Thursday, September 1, 2011

de-clutter


A wise woman once told me that in order to know who you are, you have to take inventory of your life by taking everything out, in a sense re-examining, and asking yourself what you want to put back "in." What do you want to keep as your own? It is kind of like cleaning a cluttered room. Sometimes the best way to know what needs to be there is to take everything out, and put only what is needed back. Negative to become positive again...A lack of everything else to focus on what is most important.

Negative space in photography can serve a similar purpose - leaving all else out to focus on just one thing or part. It is one of composition's most powerful tools. What ISN'T there is what draws your attention to that which is! In the photo above I used it, in conjunction with the lights, to kind of draw an arrow right to the center of the action, which is, as the other musicians also allude to, David Grisman on the mandolin. I'm so glad we did this theme so that I could see such well done negative space shots...I get very excited about quality examples of well used negative space, and greatly admire photographers who master the concept.

One of those photographers is *esra* and it was very challenging choosing just one to feature here from her collection of shots that employ negative space so ideally. I chose the one below but please do check out her flickr stream for many shots that exemplify the concept so wonderfully.


untitled by *esra*

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Love everything about this photo! The color is subtle and sexy.

Ashley Sisk said...

What a beautiful reflection Cara - you're so right - when we declutter, we have the opportunity to re-examine life through a much more focused lens.

Mortal Muses said...

Cara, That's wonderful advise! Decluttering as a way to reexamine...i'm going to try that : ) Love your shot, David Grisman, sigh...so lucky! The pairing is perfect!

esra said...

Such a thoughtful and reflective post, Cara.I'm honored to have my image featured here. Thank you very much.

~Cara said...

wow. i just realized how both shots feature a bunch of guys with stringed instruments. and how one is black negative space and the other is the inverse. my subconscious is pretty clever.

urban muser said...

these are beautiful shots cara. i love esra's work--so glad you featured her today.

christina said...

you had me at "a wise woman"... so lovely.

Kirstin said...

Perfect decluttering, Cara!

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