Unit 2 - Frame & Composition (Activity 2)

‘To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer’s craft. His central problem is a simple one: what shall he include, what shall he reject? The line of decision between in and out is the picture’s edge. While the draughtsman starts with the middle of the sheet, the photographer starts with the frame. The photograph’s edge defines content. It isolates unexpected juxtapositions. By surrounding two facts, it creates a relationship. The edge of the photograph dissects familiar forms, and shows their unfamiliar fragment. It creates the shapes that surround objects. The photographer edits the meanings and the patterns of the world through an imaginary frame. This frame is the beginning of his picture’s geometry. It is to the photograph as the cushion is to the billiard table.’

Q. What does John Szarkowski mean when he says that photographers are quoting ‘out of context’ when they make photographic pictures?

        When photographers take pictures, they make the decision on what they will take a picture of, under what lighting, using different methods and even what angles. It is up to the photographer to decide what story he/she will tell. Based on the photographers intentions and ideas is how he/she quotes the context. Some photographers might chose a different angle to tell a different story. For example, like the picture of the same scene taken five different times. The photographer chose different angles which quoted out of context.

Q. The frame often ‘dissects familiar forms’. At the end of the last century photography was having a major impact on Art. Impressionist artists such as Degas were influenced by what they saw.
Find an example of his work, which clearly shows this influence and explain why the public might have been shocked to see such paintings.

People would have been shocked to see paintings like this, not because of the nudity, but because how common and simple it looked. When paintings had nudity in them, it was in a glorious scene, however with Degas, he depicted everyday actions in his work. He was bringing the everyday life of that decade to the people's faces. It was shocking to see a portrait as such above, the people could almost envision themselves doing that activity. It was the commonality that shocked the people, not the nudity.