Juxtaposition at it’s finest
Here’s a great photo tip, but you’ll have to really be looking for it: juxtaposition.
Juxtaposition is when two elements are placed side by side to one another. They are usually in contrast to one another, unlike things, but can also can share certain ideas.
I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around our planet. I show my fellow photographers how to incorporate the element of visual design into their imagery.
To do this takes more than just looking around the environment that surrounds you, this takes seeing things that also surrounds you; there for the taking.
I love to look for things that when placed side by side creates a sort of dichotomy. Things that either have nothing to do with one another but merely exist together, or things that do relate in one form or another. In any event creating an image that stirs the viewer’s interest.
In the above photo, I was in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, and because of the way the architect designed the space, I was sort of spiraling my way down from the top to the ground floor. I had my little friend with me so I could go relatively unnoticed among the ever present security ready to toss me over the railing if I was seen taking pictures.
By happenstance, I stopped in front of a large black and white painting (the artist names escapes me right now), and was looking it over for some sort of meaning, when this man walked up. The juxtaposition hit me right smack dab in the kisser and before he could take a step in any direction, I had my camera up to my eye and captured this wonderful relationship that I suspect no one else was paying any attention to.
That’s one kind of juxtaposition.
The second and more traditional definition of juxtaposition is in the photo of the woman selling tamales from her truck, i.e., sharp contrast. While walking in front of a construction site in Houston, I came upon this food truck and immediately saw this fantastic juxtaposition of an Hispanic woman selling tamales for five dollars a dozen, and about as prominent as an American flag could ever hang, there was the red, white, and blue…Old Glory at its finest.
A more traditional juxtaposition
Only in the US of A I thought to myself, then took the shot!!!
And so my fellow Americans, go forth and seek out your own photos that are all about juxtaposition, it’s a lot of fun when you see them.
Visit my website at:www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2017 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime. This coming July 30th I’ll be at the Maine Media Workshop for my 29th year. It’s a great place to completely immerse yourself for a week in the art of picture taking. The campus is alive with an incredible amount of energy, while conversations about photography waft through the dining hall where everyone gathers to eat each day. Check out other workshops I’ve conducted there under the category called “workshop stuff”.
Send me a photo and question to:AskJoeB@gmail.com, and I’ll answer you with a video critique.
JoeB
