CHIAROSCURO AND KEY
# ontrast, as we saw at the beginning of
Chapter 2, underpins composition, and
one of the most basic forms of contrast is tonal.
The Italian expression chiaroscuro (literally
“light/dark”) refers specifically to the dramatic
modeling of subjects in painting by means
of shafts of light illuminating dark scenes. In
a more general sense, it conveys the essential
contrast that establishes tonal relationships.
Johannes Itten (see pages 34-35) identified it
as “one of the most expressive and important
means of composition” in his basic course at
the Bauhaus art school. It not only controls the
strength of modeling in an image (and so its
three-dimensionality), but also the structure of
an image and which parts draw the attention.
Whether or not to use the full range of
tones from pure black to pure white is a basic
decision, all the more important now in digital
photography, which offers the histogram and
photography works mainly in these “safe” tonal
areas. Shadows and highlights, however, can
contribute strongly to the mood and atmosphere
of a photograph.
The schematics below show all the possible
kinds of tonal distribution for a photograph—in
a sense, the lighting styles. If we ignore color
for the time being, these variations are defined
by two axes—contrast and brightness—which
are immediately familiar to anyone working
on digital images in Photoshop. Within these
groupings, there is an infinite variety of ways in
which the tones can be distributed. Chiaroscuro
in its limited sense occupies the high-contrast end
of the scale. The second axis, of overall brightness,
defines much of the mood of an image. When the
general expression is dark, favoring shadow tones,
the image is low key. The opposite, with all the
tonal modulation taking place in light tones, is
high key. Plotting one against the other, the range
Using these two axes, contrast and brightness
(contrast and key), as a guide, the choice of
style for an image depends on three things: the
characteristics of the scene (dark vegetation, pale
skin, bright sky, and so on), the way the scene is
lit, and the photographer’s interpretation. The last
of these is now, through digital post-production,
more influential than ever. On pages 112-113, I’ve
taken one image, of elephants under an acacia
tree, and shown how it can be simply rendered in
different keys—and how any of these can be valid.
One interesting feature of key is its different
appearance between black and white and color,
specifically that it is more difficult to make high
key work in color. Whereas high-key black-and-
white images seem luminous and graphic (with
the right choice of subject), color images are more
often interpreted in negative terms, as washed out
and wrongly exposed. Partly this has to do with
!-")'5)49 #!534)#3
color photography being more literally connected
!N)BANFARMERIN"ORNEORESTINGBYAWINDOWINTHELONGHOUSE #AUSTICLIGHTPATTERNSLIKETHESEAREFORMEDWHENLIGHTISSTRONGLY
levels controls in post-production. Most of the of possibilities forms a wedge-shaped pattern, with reality, and partly to do with taste and 4HEEXTREMECONTRASTMAKESITDIFFICULTATFIRSTTOMAKESENSEOF REFLECTEDORREFRACTEDANDPARTIALLYFOCUSEDONTOADIFFUSESURFACE
information content in photographs is carried because maximum contrast in an image demands familiarity—the Kodachrome-induced strategy THEIMAGEANDTHISDELAYANDAMBIGUITYGIVEITITSAPPEAL SUCHASTHISPAPER
in the midtones, and a great deal of conventional roughly equal areas of black and white. of exposing to hold the highlights.

#/,/2).4%.3)49
%XPOSED°ASALWAYSINTHISKIND
OFPICTURE°FORTHEHIGHLIGHTS
THECHIAROSCUROOFMORNING
SUNLIGHTTHROUGHAWINDOWONA
,/7#/.42!34 #HINESEOPIUMPILLOWENHANCES
BYCONTRASTTHEIMPRESSIONOF
RICHSATURATEDCOLOR

!6%2!'%#/.42!34

2%).&/2#).'0!44%2. ,/7+%9).#/,/2
4HESHADOWSINAHIGH CONTRASTSCENECANALSOREINFORCESHAPEAND /NLYTHEEDGESOFTHEGIRLANDHERFISHINGLINEBRIEFLYCAUGHTBYTHE
PATTERNWITHINTHESCENEASINTHEUNDULATINGSHADOWTHATPICKSUP LASTRAYSOFTHESUNDEFINETHISIMAGETAKENONARIVERBANKIN3URINAM
THECURVESOFTHEWOMAN´SHEADSCARFANDTHEBANANAS 4HESHADOWYFORMSOFTHETREESBEHINDCOMPLETETHESCENEWHICHIS
ALLEXCEPTFORTHETHINEDGESINTHELOWERREGISTEROFTHETONALSCALE
()'(#/.42!34

110 4( %0(/4/'2!0( %2´3%9% #/-0/3) .'7)4(,)'(4!. $#/,/2 111