Exercise 7: dynamic compositions in photojournalism
Exercise 7: dynamic compositions in photojournalism
Paula Carrillo, audiovisual lenguage. paula.carrilloc@edu.uah.es
One of the vital issues in taking control of your images, of what they convey, is composition. In short, how you organise the elements that appear in your frame.
A moving photograph is a photograph where we can see dynamism. Through the dynamic composition you are looking for a certain impact and strength in the image, so that the photograph is not something totally static, calm.
On the contrary, with a static composition we are looking for balance, a certain order, that the elements transmit more tranquillity and calm.
Dynamic and static have to do with two expressive forces in photography: harmony and contrast.
Harmony is stable and balanced, while contrast is dynamic and unstable.
On the other hand, journalistic photography aims to represent and communicate through photographs certain events, characters, themes or events.
In this exercise, we are going to see several examples of journalistic photographs with a dynamic character or composition.
For example, we can see the following image:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-06-27/la-miliciana-ya-tiene-nombre-anita-garbin-alonso-costurera-exiliada-anarquista.html
We can see that this is an image in movement because of its dynamism, its instability, its twisted perspective thanks to the diagonal lines that can be seen in the image both in the flag and in the building, the cables, the composition of its body, etc.
Another case we can see is the following:
https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2023/11/10/654d25ffe4d4d8aa238b457a.html
In it, we can see dynamism, both in the flames that represent the movement represented by curved lines that offer dynamism. We can also see it in the inclined flag that gives a sense of movement and activity through the diagonal lines.
Another example would be
https://www.larazon.es/deportes/tenis/horario-donde-ver-television-alcaraz-zverev-debut-carlos-atp-finals_20231109654d2cb2b276150001a5ff72.html
In this case, we see dynamism through diagonal lines, which bring more movement to an image. The use of such striking colours against a black background to catch the eye may also have an influence.
On the other hand, we can see this image with quite a lot of dynanism:
Finally, once again, in this image the movement and inclination of the flags, together with the movement of the people, creates dynamism for this image.
To change the dynamic a bit, we are also going to look at some historically known journalistic photographs.
On the one hand, we have the photo "The kiss at the town hall" by the photographer Robert Doisneau. It was published in the American magazine Life in 1950 and the photograph went around the world. According to our research, this photograph became the symbol of the humanist photography movement. A movement led by Robert Doisneau, the author of this photograph, whose aim was to show the most beautiful aspects of humanity after so many years of war.
https://maestrosdelafotografia.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/beso-en-el-ayuntamiento-de-robert-doisneau/
We can see that it is a photograph with great movement. Not only because of the movement generated by the people walking, leaving traces of their bodies, but also because of the inclination of the couple, forming inclined and curved lines.
On the other hand, and along the same lines, we can see the photograph V-J Day in Times Square, by Alfred Eisenstaedt. The photographer captured this moment between an American soldier and a nurse in Times Square, New York, in the United States. This photograph, published in Life magazine, was taken on the day the Allied troops defeated Japan.
https://www.softonic.com/articulos/el-beso-no-consentido-mas-famoso-de-la-historia-que-paso-en-times-square-en-1945
As in the previous photograph, we can see how the movement is reflected both in the traces of movement of the people and in the oblique lines that form the couple in the image.
Finally, for this exercise, we are going to create a dynamic photograph.
In this case, we see a photo in motion thanks to the traces of movement left by the water. We have achieved this by increasing the capture time of the lens, in order to capture the movement of both the falling water and how it affects the water resting in the fountain, alternating it. On the other hand, the sloping lines that form the walls of the fountain create dynamism in the image.
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