The rule of thirds

In one of our lectures for this module we were taught about the rule of thirds. A rule about the composition of paintings and more recently photographs that invokes a traditional representation of a beautiful image. I am interested in this because it is a traditional way of making images look a certain way and i am looking at traditional photography, and i thought it would be interested to maybe have a look at how i can use this rule in a spontaneous and different way.

"Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painters command to express his feelings" Henri Matisse

I think this also is true for photography, because it is important to get a photo that people want to look at and this rule happens naturally in alot of peoples work as it makes the image look attractive.

The pictures above represent the rule of thirds well as the points of interest are on or near the vertical and horizontal lines in the picture. It is said that this way of composing am image creates more tension and interest that just centralizing the subject.

This quote is by the inventor of this rule, John Thomas Smith in 1797, explaining how the rule of thirds creates an image that is more pleasing to look at than any other rule for creating images.

"In short, in applying this invention, generally speaking, or to any other case, whether of light, shade, form, or color, I have found the ratio of about two thirds to one third, or of one to two, a much better and more harmonizing proportion, than the precise formal half, the two-far-extending four-fifths—and, in short, than any other proportion whatever."

(Reference:

Smith, John Thomas (1797). Remarks on rural scenery; with twenty etchings of cottages, from nature; and some observations and precepts relative to the pictoresque.. printed for, and sold by Nathaniel Smith ancient Print seller at Rembrandts-Head May's Buildings, St. Martin's Lane, and I. T. Smith, at No 40 Trith Street Soho. )

The Origins of Street Photography in London

To further my research into street photography, i went to an exhibition in london that showed photography of the street from the 1860's. I was really interesting to see the culture from a time that does not exist anymore, and these photos inspired me to want to record a part of our culture that belongs on our streets and involves real people. I found that these images were so interesting because there was nothing fake about them. The early street photography was all on film in black and white, you could see every detail clearly and defined in its black and white form, although the main reason black and white film was used was because colour was very expensive at that time. I loved that nothing could be changed, there was no editing process of the actual photos because editing and computers didn't exist, much like the photos that inspired me form the beginning by Vivian Maier, they were spontaneous moments by normal people in the street.

Street Style blogs

 A lot of my influences have come from street style blogs online. I found Viviam Maiers work on a blog online and these site shave helped my inspiration for the photos i want to take that reflect our culture ( http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/ ) and her work is available for anyone to look at on this blog, so it was a natural progression to look at more to get inspired. After looking at portraiture in fashion magazines and covers, looking at self portraits of myself, and wanting to use street photography like vivian maiers in my work, i looked at popular street style blogs to get ideas. I looked at blogs such as:

http://facehunter.blogspot.com/

The Face Hunter blog is interesting because there is not a lot of information on there, its mainly just photos and bits of update information as to when more photos are going to be put up online. The blogger doesn't write much information about himself either, it is purely about the photos and the people and clothes in them. I am also interested in the shadows in the background of photos and found that these photos i picked out hand subtle yet interesting reflections and shadows, this is soething i want to pick up on with other photos i look at because i find it a really interesting aspect of strret style photos.

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

"I started The Sartorialist simply to share photos of people that I saw on the streets of New York that I thought looked great. When I worked in the fashion industry (15 years), I always felt that there was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life."
This quote is taken from the biography section in the 'the Sartorialist' blog, i think it really describes what his photos portray, inspirational photos for style and fashion. I enjoy this blog and am inspired by it because his subjects are real people, they are natural and show a part of our culture in fashion that is not normally broadcast in the media.

http://street-fashion.tumblr.com/

Tumblr is a popular blogging platform for young people who can gain alot of followers by posting things they find interesting and reflects their own personality. I came across this one through another blog of mine on tumblr and find the photos posted are really beautiful and reflect what other people like me like to look at and see. even though the photos are not taken by the blogger it is still really great to look at for the pictures to inspire me as it is so diverse.

http://www.styleclicker.net/


This blog is another site that posts photos and not much else of peoples style, it is a mix of street and catwalk but it is clear that it is more influenced by real people and real clothes that are wearable. i like the photos that are posted because they are artistic yet show ordinary people mostly. I also like the way that they are presented online and simply without much information and clutter around them in the screen.

http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/fashion

The cool hunter blog is connected to the facehunter blog as it is done by the same person, however it is a lot more product based and there is much more information about trends and style and what you are looking at in it. I have been looking at this blog because i like that you cannot see the whole picture, you only see a bit of the culture the blog is referring to; fashion and shopping.

http://pvph.co.uk/

PVPH • Reportage & Social Photography

Reportage, documentary, social and travel photography and iPhoneography by Gareth Bourne. Based in Crystal Palace, London, UK

This website is shows a more creative side of street and culture photography, i was inspired by this site because there are loads of different artists that can show there work in the same place as others, the website is also again very clean and un cluttered, this kind of look for a blog or website really inspires my ideas because it shows off the pictures really well in a place where an unlimited amount of people can see it.

These blogs informed me of a modern type of street photography that is connected to fashion which interested me from looking at the portraiture on the front pages of magazines.

This quote is taken from 'The Cool Hunter' blog, it says how important blogs have become in fashion and i think its really interesting because you can see whats on the street without having to be there and look for the inspirational people that fashion comes from.
"Street style blogs are one of the great online phenomena of the past decade. They have become a core reference tool for fashion houses and designers who monitor them for global inspiration and to learn how trends are being adapted on the street - and all without leaving their desks. Yvan Rodic, the photographer and creative behind the facehunter, gives the reader a window into the edgier side of street style. Rodic cut his street-styling teeth at The Cool Hunter, where he delivered many unique moments of inspiration direct from the pavement; the kinds of startling images that eluded many of the other most popular style blogs."