Gestalt Principles, Aesthetics, & Photography

@dr_serena

Visual Intelligence

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust

Freud

Unconscious

Jung Model of Unconscious

Emotion

Temperature

Non-profit ideas

Gestalt Psychology
People attempt to impose a singular meaning on images Visual perception is the result of organizing visual elements into shapes or groups People have a need to create clarity and order in their environments

Visual Tension

Figure-Ground

Four Grouping Principles

Proximity Similarity Similar elements belong to the same class Continuation Natural flow of object in one direction belong together Closure People fill in missing gaps when outline is incomplete

Proximity

Proximity

Proximity

Similarity

Similarity

Continuance

Continuance

Continuance

Closure

Closure

Visual Elements

Dot

Tension

Line

Lines and Emotion

Lines

Shapes

Aesthetics
The study and theory of beauty and of the psychological responses to it (Neudfeldt & Guralnik, 1998)

Visual Preferences of Cultures

High Primitive art, abstract expressionism

Upper-middle

Films, public television, documentaries

Lower-middle

Representational art, Norman Rockwell paintings Religious art, paintings with vivid colors

Low culture

Quasi-fold

Comic books, graffiti

Volume

Size

Contrast

Golden Proportion

Fibonacci spiral

Balance

Movement

Bokeh

Abstraction

Texture

Pattern

Point of view

Questions to ask
What drew you in first, second? RO3
Lighting? Color? Detail? Emotion?

How will my photo contribute to knowledge and connection?

PHOTO SMACKDOWN
Shoot photos INDIVIDUALLY CU that the average passerby would miss #smallthings Well-framed photo #framed Face CU #face Proximity, Similarity, Continuation, Closure (2 out of 4) #(name) Upload to public Twitter #photosmack and category hashtag. Photo of one your classmates No staged photos, No image editing Due before end of class

Portrait of the Unseen

Objective: Look beyond the obvious. With 5 images, create a portrait of a person without ever show them in entirety. OK: Silhouette, parts of the body, environment Final: 5 photos