We examine the concepts of Gestalt as they relates to composition. Gestalt is a psychology of visual communication that helps explain how the mind works to make sense of the visual world. This episode talks about “Closure” and “Continuance.”

Photographs by Jeff Curto

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Zoom with your feet! Zoom lenses can interfere with the creative process by letting you get lazy with where you’re positioning your camera. Switching to a “prime” lens of a single focal length can help your composition and your thought process. We also look at “The Poor Man’s Tripod” – a simple device for helping to steady your camera.

Photographs by Jeff Curto (click for larger versions)

Poor Man’s Tripod

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Photographers must love the act of photographing; the mechanics of making a picture. But, before that, they have to love the simple act of seeing the world around them. Some pictures are best made without a camera.

Lunch – Still Life with Tomato & Basil Salad – Photograph by Jeff Curto

• “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
  – Dorothea Lange

• ” I am always mentally photographing everything as practice.”
  -Minor White

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Human memory is a curious thing; sometimes it’s spot-on perfect, other times it’s altered by the passage of time. Photographs are a way that we can extend or enhance our memories and this episode is about a way that my memory was both rewarded and tested in the Italian mountain village of Scanno.

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Photography is about doing, but it’s also about thinking… looking, seeing, appreciating. It’s possible to learn more about photography just by doing it, but it’s a lot easier when you pay attention to how others do it. This episode of Camera Position discusses the ideas of connoisseurship; the art of how we come to know what’s good. Looking at, studying and collecting photographs that you love is a part of learning photography.

Marion Post-Wolcott – Biscuit lady, a member of Wilkins family making biscuits on corn-husking day, North Carolina, 1939

Links for this episode:

• Art Institute of Chicago – Photography Department
• Museum of Contemporary Photography – Chicago

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