lundi 25 octobre 2004

Shadow Play... Capturing the transient Just casting a bit more light (or shadow actually) on my Seeking the Sun and Shadow of Man blog articles... there are relatively few photographs taken that are devoid of shadows as many if not most are taken when the sun is shining - so there has to be a shadow somewhere. However, it is far less common for shadows to be photographed for their own sake. As photographer's we were probably advised many times by others... "Hey, watch out for your own shadow in the picture!" Oh boy... did we miss out, or what? You see a number of photographers consider the shadow (and their own for that matter) to be an important niche subject for their camera and portfolio. But shadows are not simple things... if the source of light on a subject is small and intense such as a point source - which in nature would be the sun, or in the studio a spotlamp - then the shadow cast (note... one light source only produces one shadow) can be as sharp-edged as a razor. On the other hand a shadow will be soft if the light source is diffused through a veiling material such as thin cloud outdoors or the white fabric of a large flash brolly in a studio. I like to be surprised by the drama or pattern of shadows. The introductory image on this page was seen inside the Norman porch of Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire and was taken purely because the shadow was seen for what it was. If the winter sun hadn't been shining as strongly at a low angle and at that time of the morning I wouldn't have lifted the camera. The subject in itself was nondescript for a candid photo... but the fact that the man stopped for a minute to check the contents of his wallet presented me with an opportunity to make a few near-silent exposures on my Leica... and this 1/125th of a second moment in time became one of my best selling images. The others were spotted transiently, paused for and thought about, manipulated in my mind and recorded to make the most satisfactory image I sought. The shadows cast by the slatted walls of the multi-story car-park onto the vehicle were almost too regular as seen from the conventional camera position... although an interesting picture was there somewhere. However, I realised that by tilting the camera 45 degrees off the horizontal a more dramatic image was created utilising the visual dynamics of strong diagonal elements. The tonal range of a print, where shadows form an important part of the subject, can only be fully revealed if a correct exposure is made. The contrast between the shadow and the mid-tone or highlight areas can be altered with the initial exposure, by the film's development, at the printing stage with different grades-of paper (soft to hard contrast)... or using a combination of all of these. It is important to remember that the exposure determines the density and amount of printable detail in the shadow areas of the negative whilst development determines the amount of density and printable detail in the highlight areas. Therefore under-exposure and over-development will produce a very contrasty negative to work from. Over-exposure and over-development will make a very dense negative which will be grainy and difficult to print through. Over-exposure and under-development will produce a flatter, less contrasty negative somewhat easier to work from. Ambiguities can appear in images which were not noticed at the moment of exposure. Shadows can take on more power than the actual subject, especially if the shadow is a human element. The American photographer Ralph Gibson has been preoccupied with shadows of such dominance they certainly became part of the main subject to the viewer's eye and mind. Another of my Self-Portrait images (below) similarly uses my shadow, and the camera's, very dominantly. It is always interesting to look at how other photographers have used shadows in different ways. Looking at the masterly landscapes of the late Ansel Adams the details in the shadow areas of his majestic subjects are as apparent as those in the high tonal areas because his eloquently described exposure and development technique, the Zone System (links to the first of my four articles on this site) was so perfectly tuned to extracting the maximum printable tonal range from both the film and paper. Three interesting books by British photographers, amongst many others, who have made shadows very noticeable in their work are Bill Brandt's "Shadow of Light," Paul Hill's "Approaching Photography" and David Bailey's "NW1." For some unknown reason many of my shadow pictures are taken with "direct vision" cameras, namely Leica M-series, Hasselblad Super-Wide and many years ago with a 2.1cm Nikkor attached to a Nikon F - which since it has to be used with the camera's mirror locked-up (thus no reflex focusing) and a separate viewfinder attached qualifies as direct-vision. I find there is definitely a feeling of seeing into a scene more clearly with such cameras - rather than with SLRs - which helps when photographing subjects which may or may not be there... I mean, a shadow is hardly tangible! However you choose to react to shadow pictures, do not totally dismiss them. Most photographers record what is happening or what has just happened. The abstract surrealism of shadows may show what is just about to happen... which may not be what you would always expect. 8:53:47 PM    comment []