What Makes A Captivating Photograph?
In his movie, Enter the Dragon, the late martial artist, Bruce Lee, is giving a lesson to one of his students. As the sparing practice continues the boy becomes increasingly irritated, being unable to land a blow against Master Lee. Suddenly, Bruce stops and looks at the boy and says, “we need emotional content, not anger.” In a similar way, for a photograph to be captivating it must elicit an emotional response from the viewer, stopping them briefly to examine the photograph on a deeper level than most other photographs, not just to look upon the monitor screen or paper photograph, but to engage with it in a more personal fashion other than a casual observance.
A photograph in its basic form is nothing more than a flat piece of paper filled with ink, much like a page of a typed manuscript contains words, or an architect’s drawings having lines and shapes. A photograph is simply a flat two-dimensional representation of something, just like a poet’s words or the architects’ sketches. What brings them all to life is their content held within pieces of paper and ink. You probably have seen a grand photograph as you’ve scrolled through social media and stopped and proclaimed, “wow.” Likely upon stopping the scroll you examine the image closer, engaging with it. This would be an example of a captivating image. You were compelled to examine and engage with the photograph on a deeper level.
“Window into the Enchanted” — This photograph is particularly special to me because of the amazing experience I had while photographing it. The shifting light and the gentle whisper of the creek created a solitude that is encapsulated within this photograph. This is a top-selling photograph, and this leads me to conclude that it is indeed captivating.
Our daily lives are filled with photographic imagery, most snap shots taken to capture moments with family, the dog sitting with you on the couch, the kids playing in the snow in the front yard, or snapshots of things occurring before us, like a snowstorm, sunset, a funny bumper sticker. Compared to 150 years ago when people may be lucky to see a few photographs in the progression of a year, if ever, we see hundreds of photographs each day. The sheer number of visuals we encounter daily combined with our society’s hustle mentality have led us to a degree of de-sensitivity. Photographs tend to get better each year as more and more people get better by happenstance taking many pictures with their cell phones. Social media platforms tend to apply algorythyms to uploaded pictures to make them look better when you post them. Not only are photographers using powerful post-processing software, like Photoshop, but so are the casual shooters in order to add punch to photographs. All of this tends to create trends in what a striking picture should be so the target of what makes an impactful image evolves all the time.
Our minds have been trained to judge imagery in print and on screens in less than a second to determine if the scrolling should slow or stop for further examination. Only if an image is compelling to the individual, if it hits a chord, if it resonates within the viewer something deeper than superficial, will they be compelled to break the pattern of scroll and examine, with intention, the photograph.
“Impact is the emotional response to the physical qualities of a photograph.”
Suffice it to say, a great photograph will have elements of pleasing composition, and technical proficiency -- being in focus, level horizon, well exposed, lacking dust spots, etc. However, there is a third characteristic of an artistic and engaging photograph, impact! Impact is more than an over saturated color pallet, it is the architecture of the photograph, its juxtaposition of the physical structures, the tonal transitions, a subject caught in a unique moment. The arrangement of everything within the chosen frame of the photograph should elicit an immediate impression upon the viewer in such a manner as to have them momentarily be transfixed within it. Impact is the emotional response to the physical qualities of a photograph. Impact is defined by Oxford as “the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another” and “to have a strong effect on someone or something.” The first object is your brain (awareness) and the second object is the photograph. The “forcible contact” is the photographs ability to capture the genuine attention of the viewer for some extended period of time.
“Vision Quest” — This photograph was published in Landscape Photographer Magazine. One of my photography friends suggested to me that this photograph had a strong subtle impact that he thought that publication would appreciate. He was right.
So, a captivating, visually, and emotionally stirring photograph transfixes an individual, taking their attention away from all else for some measure of time beyond a few seconds. This separates it from a snapshot, an informal non, non-inspiring photograph. Might this also define a captivating photograph as art? Possibly, art is very subjective, and its appreciation, outside of its creators, is up to the interpretation of the person viewing it.
While I’m out and about within nature, photography helps me have a deeper experience with my subject, the all-encompassing landscape. While I’m experiencing the wonders I may come across, I feel compelled to construct photographs in ways that will help me recall what I was feeling in these moments. Occasionally, one of my photographs resonates with me and fulfills my hope of reliving the moments of awe that were impressed upon me.
“A captivating, visually, and emotionally stirring photograph transfixes an individual, taking their attention away from all else for some measure of time beyond a few seconds.”
Over my 25 years of photographing landscapes, I’ve developed my photographic style of capturing the landscape, and on occasion, one of these images delivers on being more than a snapshot. My end game with photography is not to garnish the approval of the masses but rather obtain quality records of the feelings and heightened experiences I had while within nature’s bosom.
I’m just a guy with a camera and a couple of dogs wandering around the deserts and mountains, hoping to gain enlightenment and live a joy-filled life.
