GEED 10073-ART APPRECIATION

LESSON 2 ART AND SCIENCE: PHOTOGRAPHY

Overview:

This lesson will guide the students as they explore the integration of art and science in
photography, a form of graphic arts. It will discuss what photography is, its elements as an art,
and the role of science in the production of photograph and in the development of photography.
This lesson will also highlight the new trend in photography which has become a part of popular
culture, the art of selfie and groufie.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session, the students should be able to:

1. Examine the connection of art and science to achieve aesthetic value of photography
2. Determine the importance of photography in everyday life
3. Analyze the emergence of selfie/groufie and its contribution to the development of
photography

Course Materials:

Photos convey a lot of stories about history and every person’s life. They carry the most
precious and momentous memories that last for a long period of time. The limitation of the
human brain to remember every single and small detail of an experience or event can vividly be
illustrated by a photograph. Together with the invention and advancement of cameras,
photography as a process and art has evolved throughout the time. Traditionally, photography is
the process of recording images through the action of light using a camera with film and printing
them on a photographic paper through a chemical process (Ramirez, Leynes, and Fajardo,
2008). Nowadays, subjects can be processed even without using a film. Printing of photos can
be quickly and hassle-free done in a digital way.

Anything that can be found around can be captured as a subject for photography. It
ranges from nature to an event and even to the new life inside the mother’s womb. The subject
of photography primarily depends on the interest of the photographer.

According to Belt (2012) a photographic image is composed of the following:

1. Subject - It tells what the image is about, its meaning or concept.
2. Content – It is the subject matter which can be a person, place, or thing that is clearly
depicted or identified in the image.
3. Form – It is the means used to arrange, unify, and present various contents, which includes
the traditional design elements (line, shape, value, texture, and color).

Belt (2012) added that exposure is also necessary in producing a good photo. It is the
amount of light that strikes and alters the photographic media; and the resulting density (overall
lightness or darkness) of the image. It is determined by the following factors:
 1. Amount of light in the scene
2. Photographic media’s sensitivity to light (ISO)
3. Aperture (controls the intensity of light striking the media)
4. Shutter speed (controls the duration of time the media is exposed to light)

Three Major Elements of Photography (Belt, 2012)

1. Framing – It is process of imposing confines of the camera’s format. It allows the viewers to
easily interpret what is in the frame. It allows the photographer to limit the content of the
image to its essentials. Its three important aspects are:
a. Picture planes – It is the flat, physical surface on which the image is captured,
containing the illusion of distance (near or far) and volume (an object’s mass).
b. Vantage point – It is the position and distance of the camera in relation to the image
contents.
c. Juxtaposition – It creates meaning through the relationship and interaction among
discrete contents, which results from consciously organizing contents with respect to
both picture plane and vantage point.
2. Focus – It is achieved through the following:
a. Aperture – It is the opening of the camera through which light enters to produce an
exposure. It controls the amount of light that will strike the photographic medium upon
releasing the shutter mechanism. Its size controls the depth of field. The smaller the
aperture is, the greater the depth is.
b. Lens focal length – The shorter (wider angle) the focal length is, the greater the depth
of field is.
c. Lens-to-subject distance – It is the distance from the center of the lens to the subject.
The farther from the focus distance is, the greater the depth of field is.
3. Shutter speed – It controls the length of time that the medium receives exposure to light or
how long the aperture is open. It creates a broad range of visual effects from freezing to
blurring motion. Shutter speeds, together with the static nature of the medium (the flat,
stationary, light-sensitive material inside the camera), and the movement are necessary to
record movements. The manifestations of time and motion in a single moment are divided
into three:
a. Frozen time – It indicates that two things are at play in a photograph: movement is
occurring (in front of the camera, the camera itself or both), and movement is prevented.
b. Blurred time – The movement in front of the camera or the movement of the camera
itself is traced, drawn out the picture plane.
c. Static time – The camera and the subject do not move; and the contents of the image
seem at rest.

The following factors can be considered to achieve a good photo

(https://www.nationalgeographic.com).

1. Focal point – It is the point of interest of a photo where the eyes’ exploration starts.
2. Framing - A frame in a photo refers to any object in the foreground that gives depth to the
photo. It should be part of the environment, with aesthetic value, and appropriate to the
subject.
3. Rule of thirds – It states that the subject should be placed either above or below the center of
the frame because the viewer’s eyes are naturally drawn to the spaces within the frame and
not to its center.
4. Leading lines – These are linear elements in a composition that guide the eyes across the
image and create a three-dimensional quality on a two-dimensional image.
5. Sense of scale – It is the manipulation of sizes of objects in the composition.
6. Color – It is the most significant element in a composition for each color has its ‘visual
weight’.
7. Timing – It can be achieved by sharpening reaction time; enhancing a fast motor drive;
practicing pre-focus; and carefully composing the frame.

Kinds of Photography

These are some of the numerous kinds of photography. The variations basically depend
on the subjects (www.nraismc.com)
1. Infrared Photography
2. Ultraviolet Photography
3. High-speed Photography
4. Aerial Photography
5. Black and White Photography
6. Color Photography
7. Digital Photography
8. Commercial Photography/ Advertising Photography
9. Fashion and Glamour Photography
10. Crime Scene Photography
11. Still Life Photography
12. Food Photography
13. Editorial Photography
14. Photojournalism
15. Portrait and Wedding Photography
16. Fine Art Photography
17. Landscape Photography
18. Wildlife Photography
19. Disaster Photography
20. Sports Photography
21. Political Photography
22. Weather and Environment Photography
23. War Photography
24. Social Photography

Science in Photography

Photography was known to the world when it was discovered by Joseph-Nicéphore

Nièpce, a French researcher on photographic techniques. He took the first photographic image
from the window of his home and was exposed for eight hours. After his death, Louise Daguerre
continued the improvement of photography. The photographic process was called
daguerreotype, which could produce a photographic image on a highly polished, silver-plated
sheet of copper, sensitized with iodine vapors, exposed in a large box camera, developed in
mercury fumes, and stabilized with salt water or “hypo” (sodium thiosulfate). It was through this
technique of Daguerre that photography acquired dual character – as a medium of artistic
expression and as a powerful scientific tool (Daniel, 2000).

Daguerreotype was succeeded by another invention, which was the use of negative on
paper. Nièpce started the experiment but it was Fox Talbot, an Englishman, who patented it
under the name of talbotype. It was improved more by a Frenchman Blanquart-Evrard, calling it
calotype. Another improvement was the introduction of collodion process through the effort of
Frederick Scott Archer. The collodion was made of nitrocellulose dissolved in alcohol and ether.
In this process, the photographer had to sensitize a glass plate which produced an extremely
well-defined image. In 1880, gelatin plates were introduced where in dry plates were prepared in
factories using gelatin containing silver slats. The gelatin dry plate allowed taking photos at
night. It was succeeded by the manufacturing of more technologized cameras. In 1869, Louis
Ducos du Hauron invented the color printing using three colored filters. It became the basis for
modern-day color printing and television (www.icm.gov.mo).

Photography is one among many magnificent by-products of art and science. Achieving
a good photo requires a combination of skills, good imagination, and good taste to meet its
aesthetic qualities. Science comes in as photography necessitates practice, experimentation,
and study to find out how the principles from science affect the appearance of the photo (Lind,
1999). According to Pat Izzo, a photographer who works with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), there is science behind photography, particularly the chemistry
and physics. Photography includes sensitometry, “the science of tone reproduction, which
involves dissecting the various tones of an image, converting each tone into a number and then
manipulating the numbers to understand the picture from a scientific point of view”. It is the
process of changing the image from a visual to a numerical representation.

The Art of Selfie and Groufie

A portrait is the likeness of a person particularly the face. It is not only the physical
attributes that are being captured but the character of the subject as well. A portrait may consist
of one individual or group of individuals. As technological products progress, photography also
finds its niche in the modern world for its evolution and innovation. Nowadays, the words “selfie”
and “groufie” are commonly used in the cyberworld or in the world of social media. These kinds
of portrait resulted from the ease of taking picture of oneself using smartphone and the
immediate sharing of captured photos in the social network.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “selfie” as “an image that includes oneself
(often with another person or as part of a group) and is taken by oneself using a digital camera
especially for posting on social networks” (www.merriam-webster.com). According to Urban
Dictionary, “groufie” was a trademark of Huawei to refer to a new smartphone that can take a
“panoramic selfies”. It is a short term for “group selfie”, a photo of yourself with others
(www.urbandictionary.com).

“Selfie” became the Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” in 2013. It was first
used on a public forum in September 2002 by an Australian man. Based on the story, that man
had a torn lip and took a photo of it to seek an advice about the stitches he got. But it was not
the first time that “selfie” came into being. In 1839, Robert Cornelius (an American pioneer of
photography) had the first self-portrait. In 1914, one of the first teenagers who had self-portrait
was Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia who took a photo of herself in front of a
mirror to send to a friend (Backer, 2017).

Also known as “art at arm’s length”, the first photo taken while the photographer was
holding the camera was in December 1920. It was done by five photographers of Byron
Company, a photography studio in Manhattan. These men were standing on the roof of the
Marceau Studio with an antediluvian analog camera that needed two men to hold it. In the late
1880s, the self-timer cameras made an ease to create self-portraits. The introduction of high-
technology cameras followed like the portable Kodak Brownie Box camera in 1900 and the
instant camera such as the Polaroid in 1970. Taking selfies have become widespread when
smartphones became accessible to the general public. In 2003, Sony Ericsson Z1010 mobile
phone with front-facing camera was released. In 2015, the Selfie Stick was invented to take not
only selfie but groufie as well (Backer, 2017).

Selfie or groufie does not end with taking a photo. Included in the process is making the
photo publicized by posting it on social media. The availability of the internet makes it possible
nowadays. However, sharing images is not new in the world of photography. In 1860s, there
was already a massive sharing of Carte de Visite or little photo cards with friends and visitors. In
2016, the increasing sharing of images through social media became the trend. In fact, a selfie
taken by Ellen Degeneres during the 86th Academy Award was held as the most tweeted image,
being shared more than 2,000,000 times before the ceremony was over and caused Twitter to
collapse for a short time. Aside from the entertainment and self-satisfaction taken from selfies, it
has become the root of some issues in photography as well. For instance, the “selfie-related
death” occurred in March 2014 when a man electrocuted himself on top of a train (Backer,
2017).There are also reported accidents that led to death because of taking selfies. Whatever
the motive is of taking selfies, one must be conscious enough of the possible consequences
that it will bring. It is not only about capturing the beauty of a self-portrait but considering also
safety and security of privacy of the subject.

References:

Backer, Emma. (2017). History of the Selfie: A Photo Phenomenon.theculturetrip.com.

Belt, Angela Faris. (2012). Elements of Photography: Understanding and Creating Sophisticated
Images. 2nd ed. USA: Elsevier, Inc.
Daniel, Malcolm. “Daguerre (1787-1851) and the Invention of Photography”. In Heilbrunn
Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.html. (October 2004).
Ramirez, Veronica E., Leynes, Mairene A., and Fajardo, Brenda V. (2008). Minding the Arts: Art
Appreciation for College. Malabon City: Mutya Publishing House,Inc.
____________Guide to Photography: Photography Basics.http://www.nationalgeographic.com
____________Introduction to Photography. www.nraismc.com
Lind, John A. (1999). The Science of Photography.johnlind.tripod.com
____________The History of Photography.www.icm.gov.mo
www.merriam-webster.com
www.urbandictionary.com