What Makes Subtle Imagery Compelling?
On any given day we are bombarded with stimulation of all kinds ... visual, auditory, tactile, tastes and odors; we are bio-engineered thus. Those stimuli that are strident and otherwise conspicuous by virtue of their size and/or intensity compel us to pay attention ... the failure to do so often at the risk of consequence, even peril.
But in the midst of all the stimuli experienced over the course of time, now and then appears an apparent anomaly ... something subtle rather than intense ... a reality oxymoron; instead of being evasive, it pulls us in ... it compels us to stay.
I have analyzed thousands of images and structures ... paintings, drawings, sculpture, architecture, even functional art (tableware, etc. designs), these both on the way to a Fine Arts degree, and, otherwise just normally as one of those things we right-brain types can't help. I'm a big visual guy (well, a not-too-tall, big visual guy for the record).
Some images are fairly easy studies; some defy conventional critiquing and others yet, reveal their souls to the trained and the innocent eye. In my opinion, some of the most compelling imagery, is that which sits on a kind of visual/emotional/psychological fence ... at first encounter, appearing like something familiar, almost mundane ... until we find ourselves unable to just turn away ... until we are drawn in and compelled to look deeper ... often without grasping for what.
Earlier this week I did something I've come to do virtually every time the opportunity arises ... walk out into a foggy morning, camera and tripod over my shoulder ... and head to the nearest forested area. Because my backyard is on the edge of a forest, when the fog rolls in, it sits virtually on my doorstep and I cannot resist rolling out into it and snapping pictures!
Although my headline is actually a question ... I won't attempt to give a written answer in explanation; instead, I will post a few images I believe to be compelling; because I find it difficult to be objective about my own pics ... I could be wrong, and, if in anyone's judgement, I am, please say so ... constructive criticism promotes growth.
All Rights Reserved/Article & Images/A. Macarthur
1) Indian Grass in a Misty Meadow
2) Path into the Woods, Montgomery Cty., PA.
3) A Haunting Image of November Woods
4) Effective Color is not Always Intense Color
Tags
Who is online
566 visitors
Although my headline is actually a question ... I won't attempt to give a written answer in explanation; instead, I will post a few images I believe to be compelling; because I find it difficult to be objective about my own pics ... I could be wrong, and, if in anyone's judgement, I am, please say so ... constructive criticism promotes growth.
Click on the images to get a better view.
Nice eye, Mike!
These are just to beautiful to describe and I don't have a favorite. Each one moves me in a different way. You should be mindful to keep them in a special file.
A lot of my enjoyment comes from strongly contrasting areas . I like to judge things by whether or not the image would make a good screen wallpaper . My current wallpaper has some beautiful contrast between a brightly illuminated red-orange hillock contrasted with dark grey hills . I wish I knew how to post it here . Needless to say it is nothing like the images that Mac posted .
This may sound a bit ridiculous, but on looking a little more intensely, rather than a passing glance, I found the first photo, Indian Grass, to be somewhat hypnotic. What that means to meis that we should study, not just glance at, such photos in order to feel their impact. As for the second,The Path Into the Woods, I would have named itThe Road Not Taken(in honour of Robert Frost).
"I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
In other words we would have more to enjoy in observing photos if we could meld them with literature. That just gave me an idea for a photo essay.
"I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Buzz,
I always loved that poem. But then I had to do a paper on the poem. It seems that the road less traveled, is the one he takes with regret. Most people ( including myself) thought that it was a good thing, but when you take the poem apart, it isn't. Still, who knows? (which was my argument). It's like the grass being greener on the other side. We only know once we've gotten there, and maybe had he taken the road more traveled by, he would have been just as unhappy.
Wow.. that was a digression!
You studied the poem, whereas I had just read it. I never took it to mean he regretted taking that road.
Oh, Buzz, I was not trying to put you down. I thought the same thing for years, too. I was just commenting on what I found out about the poem. Just a quick lesson from what I learned. And frankly, I still don't know how anyone knows if the road more or less traveled by will make you happy. Happiness is an internal function. You are or you're not.
I believe the last two lines tell the poet's intent ... that being NOT TO GO WITH THE FLOW, RATHER BE YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL. The "road less traveled" IMO is a metaphor for "to thine own self be true."
Perrie. I was just making a comment. No criticism or anything unpleasant. Don't be so defensive.
Very nice, Mac
Nice pics,Max. The Path In The Woods, draws me in and I can see myself walking downthat path.Really like # 4 too; the subtle and warm colors, serenity of the place.
Compelling they are , though perception and the emotional aspect evoked by any art is very suybjective, the ability of an artist is to create or capture an image that can convey that power component , either by visual percetion of the senses or the psychological aspect.To capture and than convey a mood in art is the intriguing part and sometimes simplicity is the answer. Hope I made some sense
[[some of the most compelling imagery, is that which sits on a kind of visual/emotional/psychological fence ]]
Whoa ... It just hit me that such images are actually the Indies of the photographic world !
Another path into the woods. This time it's a lumbermen's road in central Ontario.