Before you read on, click on the thumbnail, and have a guess where this photo was shot.
If you said that it was taken in the hallway of a Reservoir house (an area north of Melbourne), then you’ll be correct!
To create an interesting image you need to be aware of the elements that are included in the frame as you look through the viewfinder. But just as important are the elements that you exclude. In the case of this image, we are transported away from suburbia to a medieval mansion somewhere. This is achieved by firstly utilizing the available elements, but most importantly, by excluding all that which could alter the story that this image tells.
To roughly describe what is excluded; to the right of the bride was the front door, to her left was the hallway to the bedrooms and a door to a kitchen full of people, and one of the bridesmaids holding one of our lights. The shot was taken from the lounge room opposite her.
Even though we have given you the scenario, it is still hard to believe that this shot was not taken at a mansion. But not to worry, you are not alone. We have to keep reminding ourselves of how this shot was taken so we are not to think it was a mansion.
Photographs are very powerful in that way. None of us (those with old parents) can imagine their parents’ younger life in color. All their old photographs have left us with a colorless imagination for that period of history.
Over time, the memory of what it took to create an image fades, and all that we are left with is the photo and the feelings it conjures.
This phenomenon is a very powerful tool that we constantly use in our work. It’s all about working with the smallest of details to transform locations, time and personalities.
Photography