Grammar 1
Photographs tell stories. A writer might use cadence, sentence structure or even the sounds of words themselves to convey meaning. In a similar manner, photographers use light and shape, they make choices about where to stand or how to frame a scene in order to make meaning clear. Based on ideas suggested in two seminal writings on photography, John Szarkowski’s The Photographer’s Eye and Stephen Shore’s The Nature of Photographs, this class will function as a primer of visual literacy for photographers. Through weekly shooting assignments, lectures and critique, students will learn about balance, tempo, ways of organizing space, the significance of geometric structure, and why the edges of the frame are important.
The shooting assignments in the Grammar of Photography are based on the ideas in John Szarkowski’s The Photographer’s Eye and Stephen Shore’s The Nature of Photographs. Shore points out that in order to make interesting photographs, two things are necessary. The first is that you need to have a point of view: observations that are out of the ordinary, an identification of a noteworthy subject or an insightful engagement with your subject. The second is that you need to be able to express what you observe in a visual form.
All images speak through light, color and the arrangement of forms, and photographs are no exception. As Szarkowski writes, a painter's problem is to create meaning and order starting with a blank canvas. Photographers generally face a different kind of problem. They need to find meaning and order within a world which already exists. For the photographer – where do I stand? when do I press the shutter? how do I arrange the subject within the viewfinder? – are questions answered every time a photograph is taken. These answers form a grammar of photography. As we answer with greater specificity, our images say more. A photograph tells a story because the photographer stood here rather than there, pressed the shutter at this particular moment, or focused on the detail which evokes symbol or narrative.
Far from being a list of rules to memorize, how we compose is an extension of the way we see. Slight changes in vantage point, framing and timing have a tremendous impact upon the content and success of a photograph. The exercises in The Grammar of Photography will make students more attentive to how we see what we see and allow students to produce stronger, clearer pictures as a result.
Lecture Notes and Images
Class 4: The Edges of the Frame
Class 9: The Nature of Photographs
Class 10: Review of Portfolios
The lecture notes linked to above are solely for students enrolled in Grammar of Photography classes. Unauthorized use or reproduction of text or images is prohibited without permission. All images are copyright their respective photographers.
Readings
John Szarkowski, The Photographer’s Eye
Stephen Shore, The Nature of Photographs, second edition