The Language of Photography

The Language of Photography was presented to us on 10th April by Arjun Nambiar, LRPS. Arjun's day job is as a Consultant Urological Surgeon and his talk was more intellectual and conceptual than most. Arjun's contention is that just as language (he started with a quote using Sanskrit, a classical language of India) is designed to document, inform and convey meaning, so photography has the same purpose. The first section of his talk concentrated on the resources which are available to the photographer. He demonstrated how, for example, the size ratios of an image and the perspectives employed by the photographer can have a profound impact on what is conveyed to the viewer. Similarly, the use of contrast, luminosity, sharpening and texture can be used to draw attention and focus on the key aspects of an image. He suggested, for example, that rather than sharpening all of an image, the photographer should consider only sharpening those parts to which the photographer wishes to draw attention, just as we emphasise certain things when we write or talk. 

Just as in language, we should first think about what we are trying to achieve and convey, so the second section of the talk focused on the key things which the photographer is looking to communicate. This requires the photographer to give significant thought to identify what are the key points they wish to present in an image and how best to do it. If practical with landscape photography, for example, it is a good idea to firstly visit the site with a notebook - perhaps even without a camera - to analyse and identify the key things which you want to communicate and focus upon and to then work out how this can best be done, given the resources available to us. Only with this level of intentionality can we expect to identify and articulate the best "language" in our images.

Members very much appreciated the talk, which was viewed as being thought-provoking, fascinating and enjoyable.

Ray Barnes
CCC Programme Secretary