According to the principal of Gestalt, the objective in our photography is to control what the viewer sees. We want to lead him around our composition and while doing so he’ll become an active participant. Making people work harder is not necessarily a good thing, but in photography it is. The more he works by discovering new things in our photos, the longer he’ll stick around.

That’s just what we want him to do.

One of the concepts of Gestalt is called Continuance, and in my online class with the BPSOP, and with my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I teach around the globe, we go into detail, both in discussion and in practice. The viewer will have an instinctive tendency to follow a path, or a river, a fence line, roads, tree line, steps, railroad tracks, etc. These compositional elements are very important as they provide a way for the viewer to travel around our frame, and if these elements leave the frame all the better. We want to give the viewer multiple ways to leave and enter our frame.

The viewer will also want to know what someone is either looking at or pointing at in our pictures, especially if they’re looking or pointing out of the frame.

When I was younger, my friend and I would go to a shopping mall and stand right in the middle of a busy area, and after a few minutes, we would point up to the ceiling. We weren’t pointing at anything, but it didn’t take long for people to stop and look up at what we were pointing at.

It was Gestalt in action only at thirteen we didn’t know it at the time. I’m not sure we knew it at twenty-one either…or for that matter thirty-five!!! Now that I get Social Security, I thought it was a good time to stop doing that!!!

🙁

Here’s a few example of Continuance in photography”

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Check out my website at www.joebaraban.com, follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out any upcoming workshops at the top of this blog, then come shoot with me sometime!!

JoeB

I teach three classes online with the BPSOP. My Part I and II classes deal with the elements of visual design and composition, and my third class is on the six concepts in the psychology of Gestalt. I also work on these in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

One of the six concepts is called Figure-Ground, and to master it is to take your imagery what I often refer to as “up a notch”.

Figure-Ground refers to the relationship between an object and its surroundings, or background. Do you see the figure in front of you or the background? There are times when it’s easy to pick out the figure, which is the object (the positive space) from the ground, which is everything else (the negative space).

There are also times when it’s difficult to pick out the figure from the ground, so it’s important to keep a balance between the Negative and Positive space as well as making the figure a “quick read”. In other words, be sure to make a clear distinction between the figure and the (back) ground.

I typically like to have the subject (figure) stand out and be clearly defined. In these situations, I want the ground to support the figure. I can do this controlling my depth of field by using a longer lens with the widest aperture; focusing solely on the subject.

The use of contrast by either placing a dark objects against a lighter background or light objects against a darker background are two ways. I can also separate the figure from the Ground by the use of color and size.

If you’ve ever read anything about Henri Cartier-Bresson, you would know that he used Figure-Ground all the time when creating his photographs. In fact, he was a master at it.

Another use of Figure-Ground is to create the feeling of the figure being small and alone. By making the ground the overwhelming part of your composition, this message will come across to the viewer.

An interesting bit of trivia is the intentional modification of the Figure-Ground that comes in the form of Camouflage. This is when we want to blend the figure and the ground together. Strange as it might sound, Grant Wood (as in the famous painting called American Gothic) helped develop the camouflage used during World War I.

JoeB

One of the most diverse, interesting, and sometimes complicated of all the principles of Gestalt that I teach both in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet is referred to as Proximity. If you’ve ever felt that your composition was a little off and you weren’t sure why you might have been suffering from a Proximity flaw.

There are several ways Proximity can add or detract from our photography:

The proverbial tree, lamppost, building, or telephone pole that seems to grow out of your subject’s head is one of the not so good ways Proximity can affect our photographs. I’m sure you have either seen it in other images, or have been guilty of it yourself, but have you ever wondered why you didn’t notice it right before you pulled the trigger (that’s a Texas euphemism) for clicking the shutter?

When we take pictures out in some location, we’re in three-dimensional reality, so it’s easy to see the relationship between one object and another. The problem comes when you try to convey your image that was taken in three-dimensional reality, and display it in a two-dimensional representation…as in a photograph.

Since the photographer is physically present, he or she can tell that a tree or a pole or some object is in the distance and not growing out of someone’s head. That is if the photographer is paying attention.

When a picture is taken that fact is lost; you’ve lost the third dimension, depth. The tree is now in two-dimensional contact with the person and the viewer will interpret the two as being one since they’re both in focus and appear to be on the same plane.

This is a very good reason why you need to study every part of your frame before taking the picture. for those of you that have taken my workshop or class, I talk about my “Fifteen Point Protection Plan”. It’s the best way to see this effect and rectify it…how you ask?

By simply moving over a step.

There are times when you can use this flaw to your advantage, and have fun with it; as in the photo above taken by a student in my online Gestalt class, and the photo I created of the cop with the fan on his head.

The funniest example of which I don’t have a photo is when I saw a friend of mine’s five year old putting his thumb and index finger out in front of him aimed at his mother’s head and touching them together several times in rapid succession. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was pinching his mother’s head. Try it sometime; it’s a great stress reliever, and it was Proximity in action!!!

Stay tuned for more on the effects of Proximity.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and be sure to follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Look for my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

CLOSURE:

By several definitions, Gestalt comes from the German/Austrian word meaning shape, form, or the whole. It is stated that Gestalt is the theory that the ‘whole’ is greater than the sum of its parts. It is also stated by others that the ‘whole’ is different than the sum of its parts. My thinking is that when you use the “elements of visual design” in your imagery you are basically working with and structuring these ‘parts’ that will eventually make up the ‘whole’; the ‘whole’ being your finished composition.

The methods we use to gain attention to our photography will vary, but what’s important is how we manage what the viewer perceives and processes when looking at the information we lay out to him in the form of a photograph. Visual input is a part of our everyday life, and as photographers, it is our prime objective to present this visual information in a way that takes control of what the viewer sees and when looking at our imagery.

In our reality, making the mind work harder is not necessarily a good thing, but in photography it is.  By leading the viewer’s eye around our composition, having them complete an image, or having them consider the scene, they are now participating by taking an active role, and when we can accomplish that our images will definitely be stronger.

When we talk about different ways to keep the viewer involved in our photographs, one of several ways is to have them “complete an image, or a form, or an idea”. The brain has the ability to complete an unfinished form or subject, and this ability in the theory of Gestalt is called closure.

In both my online class with the BPSOP and in the “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I teach, we discuss and work on the six different ‘concepts’ in the theory of Gestalt. In my part I and part II classes, we work on incorporating the elements of visual design into out photography.

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Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com. Come see me sometime, and we work and shoot together.

JoeB

I want to announce my next workshop “Autumn in France” to be next October 2nd. It will be in Bordeaux, Dordogne, and Toulouse. If you go to the top of my blog and click on the link, you can read the description. Join me for a great visual experience, seeing places that few people won’t ever be able to.

Gestalt comes from the German/Austrian word meaning shape, form, or the whole by some definitions. It is also stated that Gestalt is the theory that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When you use the ‘elements’ of visual design in your imagery, you’re basically working with and structuring these ‘parts’ that will eventually make up the whole.

How we perceive and process visual input is a part of our everyday life, and as photographers, it’s our prime objective to present this visual information in a way that takes control of what the viewer sees when they look at our photography. In my online class with the BPSOP, and also my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the globe, I discuss and demonstrate how the different ‘concepts’ in the theory of Gestalt can help take our imagery “up a notch”.

One of my favorite topics is this famous diagram that shows how we can get the viewer to look where we want him to. When you look at this drawing, where does your eye go? Where do you look first? The large circle or the smaller one that the finger is  pointing to?  Most people will look at the small circle because that’s what we’re conditioned to do.

We look where we’re told to look, and imagine how powerful this ‘concept’ can be when used in our photography. It will definitely help take it “Up a level”.

In our reality, making the mind work harder is not necessarily a good thing, but in photography it is.  By leading the viewer’s eye around our composition they are taking an active role, and when we can accomplish that our images will definitely be stronger. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be discussing the different concepts with you, so stay tuned.

If you’re interested in shooting with me with these concepts in mind, go to my website look at the work at www.joebaraban.com then click on workshop overview. Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/barabanjoe/

JoeB

In my online class I teach with the BPSOP, and with my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I take around the globe, I demonstrate the importance of using the concepts of Gestalt in taking our photography “Up a Notch”, and one of the concepts is called the “Law of Common Fate”.

This is a fairly simple concept, which basically refers to “visual direction” within a photograph.

For example, if you have two or people moving in the same direction, you’ve created a directional line, and this line is known as the “Law of Common Fate”. Together they have a common destiny, and they become the dominant theme in a photograph; they’re also perceived as one unit.

You’re making the viewer become an active participant in your photography because you’re leading his eyes around the frame, having him follow the path of the two people.

It’s a good idea (but not necessary) to put a message at the point of their final destination. If you place these two people in such a way that they’re leaving the frame, you’re generating Tension. You’re implying “content outside of the frame”, and now you’re making the viewer wonder where they are going.

For another example of this, see my post about shooting at the Getty Center.

You can also have similar shapes moving in one direction, and these directional Lines also become dominant in your composition.

Again, the importance here is to take control of what the viewer sees and perceives when looking at our photos. It’s especially important if you have these lines leaving and entering the frame. The more ways you can get the viewer to enter and leave the frame the more time he’ll spend looking at your picture.

Isn’t that a very good thing?

JoeB

Here’s a few examples:

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The psychology of Gestalt has been around since the 1920’s and was founded by a group of German psychologists. I started reading about it several years ago and began applying these six different concepts to the way I was approaching the way I took photos.

It’s all about managing what the viewer perceives and processes when looking at the visual information we lay out to him in the form of a photograph. Visual input is a part of our everyday lives, and it’s our objective to present this information in a way that will keep the viewer around longer…looking at our photos. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I like it when people look at my images for a long time.

Besides the part I and II classes I teach online with the BPSOP, relating to the elements of visual design, I now teach my fellow photographers how to incorporate these six concepts in a class strictly on gestalt. These are also areas I talk about in my “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

One of these concepts is called Similarity.

Similarity is perhaps the easiest of all the concepts to recognize and therefore explaining it without going into too much detail.

Similarity occurs when forms, colors, sizes, and objects look enough alike to be perceived as a group or pattern in the viewer’s mind. All these different elements, when occurring in your photos, give a sense of rhythm and will connote harmony.

The viewer loves to see photos that are designed with a variety of colors, shapes, and forms, and when the viewer sees these similar characteristics, he’ll perceive the elements as being related due to the shared characteristics.

Here’s a few examples of what I mean:

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Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2016 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime. The end of July marks my twenty-eight year at the Maine Media workshops. It’s a wonderful way to immerse yourself for a week and think about nothing but photography. It’s the same week as the Lobster Festival down the road in Rockland, and offers a completely different set of photo ops than the beautiful Maine coastline, amazing lighthouses, and quaint fishing villages. The full description is at the top of this blog.

I have added a new workshop to my 2016 schedule. On September 21st, ten photographers will get together with me at my evening “meet and greet” to begin a fantastic five-day workshop in New York, New York. Check out my description at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me.

The Los Angeles Center for photography has invited me to come out and conduct a three day intensive workshop over the July 15th weekend. I’ll be making a presentation of my work on Thursday July 14th and the public is invited. The full description can be see at the top of this blog, with a link to the site. I hope to spend the weekend with all of you.

Keep sending in photos and questions to: AskJoeB@gmail.com, and I’ll create  video critique for you.

JoeB

In a recent blog post, I talked about “The Law of Common Fate,” and how this concept in the Psychology of Gestalt can help take our imagery “up a notch”.

I talked about having two or more people moving in the same direction to create a directional line. Together they have a common destiny, and this destiny is what makes the viewer become an active participant by having him wonder where they’re going. These directional lines can be shapes as well as organic forms.

Another important concept in The law of Common Fate is when the viewer sees a group of arrows or hands raised in the air, and one of the arrows or hands is pointing in the opposite direction. This creates Tension because the viewer doesn’t associate it with the whole.

Because Tension is so important in our photography, I use people in the same way as I would have one arrow or one hand pointing in a direction that’s different than the rest of the arrows or hands in the same photograph. By the way, I’ll usually have my subject looking directly into the camera. The reason I do this is because Line is probably the most important of all the elements of visual design, and the implied line between the subjects eyes and the lens is very powerful.

The following slideshow gives you an example of The law of Common Fate by using people to create Tension in your photography.

Check out my website at: www.joebaraban.com and come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

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