The position of infrared in the world of photography - Essay Example

?Introduction The position of infrared in the world of photography is rather ambiguous and arguable, because infrared photography is in between the lines of artistic technique and photographic gimmick. Different photographers have used it for different purposes; some use it to express their artistic messages while others use it to simply obtain an unusual effect. Therefore, it is the focus of this essay to answer what extent is infrared photography an artistic endeavor? Specifically, to investigate the extent that photography is a central aspect of the artistic message or a gimmick used to enhance the photograph without artistic merit. Infrared photography emerged in the early 1900s as the Royal Photographic Society published the first infrared photographs in October 1910. The development of infrared film was actually done by the US government during World War I to improve haze penetration in aerial and night photography. Scientifically, infrared films capture the part of the spectrum that is beyond our visibility, called infrared light. The diagram shows the electromagnetic spectrum, infrared has a higher wavelength than visible light. The Electromagnetic Spectrum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.antonine-education.co.uk/physics_gcse/Unit_1/Topic_5/em_spectrum.jpg The wavelength of infrared photography begins at 700 nanometers and ends at around 1000 nanometers, with visible light only between 390 to 740 nanometers of wavelength. This characteristic gives it the ability to capture images in the dark and create unique photographic effects and colors. Infrared photography really took off commercially in 1930, when the first infrared films were introduced and soon became very popular. Through time, infrared photograph established its irreplaceable place among the various styles of art photography and has continued its journey into the digital age. In investigating the research question, one of the greatest challenges is establishing a working definition of art. Philosophic investigations into the nature of art date to at least Greek antiquity, with Aristotle’s Poetics advancing the notion of mimesis as the central tenant of the art object. With social and technological progress came a change in the nature of artistic expression, such that during the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods the role of the artist changed from one of a craftsman to a Romantic notion of the artist as intellectual or genius. The 20th century experienced a shift from the Modernist to Post-Modernist era and witnessed revolutionary changes in the nature of art. Influenced by the scientific discoveries of Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, artists such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali used art to explore these new intellectual paradigms of reality; Marcel Duchamp would even call into question the very nature of the art object. It is in this contemporary context that the notion of photography as art emerges. Perhaps the most seminal theorist in this regard was Susan Sontag, who in works such as Against Interpretation and On Photography formulated a number of aesthetic principles. Sontag argued that the nature of art is to capture that which is magical or irrational, and that art must be understood in terms of not only its meaning making content, but along with its formal elements as a comprehensive whole. While such a mode of understanding resists easy definition, for the context of this essay art is defined as the arrangement of formal style with content in a way to enact meaning through affecting the senses or emotions. Artistic photography affects the senses or emotions by selectively presenting aspects of our surroundings or objects in photographic form. Conversely, a gimmick is popularly understood as “a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries.” 1 In the case of photography, gimmick is simply the employment of a feature or effect to enhance the picture. While gimmicks meet the formal criteria, they lack the necessary elements of intention and meaning to be considered art. This essay advances with a structural notion of art as situated along a qualitative continuum. In these regards, the two extremes of the scale are gimmick and art. It is the goal of this investigation to contextualize infrared photography within this scale. Hence, to investigate the extent that infrared photography is an artistic endeavor would be to analyze whether it can convey a certain style and emotion on its own or if it only can be used as a special effect. This investigation will analyze the works and ideas of two photographers who focused on infrared techniques and compare infrared photography to other common photographic methods. 1Gimmick. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimmick Simon Marsden Simon Marsden is one of the inevitable names when it comes to infrared photography. He is a dedicated infrared photographer who used infrared for the majority of his published works. Marsden was born on the 1st of December 1948 in England. He spent his childhood in rural England in two “haunted” houses and was intrigued by ghost stories of which his father and brothers were keen readers. This unusual childhood experience established the root of his artistic endeavor and greatly influenced the style of his photography. At the age of 21, his father, a passionate landscape photographer gave him an old camera for his birthday and he was immediately drawn to photography. Later Marsden spent years of his adulthood traveling through Europe taking black and white infrared photographs and published books portraying ghostly churches and haunted houses of medieval Europe. Marsden unavoidably used photography, in particular infrared photography, to capture the paradox of believing in the visible world. “What intrigued me most was the magic of time and light and the enigma of “reality” that these elements conjured up.” 2 He believes that the world has another side to it, a spiritual and mysterious side, “if only we take time to inquire”3. This is the uncanny feeling one gets when they enter an old house that is said to be “haunted”. It seems that there is a ghostly, mysterious, even frightening aspect to our emotions that surfaces when we find ourselves in certain situations, such as walking at night by a cemetery or simply watching a horror film involving ghosts and death. This is what Marsden is trying to convey in his photographs, that realistically normal objects such as a church or ancient ruins can have a mysterious affect on our emotions. In these regards, we witness what Sontag is referring to when she writes about the transcendental nature of the art object. Marsden does not attempt to convince us of the existence of ghosts, but to inspire us to look for that enigmatic beauty in our surroundings that is in the danger of being washed away by the encroachment of science and technology. Simon Marsden, Initials. (n.d.). The marsden archieve. Retrieved from http://www.eso-garden.com/index.php?/weblog/comments/the_marsden_archive/ Felicitously, infrared photography is able to present this transcendental aspect of existence to us in a unique way, which is why Marsden used it as his primary option. The capture of infrared light allows us to view light that we have never witnessed with our naked eyes. The “light” is simply infrared radiation captured with infrared film through a special filter, it does not have any spiritual quality. However, Marsden dramatically used this characteristic of infrared and combined it with scenes of ghostly buildings to create a very powerful effect. It unconsciously leads us to relate the unusual lighting and color with the objects within the photograph, giving off a haunting, mysterious and spiritual emotion. As Marsden said, his photographs inspire us to question the world around us, connecting us with an enigmatic and ghostly feeling somewhere within our minds. Simon Marsden, Initials. (n.d.). Littledean hall, gloucestershire, england. Retrieved from http://www.marsdenarchive.com/library/preview.php?id=00000246&cat=00000014&pg=8 2Simon marsden photographer. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.simonmarsden.co.uk/intro.htm In relation to the question: to what extent is infrared photography an artistic endeavor? Marsden has certainly used infrared to an extraordinary extent. Not only to enhance his works and create artistic effects, but also to harness the viewer’s emotions and establish his message. Infrared photography is an irreplaceable component of Marsden’s artistic endeavor and when combined with the objects within his photographs, creates Marsden’s unique artistic style. The choice of objects (in this case, the ghostly buildings and other spiritual objects) and the use of black and white infrared photography concomitantly constitute Marsden’s artistic approach. In the picture above, imagine taking away any one of the three aspects. For instance, imagine if they were plain black and white photographs with the grass fields in black and the sky in white. The photos would clearly not have the same impact. In these regards, it’s clear that the infrared elements are not simply a gimmick, but implemented in a way that adds dimension to both the formal and content aspects of the art piece. Therefore, in the case of Simon Marsden, infrared photography can be situated very close to “art” along the previously mentioned spectrum. Joseph Constantino Joseph Constantino is a contemporary photographer who works attentively with infrared photography. His work includes landscape, wildlife, stage and street photography, in which he frequently uses infrared techniques. I had the opportunity to contact him through email and conduct an extensive interview. I found that Constantino intends to create an impressionist and abstract effect through the use black and white infrared photography. He believes that: black and white photography is abstract because we see things in color and infrared black and white is just a little more abstract because it portrays the black and white image that is being seen differently than the original black and white concept. For Constantino, infrared is the ultimate instrument for presenting abstraction and creating a unique impressionistic quality to his images. He believes that the emotions conveyed by his photographs largely depend on the viewer’s experience and point of view, as well as their aesthetic sensibilities. At the same time, he also tries to keep low contrast and avoid excessive editing in his photos. Constantino finds the characteristics of infrared photography very useful in his artistic endeavors and certainly capable of expressing his ideas. He says that it’s “an excellent way to express myself and attempt to convey to the viewer what I had in mind when taking the picture.” Constantino particularly finds useful, “the black sky and the white leaves and foliage,” that are formed when the camera is at a ninety degree angle from the sun and by the chlorophyll in leaves that alter infrared radiation. He finds them capable of creating a very dramatic effect, especially in his landscape works. One of the aspects of infrared photography that Constantino stresses is what he calls “previsualization.” This means to visualize what the image would look like under infrared before taking it. To compose the photograph using the infrared technique rather than randomly shooting, Constatino “previsualize(s) as much as possible so I know what I'm bringing home.” However, it can only be done when the photographer has enough experience with infrared and knows what he or she is trying to portray. Nonetheless, he also believes that previsualization is not compulsory, as many times a photographer must “catch the moment” and does not have the circumstances to previsualize the image. Therefore, previsualization is not important for all areas of photography, as photographers must adjust their methods according to their purposes. Although Constantino uses infrared extensively, he does not consider it an irreplaceable aspect of his artistic endeavor. For he does not believe that any technique is weighed more, “there is no one factor when trying to be creative that is more important than another”. He believes the photographer combines elements and tools that he or she needs in order to bring out their desired effect. Techniques are simply tools of the photographer to present emotions and meaning through art and therefore, one should not put too much emphasis on the importance of one particular technique. He also showed me through an example that infrared cannot be used all the time and sometimes does not differ from a conventional black and white picture. In the examples above, the photo on the right was taken with infrared, while the one on the left was done with a normal camera. There is no difference between them in this case; in other words, the photo on the left does not consist of any characteristics of infrared photography. Constantino said that sometimes on certain subjects such as wood and stone, infrared may or may not have an effect. Ultimately, for Joe Constantino infrared photography is an artistic endeavor. However, it is not the defining aspect of his photographs nor is it an irreplaceable one. Infrared is simply a significant tool that can be used to facilitate the photographer’s artistic process, but it is not what actually conveys the photographer’s ideas. The most important aspect of a photograph is still the objects inside and the meaning that it brings to the viewer. Comparing with Other Photographic Techniques Throughout the years, various photographic techniques and gimmicks have been developed. Digital technology brought the use of techniques and photo enhancement to a new stage, with Photoshop and computer imagery able to manipulate the photograph in unprecedented ways. So to determine the extent that infrared photography is artistic endeavor it is essential to consider it relation to other photographic techniques. This investigation will reveal the extent they stand as artistic endeavors in order to get a more comprehensive portrait about what makes infrared photography unique. The grain and contrast effect has existed ever since the invention of photographic film and has been used by photographers until today to reach their desired results. Grain and contrast can be seen in almost everyone’s photographs, whether if he/she is a professional photographer or a tourist with a camera. High grain appears whenever the ISO is set too high on a digital camera, as a high ISO film is used typically only in night photography. While high contrast can be seen when the lighting within the image is received differently by the objects, the result is that some areas are very dark while some are very bright. Generally, photos with unusual grain and contrast are marked as imperfect and low quality, because “the usual aim of a photographer is to produce pictures that are grain-free and which avoids extremes of contrast”. However, contrast and grain can also be used to the photographer’s advantage and “offer a creative element to bring out the mood or style of a photograph”. The creative use of extreme grain and contrast has many similarities and differences with infrared photograph. First, both techniques can be used to bring out the creative and artistic aspects of the photograph. The works of Simon Marsden certainly reflect that infrared photograph is an irreplaceable part of his artistic message. While the example below shows how grain and contrast can also be adapted for creative purposes. However, the artistic effects of the two techniques are very different. Both can be used to create artistic effects, but in very different ways. Simon Marsden used the unusual colors of infrared to create a spiritual and mysterious effect in his photographs, while in the photograph above, photographer Barry Lewis used high grain and contrast to convey the bleakness of the scene and to use the high shutter speed (due to the high ISO), which enables him to freeze the movement of the grain at that moment. Yet, one of the similarities is the predictability of results in the application of both techniques, as both are rather unpredictable. The photographer would not know completely what the final picture would look like when he/she uses one of these techniques. Because infrared light is invisible to us, it is usually after it has been developed in the dark room or adjusted digitally in Photoshop that one sees the final result; it is the same with high grain and contrast. However, many experienced photographers are able to predict the result and use the techniques to their advantage. Therefore, it is plausible to conclude that both techniques -- infrared and grain and contrast -- can be used for artistic endeavors if the photographer has experience with them and has an artistic purpose that is best conveyed through special effects. It is very important for the photographer to be familiar with the effects and be able to visualize the image before he clicks the shutter in order to understand how it will help him convey his message. Otherwise, an unmethodical application of any one of the techniques would be simply applying gimmick rather than artistry. Another widely used technique in photography is the motion blur. The technique involves using slow shutter speeds to record the movement of objects within the picture and achieve a blurry effect, producing a sense of speed. It is used in a wide range of photography such as sports, stage, landscape and night scenes. However, it has fundamental differences with infrared photography and by comparing it to infrared the capabilities for artistic endeavor are revealed. The greatest difference between these two techniques is that when using the motion blur technique to capture scenes of moving objects, it is almost impossible to visualize the outcome of the final image. The movements of the objects in the first place are unpredictable. For example, when shooting photographs of a stage performance, the photographer cannot predict what the actors will do next; therefore, he must improvise with the situation and perhaps use continuous shooting to capture the best moment. However, with infrared photography, a photographer who has experience with infrared would imagine the final outcome and so he/she is able to use it as a tool for their composition. Therefore, infrared is as much a greater tool of artistic endeavor than motion blur. Motion blur is rather more useful in documentary and news photography; conversely, in artistic photography it is very hard to manipulate motion blur and create circumstances for desired results to happen. However, there are a few exceptions where motion blur is used for artistic purposes. First, when the movement of the object within the picture is completely predictable and moves in a certain pattern such as cars on the road, movement of people on a street and waterfalls. When shooting the scene of a waterfall or stream, motion blur is able to create a special effect, which turns the movement of the water into a still motion as shown below. Another exception is in studio photography, where the photographer artificially sets up the circumstances for a motion blur to occur and experiments with it many times until the desired result is achieved. The photographer can use flash, lighting and other tools to assist the process. Waterfall digital photography. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.russianphotographs.net/doc.vphp?id=248 Although motion blur also has the capabilities of artistic expression, it is to a lesser a degree than infrared photography. In these regards, it is very hard to manipulate and does not give the photographer many variations. Essentially, the only effect that motion blur can bring is a sense of abstract movement and speed. Conversely, infrared is an artistic endeavor to a greater extent because it can be manipulated and used systematically. Ultimately, this added range allows for added dimensions of artistic expression. Overall, both techniques are good indicators of the artistic capabilities of infrared photography. The comparison between infrared and high-grain showed that there is a similarity in the creative process of the two candidates; for example, both require the photographer to be able to previsualize the effects. At the same time, the comparison between infrared and motion blur showed that infrared has a much greater capacity for artistic expression, while motion blur exhibits a rather simple effect. However, the most profound quality that is unique to infrared is its ability to bring the viewer to a perspective, as infrared is able to reveal previously hidden elements of the physical world. Conclusion In investigating the extent that infrared photography is an artistic endeavor this essay examined the works of Simon Marsden and Joe Constantino. The essay also compared infrared with other photographic techniques to gain a contextual dimension to the investigation. The essay revealed that infrared photography is both a new way of perception and an artistic technique, differentiating it from a simple gimmick. Both photographers have said that infrared photography brings something new into the scene of the photograph that is not normally seen. In comparison with high-grain and motion blur techniques, it was evident that infrared photography functioned along a similar line of artistic technique. Uniquely, only infrared photography was able to provide the viewer with a different perspective on the world around us. Therefore, it can be argued that infrared photography transcends these traditional forms of photographic presentation, and borders on a new mode of artistic expression, as did abstract or conceptual art. On the gimmick to art scale, it would be placed very close to art, because no form of presentation or technique in photography can be absolutely art. A painter does not choose what he will convey based on his brush. However, infrared does not necessarily represent the brush of the painter; instead, it more closely represents a type of art that the painter chooses to adopt. While Sontag argued that photography isn’t a reflection of the world, but a reality unto itself, within the context of this investigation it’s clear that this is more qualitatively accurate in terms of particular photographic approaches. The most proximate form of photographic style to infrared is possibly black and white photography, as both essentially bring the viewer into a new “reality” and present the objects within the photographs through this new window. This is ultimately the transcendent wonder that infrared photography creates, that makes it an essential element of artistic endeavor. The problem arises when we consider that both of the photographers studied in this paper used infrared along with black and white photography. As the essay has not analyzed any colored infrared photographs, it is not known if an infrared photograph still has the same impact when taken in color. Another issue that arose from this essay is that photography is known for its ability to accurately and realistically record the world around us. But how does this quality connect with abstract photography, which is completely unrealistic? Shouldn’t we use abstract art if we really want to present the world in a new way? These are questions that are require and are worthy of further investigation. Read More