Imaginarium

BRAINSTORMING | Thinking Less Literally

An initial instinct when starting out in photography is to show the subject of our own fascination very literally. It is as if we are saying, “Look directly at this here!” It’s understandable; you are drawn to something, and you want your viewer to see it as you experienced it. But many times this leads to disappointment, because you wind up with a very literal image that lacks all the magic you hoped to share. In image-making, it’s important to think of the image holistically and less literally in order to create an artistic interpretation that yields the emotional or psychological response you want to evoke. You are creating a seamless world for the viewer to be transported into—making the viewer feel ...