The Art of Composition part 1

Ever since 1816, when Nicéphore Niépce first experimented with projecting an image from his homemade camera obscura onto a piece of paper coated in silver chloride, the world of art has been divided. 

This rift, this schism, if you will, was sparked by a single question: Is photography art? 

If you want a powerful introduction to this debate, stroll into a random selection of high-end galleries and ask if they sell photography. There is a 50 percent chance you will be met with, “We only sell art here.” 

For more than two centuries, photography has divided the art world. 

On one side of the argument is the basic definition of art itself. According to Merriam-Webster, art is “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination...” 

On the other side of the debate is the assertion that “real art” is an expression of subjective reality. And since photography portrays reality, the argument goes, it cannot be classified as art. 

But there is a third perspective.

In the international bestseller, The Story of Art, E.H. Gombrich makes a bold claim: “There is no such thing as art. There are only artists.”

At the root of Gombrich’s statement is the idea that artists exist separate from their chosen medium of expression. For some artists, the piano and waves of sound are the poison of choice. For others, it is the camera and waves of light. 

Then, of course, there is the ubiquity of photography and cameras in our lives today. With cell phone in hand, everyone can be a "photographer."

But I beg to differ. 

Just because someone can pick up a brush and decide they wanted a different color of paint on their living room walls, doesn't mean that Michelangelo was nothing more than a subcontractor who painted ceilings of churches? Do we claim that learning how to whistle was basically all that was needed for Johann Sebastian Bach to compose The Brandenburg Concertos? Do we assume that upon learning to build a sandcastle at the beach during a family vacation, Donatello went home and whipped up his sculpture David?

These examples are meant to be ridiculous.

And yet, this is the colander in which the act of making a photograph is strained. 

But there is much to be learned from the arguments of those we disagree with. And here, in this debate, the argument that art is the expression of subjective reality does cut to the heart of what it means to be an artist. 

You and I can easily get bogged down in the details of how this applies to photography. There are countless decisions that photographers make every time they create a photograph. From lighting to lens choice to the ordering of the picture space. In fact, it’s downright cliché to say that two photographers standing side by side will always create different photographs for this reason. However, this concept of subjective reality is, in many ways, what makes art, well, art. 

So, if we combine the two sides of the argument of art and photography into one coherent thought, something like, “Art is the conscious use of skill and imagination to express a subjective reality,” we find ourselves at what I think is a solid working definition - though I prefer Gombrich's assertion. 

But there is a problem with this, particularly in regard to wildlife photography. 

How do words and phrases such as “imagination” and “subjective reality” apply to our particular genera of photography? 

With studio photography, we control EVERYTHING. Lights and light modifiers work in tandem with subject and posing and props to shape our emotional responses. Thus, imagination and subjective reality are all part of the process here. 

But in wildlife photography, we lose all of that. 

We cannot pick and choose how we want to light the vast majority of subjects. It’s nearly impossible for us to make decisions to tweak the shadows, adding one here, filling in another over there, in order to create mood and feeling outside of macro and setup photography. We cannot pose our subjects. We cannot orchestrate a new perspective on an old subject like other genera of photography can. 

The very fact that we are working with wildlife means everything is always working against us. 

But the one thing we can control is the composition. 

How we order our picture space is, in so many ways, the art of wildlife photography. 

The light is the light. The weather is the weather. The animal is going to do what the animal is going to do. But how we choose to compose with that light, which background we choose, how much detail we decide to include or exclude, how we pull together a foreground or why we choose to exclude one, and how we bring together various elements in the natural world to create compositional strategies such as baroque lines, golden means, and golden triangles are all within our grasp as wildlife photographers. 

The whole of visual art can be found within how we choose to compose. And it is through composition that we bring our imaginations to bear to express our subjective reality. 

A tree is not simply a tree. A log jam is not simply a log jam. Overcast skies are not just clouds. 

The very same principles that coalesce to help an artist create a captivating and emotionally compelling painting also apply to photography. The difference lies in how we go about applying the elements and principles of design through the tools we hold in our hands. 

And I am going to show you exactly how we do this. 

Over the coming weeks and months, I am going to embark on a massive undertaking here. I am going to create a series of articles for you that explores the entire breadth of composition in wildlife photography. 

This is not going to be another rumination on the Rule of Thirds. This will not be “my top 10 tips.” This will be a MASTER CLASS in composition to an extent that, to the best of my knowledge, has never been created before for wildlife photography anywhere. 

All of this will most likely be compiled into a book down the road. But you will be getting it first, right here via these articles in your inbox. 

When I look at the photography I see on Facebook, it's not the technical understanding of how to use a camera that is holding back so many photographers. Instead, it’s the use of light and composition. 

I have already written a book about mastering light. So, it's high time we address the elephant in the room that is creative composition.

I hope you are ready because there is a lot to discuss. 

As always, I’m looking forward to your feedback on this!