planes represented; often
there are three, the foreground, the middle-dis-
tance and the distance. Sometimes there is no
extreme distance in a picture, but only foreground
and middle-distance, while occasionally the fore-
ground may be merely a silhouette of a portion
of a tree or a branch projected into the upper
part of the picture, or rushes by a river bank at
the bottom edge of the picture.
The illusion of distance is a matter of selection
of suitable conditions of lighting and atmos-
phere. Early morning or late afternoon in the
summer is usually a more suitable time for pic-
ture-making than those times of the day when
everything, near and far, is equally distinct and
clear-cut. The slight haze or mist that is often
present early or late in the day is very helpful in
differentiating the different planes in the scene.
Full exposure and careful development, not
carried too far, will preserve truth of tone in
distant planes. Sometimes a suggestion of depth
and space is given by the introduction of an open
doorway or the arch of a bridge in the foreground,
with a distant view seen through it. Distance
may also be suggested by a river, a stream or a
road winding away into the background, and
thus linear perspective will help in creating the
illusion. Occasionally such an effect is produced
[179]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
in a snow scene by a track of footprints going off
into the distance. Linear perspective, the di-
minution in the size of objects as they recede into
the background, will give a suggestion of distance,
but this, in itself, is not sufficient, and the effect
must be increased by the illusion of flattened
tones and less decided contrasts.
Another illusion that can only b© suggested in
a picture is the movement and sound of nature.
"In nature there is always movement and sound.
Even on those rare days when the wind has
ceased and the air seems still and dead, there is
motion with noise of some kind. A brook trick-
les by, insects buzz their zigzag way, and shad-
ows vary as the sun mounts or descends. But
most commonly there is a breeze to rustle the
trees and shrubs, to ripple the surface of the
water, and to throw over the scene evidence of
life in its ever charming variety. The painter
cannot reproduce these movements and sounds.
All he represents is silent and still as if nature
had suddenly suspended her work — stayed the
tree as it bent to the breeze, stopped the bird in
the act of flight, fixed the water, and fastened the
shadows to the ground. What is there then to
compensate the artist for this limitation? Why,
surely he can represent nature as she is at a par-
ticular moment, over the hills and valleys, or
across great plains, with sunlight and atmosphere
[180]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
to make the breadth and distance and so produce
an illusion of movement to delight the eyes of the
observer with bewitching surprise" (Govett, Art
Principles).
Occasionally it is possible to suggest violent
movement by having some parts of the picture a
little blurred, thus showing evidence of motion
during the exposure, but this rather drastic
method should be used only to suggest an un-
usually impetuous agitation, such as would be
occasioned by a wind storm. A more subtle and
more pleasing means of suggesting movement is
by the general sweep of line in the representa-
tion of trees. A decided inclination of the branches
and twigs in one direction will suggest the idea
of their being blown by wind. It is possible to
give an impression of a landscape before rain, by
catching the moment when the eddying wind
turns up the silver lining of the black poplar
leaves. Movement in water, such as falls and
breaking waves, can be suggested by avoiding
too short an exposure, which is always apt to
give what is termed a "frozen" appearance to the
water. A breaking wave photographed so that
there is just a little blurring in the parts that
are moving very rapidly will give a more realistic
impression of motion than if every part of the
picture were absolutely sharp and clearly defined
(Fig. 42). Waterfalls and rapids can sometimes
[181]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
be just a little blurred, but not so much as to
lose form and character.
As was pointed out in Chapter II, oblique lines
and acute angles have a tendency to suggest
motion, while long horizontal lines convey an
impression of restfulness. There is another point
that might be noted in the representation of
moving objects, such as ships, animals or people
walking, and so on, and that is their position in
the picture-space. There should always be plenty
of space in front of a moving object to suggest
that there is room to move without running out
of the picture. Motion of animals, such as sheep
on a dusty road, can be suggested by a cloud of
dust behind them. Motion of ships sailing
rapidly will be indicated by the swirl or wake
behind them. The pictorialist will do well to
study all such things as these, so that he will be
able to analyze impressions quickly and make
his pictures convincing.
For the past two years I have had the privilege
of examining each month many hundred photo-
graphs sent to one of the leading photographic
magazines for competition and criticism, and the
conclusion has been forced upon me that by far
the most common failing in photographic picture-
making is underexposure of the negative. The
manufacture of ultra-rapid plates and "speed"
film has tended to foster the idea that the shutter
[182]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
can be speeded up more and more until less than
the minimum of exposure is often given. Plates
and films possess great latitude, it is true, but too
short an exposure always has a tendency to cause
a loss of atmosphere.
Of all photographic failings underexposure is
the most serious, for it cannot be remedied in
the darkroom, and an underexposed negative will
never give the delicate tonal gradations that are
so necessary from the artistic standpoint. The
differentiation of the planes in the picture always
suffers when the negative is underexposed, in
spite of the utmost skill that may be exercised
m printing. So the pictorialist must always
watch the shadows, and must be sure to expose
for the effect he wants. The success of the
picture depends entirely upon the exposure; very
little can be done in development to correct errors
in timing, and it is the shadows that must be
considered in judging the exposure.
There are very few shadows in nature that are
absolutely black, except, possibly, in India or
Egypt or other places where the air is very clear
and the sunlight is very bright and glaring.
Possibly the entrance to a dark cavern might
truthfully be represented as black in a picture,
but, as a general rule, there is detail and grada-
tion throughout the shadows. In a subject
lighted by electric arc-lamps, the shadows would
[183]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
be hard, black and solid, and should be so repre-
sented in a picture. This would be quite correct.
But the same subject in daylight would have
entirely different shadows.
Moonlight scenes, so called, that are made by
underexposing in daylight show their unreality
by the hardness and blackness of the shadows.
The shadows in moonlight are empty and lack-
ing in detail, but they are never very dark. The
contrast between the shadows and the lighted
parts is much less in moonlight than under any
other conditions.
The reason why there is this difference is that
in daylight the shadows are illuminated by dif-
fused light, in moonlight or electric light they are
not. The contrasts in moonlight are very soft,
whereas the contrasts given by electric light are
very harsh indeed. This is why a much under-
exposed picture taken with the sun behind clouds
can never be passed off successfully as a moonlight
scene. The shadows are wrong. The under-
exposure has made them empty and lacking in
detail, but it has also made them too dark, and
the contrasts are too great for a real moonlight
effect.
Pictures taken at sunrise or sunset, facing the
sun, should be sufficiently well exposed to give
some shadow detail and should be printed so that
the detail is preserved in the print (Fig. 44).
[184]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
The tendency usually is to give a short exposure
with the idea of preserving detail in the sky, but
the highlights must be left to take care of them-
selves, and the exposure should be sufficient to
give as much detail in the scene as can be per-
ceived by the eye.
A sunrise or sunset picture is very rarely true
to nature in values and contrasts. Almost in-
variably there are signs of underexposure, and
they are often overprinted so that parts of the
sky are rendered as black. Sometimes parts of
the sky at sunrise or sunset are dark in color,
dark purple, perhaps, or dark gray, but never
black. Black clouds in a photograph never can
be correct. Such subjects need full color-correc-
tion and full exposure. From a practical stand-
point as well as an artistic one, it will be found
that a sunset and water combination is better
than sunset over land. Exposure is difficult at
that time of day on land, but the increased reflec-
tion of the water shortens the necessary time,
and the reflection may add pictorially to the
result.
With regard to night photography, the secret
of success lies in giving just as long an exposure
as will render as much detail as can be seen. Too
long an exposure will register detail in the shad-
ows that is not ordinarily visible, and the true
night effect will be lost. In such pictures, any
[185]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
lights that may be included in the view will be
very much overexposed, and they are liable to
cause halation in the negative. This is one of the
technical difficulties that must be overcome.
Films are much less subject to halation than
glass plates, but if plates are used they should
be backed or double-coated or both. Soaking
in water after a preliminary application of
developer will often bring out shadow detail
without blocking up the highlights, but with
double-coated plates quick development with a
fairly strong developer will often develop the
surface image before the developer has time to
penetrate through to the bottom coating. Night
photography is an interesting branch of work
and the possibilities for artistic results are great.
Figures 45 and 46 were both made after dark
in a city park, the only light being that derived
from electric arc-lamps. In both, the effect of
the light rather than the light itself is seen, and
thus technical difficulties of halation and over-
exposure of the lights are avoided.
There are many interesting effects to be obtained
at dusk, when the lamps are lighted and before
it is quite dark. This is an interesting phase of
night photography that has not yet been fully
investigated. It seems to offer great possibilities
and might do away with some of the difficulties
that are experienced after dark.
[1863
* IN PHOTOGRAPHY
In making still-life and flower studies the artis-
tic worker has plenty of scope for the display of
good taste, judgment and artistic feeling. The
entire credit for the success of such pictures is
due to the artist, for the arrangement of the
picture from start to finish is absolutely under his
control. In pictures of this kind the composi-
tion is wholly constructive. The photographer
can build up the picture as he goes along, very
much in the same way as a painter. He can
select the material for the picture and can ar-
range it as he likes; he can study the effect on
the focusing screen, and can make any changes
he thinks are desirable until he gets it right.
When he has everything as he wants it, he can
photograph it and can use all the technical knowl-
edge and skill at his disposal.
In Fig. 47 simplicity was the keynote. There
is nothing in the picture except the principal ob-
ject, placed towards the top and on the left hand
side, and the secondary balancing object, placed
a little lower and towards the right. The re-
flections in the shiny surface of the table top
give interest by means of repetition with variety.
In arranging flower studies the artist will do
well to keep in mind some of the principles of
pictorial composition referred to in the preceding
chapters. He should strive to secure unity,
harmony, balance and completeness. He should
[187]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
make his picture simple. He should endeavor to
obtain good lines, decorative masses and a pleas-
ing pattern or design. The rendering of tones
and color-contrasts must be carefully considered,
and the technical work should be without blemish.
The simplicity of treatment shown by Japanese
artists might be studied with advantage. In
their pictures we usually find all the above men-
tioned qualities, especially simplicity and grace
of line.
In order to secure graceful lines, only such
specimens should be selected as possess this
qualification, and only a few specimens should be
used in the picture, otherwise the grace and
beauty of each one will be lost. Grace and beauty
of line are what the photographer must chiefly
rely upon to make his picture beautiful, for he
will lose the beauty of color. It will be found
that hi nature grace of line and sumptuous color-
ing are seldom found together. The photog-
rapher should utilize the quality he can best
render in his picture.
[188]
CHAPTER IX
The Technique of Pictorial Photography — Developer for Nega-
tives — Intensification — Reduction — Printing on Plati-
num and Other Processes — Bromide Enlarging — Mounting
and Framing — Retouching — Trimming.
IN the preceding chapters, I have considered
abstract pictorial principles, and the impor-
tant part played by the imagination in the en-
joyment of pictures. I have given, so far, very
little information that is distinctly practical, and
have taken for granted that the necessary tech-
nical skill and experience are already possessed
by my readers. There are, however, many to
whom a few practical hints may be helpful, and
so, in this chapter, the abstract will give way to
the practical.
As to the best developer for negatives, any
reliable developer properly used may be con-
sidered to be the best, and any worker who has
experimented at all with developers will have
found one that he likes and is satisfied to use.
Jumping around from one formula to another is
unnecessary and futile, for there really is no dif-
ference to speak of. Edinol, metol, duratol,
amidol, are all good. I have used them all, and
[189]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
others besides, and have not been able to dis-
cover that any one of them is better than another.
Here is one formula that I have used for a long
time and have found to be very satisfactory, con-
venient and reliable:
Amidol 180 grains
Sodium sulphite crystals 3 ounces
Water 80 ounces
I have never found it necessary to be absolutely
exact in photographic weighing and measuring,
and in compounding this formula I usually take
a wide-mouthed bottle that holds twenty-five
ounces of water. I add to this one ounce of
sulphite with a spoon that I know holds just
about one-quarter ounce. This, when stirred up,
will dissolve very quickly, and, when dissolved,
I add to the solution a spoonful, which is just
sixty grains, of amidol. This developer has to
be mixed just before using as it does not keep
very well in solution. Amidol gives soft results
and good halftones, and it is particularly good for
bromide enlargements, giving prints of good color
and fine gradation.
The development of negatives for pictorial
work should not be carried too far. What we
need is a soft, rather thin, negative with good
gradation and no extreme density. There should
[190]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
be very few or no parts that are bare glass. Even
the deep shadows should show some slight light-
action, and the dense parts should not be so
dense that the gradations in the highlights can-
not be printed. The negative must be adjusted
to the printing process that is to be used, and
only experience will enable the worker to judge
this correctly. For platinum printing, a little
more density is needed than for bromide enlarg-
ing. Overdevelopment must always be avoided.
It is easier to intensify a negative that is too
thin than to reduce one that is too dense. In
case intensification is needed, the following form-
ula will be found to be very satisfactory.
The negative is first bleached in the following
saturated solution:
Mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate) 1
ounce
Hot water 16 ounces
After cooling this solution and pouring off from
the feathery white crystals thrown down, add:
Hydrochloric acid 30 minims
This gives the bleaching solution, which will
keep well, and which can be used repeatedly until
it is exhausted. It should, therefore, be returned
to the bottle after use.
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
After washing well the bleached negative is
blackened in any one of the following three
solutions:
A. Ammonia (0.880) 20 drops
Water 1 ounce
(This gives great intensification and good
black color.)
B. Sodium sulphite, 10% solution, made
slightly acid with citric acid.
C. An alkaline developer, such as hydro-
chinon. (This gives about double the
intensification of B.)
For reduction of negatives, either ammonium
persulphate or Howard Farmer's reducer can be
used, according to the result that is desired. The
former will tend to lessen contrasts by reducing
the highlights more than the shadows, and the
latter will have the opposite effect and will reduce
the shadows without affecting the highlights very
much.
Development is very largely an automatic proc-
ess; the quality of the negative is determined
by the exposure, and very little can be done to
remedy errors in exposure. If the negative is
known to be overexposed, the addition of a little
extra bromide to the developer before beginning
development will help a little, while an under-
£19211
Fig. 46. THE LITTLE BOY IN THE PARK
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
exposed negative should be developed in a very
dilute solution, so that the shadows will have a
chance to develop up a little before the highlights
become too dense. For a subject in which there
is likely to be halation, such as portraits made
against the light, or outdoor pictures, contre-jour,
quick development with a fairly strong developer
will be found to be best, for the halation is on
the under side of the sensitive coating, next to
the glass, and if the surface of the emulsion is
developed quickly and the action stopped before
the developer can penetrate through to the glass,
the halation will not be very apparent. Films
are much less liable to give halation than glass
plates, but if plates are used for such subjects,
they should be double-coated or backed.
With regard to printing, there are many good
processes, each possessing its own possibilities
and limitations. Platinum is undoubtedly the
process for the pictorialist, for it will reproduce
gradations and halftones more delicately and with
a longer range than any other similar printing
process, but it demands a good negative to do it
justice. It will reproduce all the defects as well
as all the beauties in the negative. A limitation
of platinum is the fact that it is a contact method
and, therefore, if large pictures are wanted, an
enlarged negative must be made if the original
one is too small. This is not a very difficult
C193]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
matter, and good working instructions will be
found in technical hand books. Carbon, gum,
oil and bromoil all have individual and distinc-
tive qualities, and are all very interesting proc-
esses for artistic work. There are several good
textbooks dealing with each of these, such as the
Photo Miniature series, and these should be studied
for complete working instructions.
Another process used by many prominent pic-
torialists is bromide enlarging. There are great
possibilities for personal control in this method
of printing, and the control can be and should
be purely photographic. Handwork on negatives
or prints should seldom be tolerated, for it is
very apt to falsify tones and gradations and thus
destroy the very quality that makes photography
worthy of being considered a fine art. I have
seen gum prints in which highlights have been
put in and halftones brushed away. The results
were rather striking and effective, but not really
satisfying as pictures. Bromide will give good
halftones and gradations, and will preserve pho-
tographic quality very much in the same manner
as a good platinum print. There is, too, a wide
choice of surfaces and textures, and many inter-
esting effects may be obtained by enlarging
through bolting-cloth or bond paper. The quality
of this medium, and the worker's absolute con-
trol over the size of the picture, make bromide
[194]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
an adequate process for the pictorialist, and it
should not be lightly discarded for the more
showy but less worthy attractiveness of the pig-
ment processes. Very few can attain the fault-
less technical skill and the unerring artistic judg-
ment required to make really worth-while gum
prints, and a good bromide enlargement is better
than a poor gum print and has more real merit.
A picture is made by the selection of the sub-
ject and by the disposition of the lines, masses
and tones rather than by manipulation in print-
ing, and the qualities that make a photograph
pictorial can be secured by purely photographic
means without manual manipulation of the nega-
tive or print. The artist in photography must
be a sound technician, and should rely upon
purely photographic means. If he wants to use
pigments and brushes, there is no reason why
he should not do so, but he would do better to
use them on a blank canvas than on a photo-
graphic print.
My purpose here is not to teach technical crafts-
manship, but rather the application of technique
and the principles of art. I am taking for granted
that the photographer can so control his medium
that the picture will, in the finished result, tell
the character and purpose of the photographer
himself. It should express his thought and
meaning, and be so individualized that it could
[195]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
not be mistaken for the work of any one else.
A photographer must have as sound a knowl-
edge of picture-making as a painter, and he must
have such control over his chosen medium that
he can put personal expression and his own
individuality into his pictures. In picture-mak-
ing, as distinguished from photographic record-
making, the artist aims to clothe the bare facts
in such a manner that their force will be aug-
mented but still truthful. The making of a
picture is "a human activity consisting in this,
that one man consciously, by means of certain
external signs, hands on to others feelings he
has lived through, and that other people are
affected by these feelings, and also experience
them."
The artist who uses a camera should rely upon
means purely photographic, upon those which
grow out of and belong to the technical processes,
but, at the same time, he should practise the
fullest control. The point of importance is that
the picture, whether it reflects the feeling of the
artist or whether it embodies the impersonal
poetry of nature, shall still be able to affect us
with some recognizable emotion, that it shall not
be a bare inventory of facts, but that it shall
express something of the relation between those
facts and our own lives. It will be found in
practice that straightforward photographic tech-
[196]
Fig. 47. ALMOST HUMAN
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
nique is ample to take care of individuality, and
that freakishness is neither necessary nor desir-
able. Just because a picture is unusually low in
tone, it is not necessarily pictorial. Too often
the attempt to secure low tones results in muddi-
ness and a vagueness that is very displeasing.
Gradations must at all times be preserved, what-
ever the key of the picture, and purity of tone
and good gradations are to be secured only
through faultless technique.
When the picture is printed, there still remains
a very important matter to be considered before
it can be regarded as being quite finished. It
must be mounted and perhaps framed.
In the matter of mounting a picture there are
two important points to decide; the color of
the mount and the size. The color or tint should,
as a rule, harmonize with the general tone of the
picture, that is to say, a delicate, light-toned
print usually looks best on a light mount, while
a dark print with a predominance of low tones is
best mounted on a dark mount. The color should
correspond with the color of the picture; a warm-
toned print, sepia or red, should be placed upon
a mount of a corresponding color, and a gray print
on a gray or white mount. Grays and browns
should never be combined on the same mount.
Multiple mounting, a style that was much
used some years ago, has now fortunately become
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
obsolete, and less elaborate and distracting
mounts are generally used. Many of the promi-
nent and well-known exhibitors use almost ex-
clusively a large white or very light cream-colored
mount with no decoration or embellishments of
any kind except, in some instances, a title and a
signature.
The function of a mount is to separate the
print from its surroundings, to isolate it from
other pictures, so that its beauties may be easily
appreciated. The mount must, therefore, be
quite unobtrusive and must not force itself upon
the attention, or it will defeat its own end. Sim-
plicity is the keynote in mounting, as it is in
making the picture, and instead of the half-
dozen or more various tints that were often used
in the early days of multiple mounting, one
single tint of a corresponding tone, a little lighter
or a little darker than the mount, is all that need
ever be used between the print and the mount.
Even this is often unnecessary, unless the con-
trast between the print and the mount seems to
need softening. Sometimes, if the print is on a
light mount, the mount may be decorated with a
pencil line drawn around the print, but such a
line, with perhaps a title and a signature, is all
that should ever be placed on the mount besides
the picture. Often the signature can be placed
on the print itself.
[198]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
The choice between a light or a dark mount
depends upon whether the print is light or dark.
It is possible to modify the appearance of a print
to a slight extent by varying the tone of the
mount. If the print is just a trifle too light, it-
may be strengthened a little and made to appear
darker by mounting on a very light mount, and
if it is too dark, it will appear a little lighter if
placed on a dark mount. This effect is the same
as was referred to in Chapter VI, where we
noted the effect of the surrounding tone on a tint
of gray. Surrounded by light tones, the same
tint would appear to be appreciably darker than
if it were surrounded by a tone darker than
itself.
The size of the mount and its shape must also
be considered. The size must be governed to
some extent by the purpose for which it is in-*
tended. If for exhibition purposes, a larger
mount may well be used than would be necessary
if the picture were kept in a portfolio or shown
apart from other pictures. On the walls of an ex-
hibition room, the need for isolating and separating
the print from others is more urgent than if the
print is seen only at home, and, therefore, a
larger mount is called for. The shape of the
mount depends entirely upon the shape of the
print, and the position of the print on the mount
is a question that is often puzzling. Here is a
[199]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
good rule that may safely be followed. Make
the top and side margins equal in width and the
bottom considerably wider. Eccentric placing on
the mount is very seldom advisable; it only
serves to draw attention to the mount, which is
just what should be avoided as much as possible.
In the matter of framing their prints, photog-
raphers have shown themselves to be more
artistic than painters, who are only gradually
realizing the inappropriateness of the gilded
abominations in which they frame their pictures.
As a general rule the frames that painters use
are not specially designed for the pictures. Only
a very few painters consider this to be necessary,
but photographers usually take some pains to
select a frame that is appropriate in tone and
design. In some respects it is easier for a photog-
rapher to decide on a suitable frame, because his
prints are limited to one color and, in choosing a
frame, he can obtain variety and harmony by
playing upon gradations of that color. Here, as
before, simplicity must be the chief considera-
tion, and the frame should never be obtrusive
either in color or design.
Careful, skilful craftsmanship is essential in
picture-making, and strict attention must be
paid to every detail. A picture can be spoiled
by careless workmanship, just as a great composi-
tion in music can be spoiled by faulty execution.
[200]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Technical details must be thoroughly mastered
before the soul of art can be discovered.
Those who are attracted by figure work and
portraiture sometimes feel that they cannot take
up this branch of picture-making without master-
ing thoroughly what is commonly supposed to be
a very difficult accomplishment — the art of re-
touching. Retouching really is not difficult at
all for the pictorial worker, because it never is
necessary or desirable for him to "finish" the
picture as is commonly done by the professional,
and the mysteries of "stipple" and "cross-
hatching" and other such conventionalities do
not concern him at all. In fact, such things
should be strenuously avoided.
It is absolutely essential that the artist should
do any necessary retouching himself, for it would
probably ruin the picture to send it to a pro-
fessional retoucher to be "finished." He must
carry out his own ideas, and do everything in
his own way from beginning to end.
The aim of the artist should be to bring out
as much as possible the character of the face by
the lighting and by the proper selection of the
point of view. These having been considered,
the next essential is to select the most pleasing
and the most characteristic expression. Re-
touching should never be relied upon to correct
faulty lighting or to change the expression.
[201:
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
We have seen that a picture is largely a matter
of suggestion rather than the representation of
actual facts, and that the suggestion is conveyed
largely by means of emphasis and elimination.
Retouching is one of the most useful methods of
emphasis and elimination, and as such it is of
tremendous use to the artist who can use it intel-
ligently. It is sometimes necessary to strengthen
highlights on the negative, in order to emphasize
the modeling, and it is occasionally desirable to
soften wrinkles or blemishes in the skin, which
are apt to be far more noticeable in a picture
than they are in real life. A fully-corrected lens,
as we have seen, renders everything with abso-
lute impartiality, and a line or a wrinkle per-
manently recorded on the photographic negative
appears to be more prominent than we think it is.
The camera does not create these lines and
wrinkles: they are really there, but, owing to
the constantly changing lighting and the vary-
ing expressions on the face in nature, we scarcely
notice them until they are ruthlessly and merci-
lessly depicted with unimaginative and mechani-
cal accuracy by the lens and dry plate. Some
lines and wrinkles are part of the character of
the face; some of them are only the temporary
accompaniment of a fleeting expression, but,
whatever they are, a fully corrected lens, focused
sharply, will render everything with startling
[202]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
vividness and without discrimination. From
motives of charity, as well as for the sake of
artistic truthfulness, it is sometimes necessary to
smooth out a wrinkle or two, or to remove a few
disfiguring freckles.
A soft-focus lens will aid very materially in
rendering the essentials in portraiture. A lens
of this kind seems to do away with the irritating
mechanical quality of photography; it seems to
possess an almost human power of selection, and
discriminates in a wonderful way between the
essential and the unessential. The fact that the
lens gives soft focus because of incomplete chroma-
tic correction helps very much in the case of
freckles. Chromatic aberration in a lens means
that the different colors of the spectrum are
brought to a focus in different planes, at differ-
ent distances from the lens. Thus, when the
blues and violets are clearly focused, the yellows
and reds are out of focus. So, in the case of a
sitter with blue eyes, yellow or red hair, and
freckles, if the eyes are focused clearly, the hair
is massed and the freckles softened, so that they
are not any more noticeable than in real life.
The red in the lips is also out of focus, and little
cracks and wrinkles on the lips are obliterated.
The boy shown in Fig. 48 has blue eyes and
yellow hair, and the chromatic aberration in the
lens has caused the eyes to appear sharper and
C203]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
clearer than anything else in the picture. This
portrait, made with a 16-inch Smith lens, Series
I, the original single lens, was made as an experi-
ment with a very large aperture, and the effect
of chromatic aberration, as described, is quite
apparent.
Much can be done to minimize the need for
retouching by the proper use of the right kind of
lens, and by care in focusing. All such methods
as this should be employed to the fullest extent,
and the lighting and posing should also be con-
sidered as a means of avoiding the necessity for
actual handwork on the negative, but when such
handwork is found to be requisite, it should by
all means be used to aid the artist in his repre-
sentation.
A retouching desk can be easily made at home.
A few pencils that have very long, fine points
and a small bottle of retouching medium are
all that are needed for the work. The pencils
may be sharpened on a piece of fine sandpaper.
The points must be very long and very fine,
rather like a darning needle. The artist should
avoid copying the methods of the professional
retoucher, who usually does far more than is
necessary. The fact that the picture has been
retouched should never be apparent. The fine
"stipple" and finish all over the face that is so
often seen in professional portraits is entirely
[204]
Fig. 48. GORDON
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
unnecessary, in fact, it simply destroys the
modeling of the face and the texture of the skin.
If the pictorialist will confine himself to a little
softening of wrinkles or freckles, and perhaps
slight strengthening of some highlights, if that
seems to be really needed, he will have done all
that should be done. The modeling, texture and
character of the face must be shown by the light-
ing, the pose and intelligent focusing, rather than
by the crude method of retouching, which never
can approach the delicacy of pure photographic
technique.
In actual practice, such retouching as the
artist needs will be found to be comparatively
easy. A little medium should be rubbed on the
negative, over the place to be retouched. Only
a very little is needed, and it should be rubbed
over smoothly, so that there is no hard line
where the medium stops. The wrinkles, if there
are any, should be softened with very light,
gentle strokes of the pencil. These strokes
should never be made so that they show as actual
pencil marks. Only the effect of the pencil
strokes should be seen, just as when a delicate
drawing is being finished. It is almost impossible
to work too lightly, but any one with a delicate
touch should have no trouble in making the
strokes so that they blend into the surrounding
tones.
[205]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
There are certain lines and wrinkles that may
be softened more than others. The vertical fur-
row often found between the eyebrows may
be softened considerably without destroying the
likeness, and this will greatly improve the expres-
sion. The drooping shadows at the corners of
the mouth, and the lines from the corner of the
mouth to the nostril, known as the labial furrow,
often need working over. Wrinkles at the cor-
ners of the eyes should rarely be tampered with;
they are part of the character of the face, and
their removal would spoil the likeness. Freckles,
if they show very plainly in the picture, may be
softened a little, but they should not be removed
altogether.
Only a very little work should ever be done
in the way of strengthening highlights. They
should be looked after in the lighting and posing,
but sometimes a little fine and careful work on
them may be a means of emphasizing character.
Very often it will be found that no retouching
at all is needed. This is usually the case when a
soft-focus lens is used, and especially when the
sitter is young and has a smooth skin.
The art in retouching lies in knowing when to
stop. Contrary to the ideas held by the average
commercial professional, retouching is not an
added beauty or a method of making pictures
more attractive. It is merely a rather clumsy
[206]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
method of eliminating some otherwise unavoid-
able defects, which are the inevitable consequence
of using an undiscriminating lens. Retouching is
not to be commended for its own sake; it should
be regarded merely as a means of correcting the
inherent tendency of the lens to record both the
essential and the unessential. It is not a photo-
graphic process, but an after-treatment of the
negative. It is a method of drawing on the nega-
tive with a lead pencil in order to obtain certain
effects in the print.
In the matter of trimming a print, the prin-
ciples of composition must often be observed. The
size and shape of the picture are entirely matters
of artistic judgment, and the artist should feel
perfectly justified in cutting down a picture if it
can thereby be improved in any way. As an
exercise in space-filling, it is interesting to see
how near one can come to making a satisfactory
composition that will just fill the plate or film
that is being used, without any trimming. This
is often hard to do, especially if the picture-maker
has a keen appreciation of spacing. Even if the
makers of plates and films are obliged to make
their sensitive material in certain sizes, so that
they will fit certain cameras, the artist is bound
down by no such regulations, and can make his
pictures any size he pleases, being guided only
by considerations of artistic arrangement. Often
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
we find that the subject we select will occupy
only a portion of the plate, and then it is better
to make the picture small and take it from the
right point of view, rather than make it bigger
by getting too close.
In trimming a print, the artist must be guided
to some extent by the position of the main object
of interest. This, as we have seen, should usually
be placed about one-third of the width of the
picture-space away from one side and the top or
bottom of the picture. Often it improves a pic-
ture to trim off part or all of the sky. Some-
times the foreground is bare and uninteresting,
and may well be dispensed with. Such things as
these should always be considered to be of greater
importance than trying to make the picture a
certain shape so that it will fit a certain-sized
mount. The mount must be made to fit the
picture rather than the picture to fit the mount,
and, therefore, the use of stock mounts with
borders is rarely practicable.
In trimming portraits, the position of the head
in the picture-space must be carefully considered,
for the apparent height of the sitter can be varied
by trimming close or by leaving space above the
head. When the head is near the top of the
picture, we get the impression that the sitter is
tall, and a certain dignity and importance is sug-
gested. When the head is low in the picture-
[208]
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
space, it conveys a suggestion that the sitter is
small. Another way in which dignity and height
can be added in a portrait of a full-length stand-
ing figure is by cutting off the feet. This gives
the impression of added height by the fact that
it is difficult to tell just how much has been cut
off and we can imagine it is more than it really
is. This is a matter of placing in the picture-
space, rather than trimming, but the same effect
can be obtained by trimming, if necessary.
In picture-making a good deal of practical
common sense is needed, and the rules and prin-
ciples should be regarded as guides, to be observed
or disregarded as seems best. When a rule is
broken, there should be a good reason for doing
so, and the artist should know what he is doing.
It must be understood that in picture-making
the methods used by one photographer may be
entirely unsuited to another. This must be so,
or there would be little or no individuality in
pictures by different artists. The principles re-
ferred to in this book are merely some of the
fundamentals, and each artist must develop his
own individuality, while still adhering more or
less closely to these basic principles. I have en-
deavored to make clear to those interested in
the artistic side of photography how the me-
chanics of suggestion can be applied in picture-
making. Such things as line, spacing, mass,
[209]
PICTORIAL COMPOSITION
balance, perspective, and so on, are just so many
cogs in the machinery. How they are put to-
gether depends upon the ingenuity and skill
of the individual. The old-fashioned hand-brake
on a trolley car is an arrangement of cogs and
wheels, and so is a lady's watch. Both use the
same mechanical principles, yet how different are
the results! There is much to learn in making
pictures. Only a little can be gathered from
books. The greater part of the knowledge must
consist of actual experience.
I am only too well aware that much has been
omitted and that many important points have
been but lightly touched upon, yet I hope that
there may be enough in this book to stimulate the
desire for further investigation along the lines of
pictorial composition.
[210]
INDEX
PAGE
Accent 75, 107, 124
Anderson, A. J 25, 60, 161
Angle of view, that can be seen by the eye 88, 118
included by a 5-inch lens 88
included by a 14-inch lens 89
Appreciation of beauty, the 4
Art, not always creative 7
definition of ;, 164
At the Close of a Stormy Day 108
Atmosphere 91
lack of , 92
Background 137
Balance 128
of the steelyard 46
Beauty, the attributes of 23
depends upon truth 23
Blake, A. H 22
Breadth 67
Bromide enlarging 194
Cadby, Will 10, 50, 57, 108, 109
Center, main object of interest should not be in the 47
Characteristics, of different mediums 49
of photography 51
Claude 175
Coburn, Alvin Langdon 10, 22, 135
Color, lack of, a source of disappointment 20
Composition, can become a habit 6
what is 8
exercise of the power of selection in 13
the mechanics of suggestion 9, 13, 20, 27, 32
appropriate action following a careful analysis of
impressions 15
C 211 3
INDEX
~ .A. PAOE
Composition,
very largely common sense 16, 27
an impulse 27
a matter of instinct 27, 170, 172
definition of 30
constructive and selective 31, 124
the function of 124
Concentration of interest 22
Copying machine, the camera a 9, 101
Crescent Beach 80
Curve, simple 126
S-shaped 128
figure 8 129
Day after Christmas, The 150
Day, F. Holland 109
Detail, not detrimental to the success of a picture 114
Developer for negatives 189
Development of negatives 190
largely automatic 192
Diagonal of plates 88
Difference between painting and photography 36
Dow, Arthur 64
Duhrkoop, Rudolph 135
Echo Bridge 15
Eickemeyer, Rudolph 18
Emotions are what concern the picture maker 16
Emphasis 117
by isolation 119
by elimination 119
by radiation of lines 119
by contrast in tone 119
of one particular feature necessary 167
Explorers, The 80
Exposure, full, will preserve truth of tone 179
under, a common failing 182
Fair-haired Boy, The 78, 171
Fenway, Boston. Museum of Fine Arts 23
Figure-8 curve 129
C 212 ]
INDEX
FAOB
Figures in landscape pictures 78
Flower studies 187
Focal length, determines size of objects 85
characterization of 88
estimation of 88
Framing 200
Full-face portraits 132
Full-length standing figure 125
Fuzziness 68, 115
Genre 81
Good taste, needed in picture making 170
can be cultivated 173
Govett, "Art Principles" 165, 180
Groups 136
Gum prints 50
Hands in portraits, the 129
Hand work carried too far will destroy photographic
quality 73
Hard work the secret of success 175
Harlem River, The 75, 120
Home portraiture 155
outfit for 162
Illusion, aim of the artist to create 178
of relief 178
of opening distance 178
of movement and sound 180
Imagination, an important factor 19
an attribute of the artist 175
Impressionists, artists are 168
Individuality of the artist 10
Instinct, pictures made by 172
Intensification 191
Japanese Art 30, 65
Kasebier, Mrs., human documents 19, 109
Key 57
[ 213 ]
INDEX
PAGE
Landscape pictures, the need for broad and impressionistic
treatment in 167
often first choice 176
Large-sized heads 131, 135
Lens, draws shading 52
soft-focus, for pictorial work 67
Spencer Port-Land 69
Verito 69
Smith 69
Smith Synthetic 70
Struss Pictorial 70
soft-focus, needs to be studied 73
long-focus, should be selected for pictorial work 85
rapid rectilinear 89
does not discriminate Ill
semi-achromatic 112
Libby, Francis t 65
Lighting, the ability to see 144
diagram of 145
Limitations, hi representation 19
lack of color 20
representation of depth and space 20
reduction to a small area 21
Lines, the expression of 37
of great importance 37
language of 37
horizontal 37
vertical 38
oblique 38
possibly of suggesting emotions by means of 39
triangular formation of 41, 127
curved 43
S-shaped, of beauty 43
Z-shaped 44
the unseen 44
repetition of, with variety 126
rectangular arrangement of 128
Lost edge, the 126
Mass 62
strength of 63
[ 214 ]
INDEX
Mass,
may be light or dark in tone 65
appreciation of 66
massing of detail imparts breadth 67
how to study 74
McKnight, Dodge 22
Mechanics of suggestion, the 9, 13, 20, 21, 27, 32
Meyer, Baron de 19
Monet 11
Moods, in individuals 13
in nature « . . 14
Moonlight scenes 184
Mortimer, F. J 109, 110
Mounting 197
Night photography 185
Notan 64
Ordinary lighting 145, 159
Orthochromatic plates, use of, does not exaggerate at-
mosphere 93
will enable a photographer to exercise some control
over his results 97
without a screen 98
not always indispensable 96, 99
desirable for snow scenes 103
for portraiture 151
Outfit for home portraiture 162
Panchromatic plate, use of, desirable in many branches of
photographic work 94
seldom necessary for pictorial work 99
Personal control 73
Perspective, linear 84
truth of, governed by point of view 84
agreeable, given by long-focus lens 89
viewpoint rather than focal length of lens determines . 90
aerial 91
Photograph, nothing but an arrangement of varying shades
of monotone 19
pictorial 8
C 215 ]
INDEX
Photographer, pictorial 26
Photography, a fine art 53
Picture, what is a 22
should be regarded as a pattern 28, 34, 173
Picture making, the aim in 164
two classes in 165
Placing of the head in picture space 133
Planes 179
Platinum printing 56, 193
Plum Island 76, 78, 120, 171
Poore, Henry R 46
Porterfield, Wilbur H 10, 65
Portraits, composition in, constructive rather than selective 124
the hands in 129
the eyes in 133
the background in 137
the tones in 143
the tendency to make the face too light in 148
outdoor 151
in sunlight 153
in the home 155
Principality 117
Profile 102, 147
Reduction 192
Refinement 142
Rembrandt, 113
lighting 145, 158
Repetition with variety 24
Representation, what we can do in the way of actual, is
limited 12
Restraint 116
Retouching 201
Rey, Guido, of Turin 82
Reynolds 175
Schutze, Eva Watson- 156
Selective focusing Ill
Semi-achromatic lens 72, 112, 114
Shadows 183
[ 216 ]
INDEX
PAGB
Simplicity 104
of line 105
of tone 105
of subject 108
the importance of 110
in portraiture 113
importance of, in landscape pictures 167
Smith lens 69
Synthetic lens 70
Snow scenes 103
Soft-focus lens, for pictorial work 66
for portraiture 71
needs to be studied 73
Spacing 33, 35, 62
Spencer Port-Land lens 69
S-shaped curve 128
Starting Out 75, 120, 122
Steelyard 46
Steichen 10
Stevenson, R. L., "Ordered South" 7
Stieglitz 22
Still Life 187
Strong positions in picture space 76
Struss Pictorial lens 70
Subject, choice of 109
Suggestion, in representation 12, 21
an important element in picture making 166
Summer Landscape, A 15
Sum of breadth and length of plates 88
Sunrise and sunset pictures 184
Sympathy 109
Theme of a picture 26
Tones, the most important consideration in dealing with
pictures made with a camera 49
what are 54
the characteristic virtue of photography 51
depend upon exposure 60
may be simplified 102
apparent strength of tone may be modified by sur-
rounding tones 121, 141
[ 217 ]
INDEX
PAGE
Tones,
in portraiture 142
truth of, in portraiture 148
Trimming 207
Truthfulness of representation 166
Turner 175
Underexposure a very common failing 182
Unity 22
Variety of line 40
Velasquez : 113
Verito lens 69
Vinci, Leonardo da, note-book 91
Ward, H. Snowden 72, 164
Weil, Mathilde 156
Whistler 100, 113
Wingaersheek Beach 107, 108
C 218
14 DAY USE
RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED
LOAN DEPT.
This book is due on the last date stamped below, or
on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.
General Library
University of California
Berkeley
LD 21A-50m-ll,'62
(D3279slO)476B
YC 13815
U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11