Matt Brandon, Ladakh, India, 2010
NOT EVERY PHOTOGRAPH has to be about a larger theme, nor does it have to be photographed somewhere exotic. I happened to make this photograph one morning on a rooftop in Ladakh, India, but it might just as easily have been on a cool evening in Denver. Still, the principles of visual language can be used to create stronger photographs, so I want to discuss a favorite portrait of a close friend.
This photograph is framed vertically, exaggerating the line of the story, which is a momentary one of a man lighting his pipe. That verticality creates a path for the eye that is, on first pass, strongly from face to match and back again, up the stem of the pipe (A). On subsequent passes the eye takes in other details: ...
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