Drummers at the Cultural Village, Lusaka, Zambia
Perhaps even more important than the other compositional principles we've looked at so far is simplicity. The comment that I hear perhaps more than any other about my pictures is that they are "clean." This means that they have no visual clutter in them.
For our photographs to have the sense of presence we want them to have, we must learn to simplify them. That means to make sure they have every element we want in the frame, and nothing that doesn't contribute to the overall effect. You are responsible for every square millimeter of that frame.
If you're not seeing what you want to see when you look through the viewfinder, move to a different position. Look from a higher or lower angle. Change lenses or zoom for a different focal length until you see the composition that sets forth the subject in the strongest way.
The picture of the Zambian drummers portrays the scene in the strongest way I could find. Even the fourth pair of hands in the lower right adds to the composition.
Simplifying your pictures doesn't mean there can't be complexity. This photograph, made after evening chapel services at the mission hospital in Abak, Ibom Province, Nigeria, is one of the most complex photos I've ever made. Yet, it's also simple, because everything that needs to be in the frame is there and nothing that doesn't contribute to the whole.
Tribesman of Mayalan, Northern Guatemala
Likewise, this photograph of a tribesman in the remote mountain village of Mayalan in northern Guatemala tells us a great deal about him. We see his environment, the type of house he lives in, the distinctive tribal collar of his shirt. We also see something of his attitude in the way he stands and looks at the camera with a serious, somewhat challenging stare. Or maybe he's just thinking "What is that crazy gringo up to now?"
Everything in the frame tells us something about him and his life, and nothing detracts. That's what I mean by simplifying.
All photographs made with Olympus OM cameras, various lenses, and Fujichrome slide film.
Photographs and text copyright 1989-2022, David B.Jenkins.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.
Soli Gloria Deo
For the glory of God alone
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