In this part of the course we are looking at lines. Lines are usually the edges of things but they can also occur by implication (which we will be looking at later). But the basic simple lines are straight lines - horizontal, vertical (which create feelings of stability) and diagonal (which create motion and tension). In addition, there are curved lines (which also create motion).
We were asked to photograph specific examples of horizontal and vertical lines - four images of each. The aim was to find some of the different ways in which these lines appear to the eye and the camera. I wondered around the City and the Bay and my eyes could see lots of different opportunities.
Horizontal - I felt these images gave a base, stability from which one could build a further picture involving other components such as people. The white tables and chairs on the pavement outside the cafe gave me a horizontal feel but also gave some perspective in their neat rows. No customers yet however! Pavement furniture in the form of a seat with horizontal struts was my next selection as I felt there was solidity and stability with this seat. The outside of the Welsh Assembly building in the Bay has thin symmetrical lines running across its frontage holding the glass together giving an impression of modern lightweight architecture. There are verticals too which I felt holds the image together. Finally, the horizontal pontoons where visiting yatchmen can tie up caught my attention and again, as with the tables and chairs shot, the repeating nature of the pontoons gave the photograph some perspective.
We were asked to photograph specific examples of horizontal and vertical lines - four images of each. The aim was to find some of the different ways in which these lines appear to the eye and the camera. I wondered around the City and the Bay and my eyes could see lots of different opportunities.
Horizontal - I felt these images gave a base, stability from which one could build a further picture involving other components such as people. The white tables and chairs on the pavement outside the cafe gave me a horizontal feel but also gave some perspective in their neat rows. No customers yet however! Pavement furniture in the form of a seat with horizontal struts was my next selection as I felt there was solidity and stability with this seat. The outside of the Welsh Assembly building in the Bay has thin symmetrical lines running across its frontage holding the glass together giving an impression of modern lightweight architecture. There are verticals too which I felt holds the image together. Finally, the horizontal pontoons where visiting yatchmen can tie up caught my attention and again, as with the tables and chairs shot, the repeating nature of the pontoons gave the photograph some perspective.
Vertical - I found vertical objects more likely to be photographed in the camera's portrait mode rather than landscape but all these are in landscape mode. Verticals have more of a sense of movement and confronting the viewer according to the course manual and I am inclined to experience this feeling too. Maybe horizontals are like a flat sea and maybe verticals are more like the waves? The first photograph is taken in a children's playground and are small round wooden pegs separating the grass from the rest of the play area. The second photograph features one of the two sets of decorative columns in Cardiff Bay. They bring a feeling of height and perspective to what would otherwise be a rather flat landscape, known as Roald Dahl Plass, a public plaza. Back in the centre of the city I felt the three trees stood out, braking up the surrounding concrete jungle as parts of nature. Finally, I photographed some railings using a large aperture to achieve a depth of field that puts the cluttered background out of focus. I feel the verticals do give more of a feeling of movement as the course manual suggests, particularly where perspective is also involved.
Next we were asked to look at diagonals which depend mainly on viewpoint. The course manual states that there are few real diagonals (such as staircases) but that diagonal lines are easier to create in a photograph as they depend mainly on viewpoint. They also are an important element in controlling the way someone looks at a photograph the manual states. I have long used diagonal framing in some of my portraiture work and found a good example of this approach in Man Ray's "Glass Tears" picture featured in Graham Clarke's "The Photograph". I followed up the mention of staircases in the manual by photographing the small staircase in the children's playgound trying to isolate it from the other things there by attempting to get a neutral background. Still on the theme of staircases but in a different form, I used perspective to get a second diagonal photograph, this time amongst the marble and grandeur of the National Museum of Wales. The third photograph features two canons in Cardiff Bay where the canon barrels point as they should do diagonally into the air. The fourth photograph is in a very large setting and shows some of the internal design of the Wales Millennium Centre. I felt this contrasted well with the other three photographs.
Finally, we were asked to look at curves. Curves, like diagonals, give a sense of movement and direction. The first photograph was taken back in the children's playground and is a slide. Looking up the slide into the light at the top produced a feeling of movement for me, rather like entering a tunnel. The second photograph is of a spiral staircase in a local civic building and struck me as a sort of "stairway to heaven" as it disappeared above my viewpoint. The third photograph was taken in one of Cardiff's historic arcades. So often our attention is directed to the shops but we have to stop and look up occasionally. The view created by the architecture and design of yesterday can be astounding. The final photograph is a piece of industrial architecture based on the hull of a boat. The ribs holding the sides of the hull together with their holes attracted me with their symetry and 'motion' and this became the final photograph in the curves set.