For this exercise we had to select an image of a tree, a child running or walking and a building, photocopy them into black and white and at various different scales and then create a representational image.
I chose three photos of my own: a tower in Marrakech, a tree from the Botanical Gardens in Geneva and an old picture of my little cousin.
I started off on black paper and tried out a few different compositions at different scales. The sense of the image changed a lot when the figure is smaller than the other elements as it gave ‘expected’ scale as well as depth to the composition as it suggested distance. When the figure was bigger it was suggesting proximity. Even when the figure and tower were the same size for example depending on the composition and because of what we expect in terms of size of a child versus size of a tower, it still gave depth and brought the child to the foreground.
I then tried different angles among the elements and to the frame in different ways. This seems to suggest more movement ad dynamism, was a little more unexpected and abstract and thus less realistic. Given this I even tried to make it more abstract by flipping the images onto their blank side and using the leftovers of the cut outs to make interesting shapes on top of black or white and at an angle like the light coming through a door or a reflecting onto water.
When the images were all horizontal or vertical it felt very static and forced and unnatural. It also came off more like a display of disconnected objects depending on the size of the objects compared to each other. When the objects were more ‘natural’ sized it was easier on the eye since it conveyed what we expect but was still quite a classic ‘photo’ snapshot look.
The selection above are the most effective ones though my progression when I started went from classic photo and ‘natural’ scale through to more movement with angles into abstract then I really enjoyed the reflection idea and finally got to my favourite which I will call ‘A puddle’s perspective’ (see below).
I like the fact that its quite an unexpected perspective with no horizon and quite the opposite to a bird’s eye view! I also think it represents the curiosity of the child, makes me think of jumping into puddles and rain and nature. I find this to be the most interesting composition overall. It worked well also because the child happens to be looking down as if into the puddle.
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