Photography: Art of Deception: The Photographer’s Guide to Manipulating Subjects and Scenes Through

128 Pages·2016·64.81 MB·English

by  Irakly Shanidze

phoTogrAphY
The ArT of DecepTion
how to reveal the Truth by Deceiving the eye
Irakly shanIdze russian photographer of the Year
dedication
i dedicate this book to my wonderful wife, irina, for she keeps supporting me in utter defance of common sense.
Copyright © 2016 by Irakly Shanidze.
All rights reserved.
All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.
Published by:
Amherst Media, Inc., PO Box 538, Buffalo, NY 14213
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Publisher: Craig Alesse
Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins
Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Beth Alesse
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ISBN-13: 978-1-68203-092-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938269
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Contents
“i always tell the truth. even when i lie.”—Al pacino
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 3. The art of
Photographic deception. . . . . . . . . . . . .101
1. Fundamentals of Black Belt in Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Photographic deception. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Face to Face. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
What Is a Good Photograph? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Better than Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
What Makes a Photograph Happen?. . . . . . . .10 Staged Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
What Makes a Photograph Visible? Through the Fly’s Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Part 1: The Properties of Light . . . . . . . . .15
What Makes a Photograph Visible? 4. Photographing the Inanimate . . . . .120
Part 2: When the Sun Is Not Enough . . . .25 Spontaneous Versus Meditative . . . . . . . . . .120
What Holds a Photograph Together? . . . . . . .35 Playing on the Heart Strings . . . . . . . . . . . .121
What Puts the Third Dimension Getting Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
into a Photograph? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Deception Is a Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
What Is Next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
final Thoughts
2. Tools of ethical decption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Photographic deception. . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Knowing Your Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Bending the Truth: Why and How. . . . . . . . .61
Withholding Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Taking Things Out of Context. . . . . . . . . . . .68
Smoke Screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Getting Emotional. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Telling the Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
The Road Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
conTenTs 3
Introduction
Photography is a lie. Just think about it: pho- very different from how a viewer would see the
tographers create two-dimensional images that same scene with their naked eye. Consequently,
sometimes even lack color and then expect ev- a photographer who is not aware of his inher-
eryone to believe that this is how it was in real ent ability to distort reality can ruin a picture
life. What is truly amazing is that people fall for simply by taking it. Fortunately, there are some
it way too easily—almost like they want to be good photographers out there. Who are these
deceived. It gets better: people still believe that people? They are the ones who understand the
you can only photograph what is really there. aforementioned constraints and use them de-
I am certainly not going to deny that a lens liberately to adjust the level of truthfulness in
(an optical system that focuses light inside a their pictures.
camera) sees only what is in front of it, but be-
lieve me, it is not that simple. It just so happens
a photographer and a camera standing between
the viewer and reality inevitably distort the lat- additional Materials
ter, intentionally or not. The individual features Additional materials to accompany this book are available for
of a photographer’s perception and the techni- download at www.AmherstMedia.com/downloads. password:
cal limitations of his equipment make him do deception.
things that may eventually make a picture look
4 phoTogrAphY: ArT of DecepTion
1
Fundamentals of Photographic deception
“reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”—Albert einstein
figure 1.1
Photography is an illusion. It all starts with a in real life. They can be invisible despite being
notion: if it is in a photo, then it must have ap- there. Something that is not there we seem to
peared before the lens at some point. Howev- notice—an object on a fat piece of paper some-
er, in a photo nothing is what it seems. Things times looks so real that we are compelled to
may look closer or farther apart than they are look behind it. And the list goes on.
funDAMenTAls of phoTogrAphic DecepTion 5
figure 1.2
What Is a Good Photograph?
Once, I was sitting in a coffee shop and wait- Person 2: Yeah, it’s cool. Just wanted to ask
ing for an art director who was late for our you, who is she? Quite a looker! Hook me
meeting. I had absolutely nothing to do but to up, will you?
eavesdrop on a conversation at the table next to Person 1: She is just a coworker. Married and
mine. The dialogue unfolded as follows: all.
Person 2: Why the hell did you take her pic-
Person 1: Do you remember a picture that I ture then?
showed to you last week? Person 1: What do you mean “why”? It is just
Person 2: Vaguely. What was it? so beautiful!
Person 1: Well, it was a blond woman—a real Person 2: How often do you have to change
babe. And some trees. the front tires on your RX7?
Person 2: Nope, doesn’t ring a bell.
Person 1: But . . . She looks you straight in the This surreal conversation carried on for anoth-
eye and she’s got this dress. You know. er good twenty minutes or so, until they had
Person 2: Oh, yeah, yeah, that’s right! Listen, paid up and left. Listening to them was quite
Stanley Cup is on tonight. Wanna come a treat; one kept trying to talk about a photo,
over to watch it on my 55-inch fat screen? which he apparently had taken recently, while
Person 1: Cool, I’m in! The girl’s hand is on the other was desperately trying to steer the
her lap. It is just so beautiful, right? conversation in some other direction. It was
6 phoTogrAphY: ArT of DecepTion
really farcical and, at the same time, very seri- The frst mark was for content, while the sec-
ous from a photographer’s point of view. Why ond one was for presentation. It always hurt
didn’t the guy want to talk about the picture? I so badly to get something like 5/2—or, even
mentally placed myself in his shoes. Obviously, worse, the other way around! Well, it just so
he wasn’t interested. That could be caused by happens that the grading system in photogra-
two things: either photography just wasn’t his phy is practically the same: a combination of
thing or this particular portrait of a blonde in artistic and technical criteria.
a dress in front of trees did not tickle his fancy. At this point, you may be thinking, “Shouldn’t
I am inclined to accept the second version as we be talking about lies?” Well, yes! Essentially, a
the more plausible explanation. In my experi- basic activity of almost any photographer is ma-
ence, a good photo can touch anyone with eye- nipulating the viewer’s consciousness for money
sight, no matter how well he or she can handle or for personal enjoyment. In order to do that,
a camera. there is a set of technical and creative means that
must be used fawlessly to make the lies convinc-
What Is “Good”? ing and thrilling (fgure 1.2).
So why do we all seem to agree that one photo
is great while another one is a fop? What are Technical excellence
the criteria that allow us make a clear distinction The fundamental criterion of technical excel-
between the two—and why is this important at lence is whether the photo conforms to your
all? Essentially, all of these questions boil down intentions of how it should look. Besides that,
to a fundamental one: “How can photographers particular criteria such as sharpness, exposure,
succeed in achieving global recognition?” This composition, cleanness (absence of sensor
perspective leaves no doubt about the relevance dust, spots, scratches, etc.), and print quality
of the question, does it? (smoothness of color gradations, color fdelity)
Of course, when it comes to photography, will help you determine objectively whether or
not everyone sets out to conquer the world, not there is something wrong with the techni-
but I have yet to meet a person who wouldn’t cal quality of your picture.
like his pictures to be seen with genuine interest In most cases the image (or at least its se-
rather than polite impatience. mantically important part) must be sharp, ex-
What is good? And how is it different from hibit a full tonal range, and present a balanced
bad? There is no universal recipe for “quality” in composition. On the other hand, motion blur
art. Moreover, due to the subjectivity of human can make the picture more dynamic and a pre-
perception, it is impossible to create a master- dominance of black or white tones will greatly
piece that will be equally (or even just a little bit) affect its emotional content. A slight misbal-
liked by everyone. However, a knowledge of the ance in the composition or clashing colors may
basic criteria of visual harmony really helps you change the perception of the image immense-
to consistently take pictures that will not make ly. It is important that any “wrongness” lend
spectators drowsy. a predictable contribution to the viewer’s per-
ception of the picture. (It is useful to remem-
artistic and Technical Criteria ber, by the way, that statements like “this is my
Back in my high school, our compositions were artistic vision” are just excuses that do not make
graded with two marks on a scale from 1 to 5. the photograph even a bit fner. If you want to
funDAMenTAls of phoTogrAphic DecepTion 7
use some unconventional approach, you better
be sure that it is indeed going to improve your When age chills the blood, when our plea-
picture.) sures are past—
For a photographer, presenting a picture For years feet away with the wings of the
before an audience is not unlike an oral exam dove—
in which technical excellence is expected. It is The dearest remembrance will still be the last,
there, before the audience, that it becomes clear Our sweetest memorial, the frst kiss of love.
that a good photo is something more than, say,
a telephone directory that is beautifully laid out This example is rather straightforward, so al-
and printed without a single spelling mistake. low me to make a parallel with Pushkin’s Eu-
If your picture causes responses like “great gene Onegin. Despite radically different for-
composition” or “wonderful lens choice,” you mats and styles, both pieces are similar in the
may safely consider it a failure. Techniques are sense that no one in their right mind would say
just means of expressing an artistic vision in that Byron was actually talking about the
visual metaphors. In this sense, photography temperature-lowering effects of age—or that
is amazingly similar to poetry; the ability to Pushkin’s story was about one good-for-noth-
rhyme words is clearly not suffcient to be able ing playboy shooting another because of a
to come up with something like this (from The neighbor’s daughter. Good poetry is never lit-
First Kiss of Love by Lord Byron): eral; neither is good photography.
figure 1.3
8 phoTogrAphY: ArT of DecepTion
A good portrait is never about a sharp taken: the wash of waves, the smell of seaweed,
and well-exposed image of a face, beautifully a sense of freedom because it was the frst day
turned into the light. A spectator will see not of a vacation, etc. The rest of humankind, how-
just an eye color and the shape of a nose, but ever, was not there when the photo was taken;
also the character—wisdom, vanity, kindness, for them, it is just a sunset. That is where an
deceit, bravery, femininity, etc. A good land- advantage of working with general concepts
scape is not about a sunset, or a waterfall, or really shows. They are universally understood
a mossy stone. It is about freshness, heat, sol- and cannot be argued. Therefore, anyone can
itude, danger, tranquility, etc. A good report- identify with them.
age image goes beyond a picture of an airborne Looking at a picture that conveys a fun-
paratrooper shooting his machine gun left and damental concept—for instance, joy, sorrow,
right. It shows heroism, or perhaps the sense- boredom, or suspense—the viewer feels an
lessness of violence. emotion caused by perceiving it, just like any-
body else seeing the image would (fgure 1.3).
subjective Perception That, of course, includes the person who took
You must have fgured out by now that a work the picture. As a result, the viewer ends up
of art should operate by abstract, universal sharing an experience with the photographer.
ideas. Why? Because your spectator is a lazy, It is the sharing that makes them both feel like
self-centered egoist who is not going to spend they have something in common.
a second on something that he or she does not This is always a powerful and profoundly
fnd interesting and easy to comprehend. Peo- pleasant experience. You must have had it more
ple are interested in things that are signifcant than once—that moment when you suddenly
to them, and it is universal ideas that have an felt a tide of sympathy for a total stranger who
ability to feel important on a personal level. It happened to share your musical preferences or
means that a viewer is more interested in what who liked the same movie. When it comes to
a picture conveys than what it shows. showing a photo to someone, this effect may
Some readers may object along these lines: be even more powerful because a viewer real-
“How can they not like this sunset? I took a izes that only you and nobody else could give
picture of it eight years ago, and every time I him this pleasure, since you took the picture.
see it, the memories take my breath away! How You, in turn, are grateful to the viewer for his
come they do not feel it? It’s probably because sincere appreciation of your work of art.
I’m so refned and sensitive and they are just The emotion caused by such an experience
pachydermatous ignoramuses!” Astonishingly, is profound enough to become associated with
such an opinion may be completely legitimate. the image, which makes it stick in the viewer’s
The photographer, indeed, feels more while memory for a long time. Emotions are easy to
looking at this picture than anyone else does. memorize, as they are registered directly; infor-
This is not, however, because the viewers are mation is perceived only by association.
insensitive morons. “That’s easy for you to say!” you may just
The secret here lies in what is called sub- have thought. “All you have to do is shoot con-
jective perception. The photographer feels ceptual visual metaphors and you are fated for
passionate about this picture because it is an success. But how do I do it?” Just calm down—
anchor to events that happened when it was there is a book full of tricks ahead!
funDAMenTAls of phoTogrAphic DecepTion 9
figure
1.4
What Makes a Photograph happen?
Attention! The next few sections touch on as- exposure
pects of photography extensively described One principle of the photographic process is
by many authors, starting with Ansel Adams simple: an image is projected through the lens
himself. Hence, they will be discussed only in onto an image-recording medium of some sort.
terms of their relevance to the deceptive nature For more than a century, photographers relied
of photography. The remainder of the chapter upon the light-sensitive properties of silver ha-
(even though it also addresses topics extensive- lides to record images. These days, most camer-
ly covered elsewhere), is more detailed due to as are digital (i.e., instead of capturing images on
its importance to the subject. flm covered with tiny grains of silver bromide
figure 1.5
10 phoTogrAphY: ArT of DecepTion