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In a bad photograph, a lot of the time, the frame isn't altogether understood -- there are big areas of unexplained chemicals.
It's especially difficult as the picture gets bigger.
If it's small, a little piece of black can look like a dark place, right?
But as it gets bigger, eventually it just turns into a black shape.
And you look at the surface of the picture and it reminds you of the chemical factories on Lake Erie, creating pollution problems by making synthetic materials out of soybeans and petroleum derivatives.
And you don't want that.
The basic material of photographs is not intrinsically beautiful.
It's not like ivory or tapestry or bronze or oil on canvas.
You're not supposed to look at the thing, you're supposed to look through it.
It's a window.
And everything behind it has got to be organized as a space full of stuff, even if it's only air.
John Szarkowski
By Holly Myers and Tom Christie
LA Weekly, December 2006
Good light is the most ingredient of a photograph.
The second most important ingredient is how the photographer places the world inside the frame.
What's near the edges of the corners of the frame become more evident.
So, pay attention to the frame.
Keep an eye on what's near the edges and corners.
What's near the edges and corners of the frame is louder.
What's just outside the edges of the frame can be important to the viewer, as well.
The unseen outside can be self-evident or mysterious.
It's not easy to pat attention to where you're placing the frame on the world.
Perhaps this is because when we look into a viewfinder, we feel like we're sitting in a movie theater.
Our task is to watch the movie, not to make the movie.
One function of the edges is to keep the viewer's eye inside the frame.
This can be done with tone, color, and pattern.
Foreground elements, if any, may also be hung from the top and side edges, or may be supported by the bottom edge.
The bottom edge of the frame must often support the photograph visually.
This may be done with a band of tone or color, or a pattern that is different than the rest of the photograph.
Photographers often darken the bottom edge and corners to produce support.
The frame changed painting.
When painters left the plein air for painting from photographs, they started to cut off the world.
Degas