Unpeeling the Onion: The Importance of Layers in Photography
Anyone can take a picture, but what sets a talented professional photographer apart from the rest? The answer lies in the photographer’s individual aesthetic choices--for example, how they use tools and techniques to create layers in a photograph.
Layers can put a photograph in context, tell a story and convey a feeling or idea all at once. There are three layers that comprise most photographs; the action layer, the environment layer and the suggestive layer.
THE ACTION LAYER
The action layer is just what it sounds like--it is the action or the event that is taking place. As a wedding photographer specializing in the photojournalistic style, identifying significant moments large and small as they are taking place is especially important. Actions like the bride sharing a champagne toast with a bridesmaid or someone reaching out to buckle one of her shoes are the moments that I am there to document.
THE ENVIRONMENT LAYER
The environment layer is the context for the story. It is where and when the action is taking place, but how it is presented is often up to the photographer. This is where the photographer’s creative decisions and individual aesthetics come in. For instance, when I am shooting a wedding I always make sure to take a detail shot of the invitation cards in the context of the environment. I could represent the environment very literally by photographing the card in front of the reception site, but my preference is to find a great little detail about the venue that simply suggests where or when the event is taking place. If a venue has more of a log cabin feel to it, I could use some of that great wood detail as the background for the invitation card to indicate the place. If the wedding is happening during the fall, I could place the card on a beautiful leaf in the grass to indicate the season. By making these choices about the environment, I am eliminating the clutter and focusing on one or two distinctive features. How a photographer selects the environment layer in a photograph can indicate a lot about their personal photographic aesthetics.
THE SUGGESTIVE LAYER
The suggestive layer is where the photographer really has the most artistic freedom. It is a perspective, mood or feeling that the photographer wants to convey about the scene. I discussed framing last week, and selecting a foreground is one way of creating a suggestive layer. It gives the photograph a softer, more romantic feel, and can also help the photographer selectively include or exclude elements from the background environment. However, there are other tools that can be used to effectively create a suggestive layer. The quality and focal length of the lenses a photographer selects can effect the feel or perspective of a photograph very differently, for example. I once photographed a couple walking down two rows of an expansive vineyard, and I chose a long lens to draw more focus to the couple. It was apparent that they were in a vineyard by the leaves and vines from the two rows that were captured in the photograph, and the perspective that I created by using a telephoto lens to shoot down the two rows suggested that the vineyard was long and expansive. This photograph would have appeared very different if I had chosen to use a wide angle lens to capture the entire vineyard--it would have been a much more literal photograph of the vineyard rather than providing my perspective and interpretation of the environment. It also would have drawn the focus more to the surroundings than the couple. Either option can be ideal in different situations, but it is the photographer’s creative instinct that determines the outcome. When choosing a photographer, looking at the layers in their photographs is a good way to see the creative choices that they make and identify their personal style.
- Christian Oth