Understanding Pictures

Studio Workshops Online – Live and Interactive
•  19 June 2022
•  20 November 2022

BOOKINGS – FAQ – TESTIMONIALS – ENQUIRIES

This intermediate one day workshop is dedicated to how pictures ‘think, emote and misbehave’, that is, how they ‘work’ for and against us and the essential processes underpinning all image creation and affect. For the ‘problem’ with photography, as with all technologically mediated art, is when it gets in the way of our understanding. It is not just Photography’s technological determinism that intensifies this, but that it captures so much in an instant that it can be hard to know what to pay attention to and why. Therefore, like any language the process needs to be deconstructed and demystified so we can work with it, not against it, so that our images have the best chance of achieving what we ‘need them to be’ and to be able to capture ‘hearts and minds’ independently of what it is a photograph of. Specific topics include:

Analysing Pictures – The Structure of Images
•  Decisive moments and effective compositions
•  Figures and grounds – the organisation of the image
•  Drawing compositions – the relationships within the image
•  Tonal compositions – the drama of the image
•  Colour compositions – the personality of the image
•  Spatial compositions – our relationship to the image

Building Pictures – The Elements of Pictorial Design
•  Line
•  Direction
•  Size
•  Shape
•  Texture and Tone
•  Hue and Chroma

Designing Pictures – The Principles of Pictorial Design
•  Form and Volume
•. Repetition and Syncopation
•  Gradation and Contrast
•  Rhythm and Melody
•  Harmony and Discord
•  Unity and Balance

Looking at Pictures – Working with Images
•  Picturing Things – Picturing Feelings
•  Linear, Aerial, and Emotional Perspective
•  The nature of Light, Shade and Shadow
•. Emotional theories of Scale and Aspect Ratios
•  Symbolism, Iconography, Archetypes, Equivalents and Illusions
•  Artist Case Studies

The workshop is based around looking at pictures; their critical analysis, historical investigation, and real world imaging practice. It is about you understanding, managing and creatively working with the elements and principles of pictorial design. And it is about contemporary photographic practice that goes way beyond ‘rules of composition’. It is about how to make your pictures ‘sing’ and the collaborative image creation process that makes this possible. It is also about how to understand and support your creative practice, how to contextualise and protect it both literally and emotionally, and how to have it represent you to the best of your ability. And while there are no prerequisites please bring along all your questions and anything that you think might be helpful, especially examples of your images (files and/or prints), or those of others you admire or wish to better understand and emulate.

The workshop is also supported by a resource rich website with detailed course notes.

Venue: Multi-Camera Interactive Broadcast from Les Walkling’s Studio, Melbourne
Duration: 10.00am – 5.00pm – Australian Eastern Standard Time
Class Size: Average class size of 5
Cost: $330 including GST per person
Bookings & Enquiries: Email or phone +61 4 38 59 00 93

Updated 03 January 2022