The ultimate result of the before-mentioned elimination will bring us to a representation in which there appears one single, simple objeal which the average photographer would say was incapable of composition because it stood in no relation to anything else. In this he is woefully mistaken. It first of all stands in relation to the boundary lines of his print ; and in the position it occupies, it divides the surface into spaces. This relation con stitutes space composition. Next it stands in relation to its background and here ends the problem of aerial composition. Again it must be illumi nated from some source of light and this brings in the problem of light and shade or chiaroscuro. Given a single subject, to produce with these elements alone a truly big picture calls for the display of the greatest art. So apparently simple and yet important are the elements that a slight error in any one particular assumes the proportion of a gigantic fault and the whole composition falls to pieces. Herein lies one of the fascinations of Steichen's photographs. In his direct and simple handling of light and shade and spacing there is a subtlety of which even the average photog rapher is conscious without being able to analyze why. This lack of understanding is often due to all lack of art schooling and above all to his want of proper association. Nothing educates and refines more than proper association.
Taking now our single, simple object and introducing another simple object into the composition, there immediately springs up a more complex sense of relation. The newly introduced object must now be studied not only in its relation to the three factors previously enumerated and to object No. f , but its relation to each one of the three factors operating upon our first object. This becomes thus a geometric progressive and so ad infinitum. The more involved these relations become, the less important are errors in these minor relations—yet should all these relations be harmonious the result, though seemingly simple, is wonderfully fascinating to the nature student of composition. An instance of this can be found in Whistler's
" Piano Room " .
I have often been told that one of the main characteristicts of my own photographs lay in their simplicity of composition, and " The Hand of Man " is frequently instanced as an example of this quality. As the lines of composition in this picture are anything but simple, I have come to the conclusion that the average person confounds simplicity and directness of subject with the totally different quality of simplicity in composition.
Had " Gossip-Katwyk " been instanced as a picture showing simplicity in composition, it would have been nearer the truth—yet this picture presented to me in its composition one of the hardest nuts I ever tried to crack. Given a homelike, everyday subject presenting familiar objects, the tendency is to cry : How charmingly simple in its composition ! Unconscious of the fact that the subject appeals to us and not its linear or even pictorial treatment.
And now I must return to my anecdote with which I began. So com plex is the simple subject " Simplicity in Composition " that these stray and random thoughts have not begun even to outline it. There is one piece of simple and direct advice which I wish to iterate and re-iterate—for I believe this is written for one who has mastered the A B C of the technique of photography and is about ready to dive into the mysterious deep of art : Observe the work of recognized artists—I do not mean look at it, but observe it—make it your own. Then study the appearance of nature more closely than ever before—everywhere. And there is also one simple and direct warning I would like to give : Avoid books on composition as you would the plague, lest they destroy in your mind all other considerations than the formula which they lay down. If you must be taught by others, not being able to teach yourself, seek out a broad-minded teacher, but guard your originality as the one precious possession which may save you from turning out machine-made work.