In photography, “formal elements” refer to the essential components of building a photo. These elements are vital for capturing emotion and meaning in an image. The elements include Line, shape, pattern, texture, tone, and focus.

Line: The lines in a photo drive the viewer’s eyeballs, directing them across the frame, and it is a key to making a photo intriguing.

(Photo: Giuseppe Milo) The spiral lines lead the viewer’s eyes to the main subject of the photo, the person in the top left corner.

Shape: Uniquely shaped objects attract the viewer’s attention and make the photo stand out. They can be organic or geometric. Depending on the photo’s context and emotion, differently organized shapes play a role in storytelling.

(Photo: Andreas Gursky) This photo features geometric-shaped houses that instantly pop out.

Pattern: A repeating pattern can convey a sense of flowing rhythm and movement within a still image. In Andreas Gursky’s works, the patterns become the main subject. It tells a story.

(Photo: Andreas Gursky) The main subject of this photo is the grid shapes that scatter on this building. It tells a story. Behind every window, there is a unique room with different personalities.

Texture: Texture is a unique pattern on a surface that can be felt by touch. Texture is everywhere around us; anything and everything has a special texture to it.

(Photo: Edward Weston) As mentioned above, texture is everywhere around us. This cabbage has a brain-like texture, a perfect example of how everyday objects can be turned into masterpieces.

Tone: Tone is the balance between light and color. A warm color like red portrays a fierce and chaotic character, while a cold color like blue often expresses a sense of sadness. Black and white photos are used to bring out the lines and textures of an object without the distraction of colors. The skillful use of tone in an image can change the overall emotion and story of the photo drastically.

(Photo: Sumit Mehndiratta) Having a simple black and white tone to the photo elevates the textures of flowers without other colors as distractions.

Focus: Focus refers to the focus point of a photo. The photographer has endless options on where to line up their lens. Depending on the photographer and context, an image can focus on one specific object or have an undefined subject, like a crowd of people, without a particular thing to concentrate on.

(Photo: Uta Barth) This photo is an example of an undefined subject. The photo is blurred out deliberately to create an unsettling atmosphere.

An image can show just one element at a time—for example, the contrast between brightness and color. Like in a black and white photo, only two colors are used, but it can still convey an emotional story with only tone.

The pictorialism movement was a photography technique that focused on the beauty of an object/subject. It zooms in on the photographer’s emotions in the photo rather than trying to capture what the real thing looks/feels like. The objective of pictorialism is to highlight the story behind the photo and less of the photo’s appearance. 

The opposite of this idea, the straight photography movement gained power with the help of Alfred Stieglitz. It was popular amongst the best photographers at the time, as it was looked at as a purer way to take photos. The idea was to keep the authenticness and bring out the inner beauty of a photo, unlike how pictorialism relied on peculiar camera angles to produce unrecognizable or seemingly insignificant photos.

Albert Renger-Patzsch, Edward Weston, Aaron Siskind, Uta Barth, and Andreas Gursky are all mighty figures in the photography world who were influenced by these movements. 

Albert Renger-Patzsch highlighted the details of an object and focused the lens on the lines that shot across the frame. His love of science and architecture deeply inspired his works. He often took his camera outside to capture uniquely shaped plants and buildings. His ability to find magical angles lifted him to the top of the food chain in photography. 

Edward Weston is another symbol of photography. He enjoys zooming in on textures and natural forms. He worked in the Pictorialist style, which manipulated details. His special talent allowed him to turn any item in a darkroom into masterpieces. One of Weston’s greatest works was a zoomed-in photo of an onion. 

Similar to Weston, Aaron Siskind also loved focusing his lens on unique textures. Mainly working in black and white, he finds his inspiration in urban environments. His works include close-up shots that isolate patterns, shapes, and textures in detail. Siskind’s works reflect an abstract set of emotion that evokes a sense of mystery and out of touch with reality. 

Uta Barth was known for her manipulation of light. Always able to combine colors in a way that expressed her emotions, she created her own style of photography that deliberately broke the rules of photography. One of her most famous works featured blurry photos that focused on the colors instead of the textures. 

Along with Barth, Andreas Gursky also has a passion for colors. His style orbits around large forms of landscape and architectural structures. His works feature apartment buildings, streets, and skyscrapers with a splash of colors scattered across them. Gursky’s skillfully crafted photos are balanced between light, texture, and colors. 

Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind were most influenced by the Straight Photography Movement. They have the incredible ability to keep the purest form of an object and still be intriguing and mysterious.  While Uta Barth and Andreas Gursky take a more abstract approach to their photographs. Barth intentionally breaks the rules of photography by putting her camera out of focus to create a dreamy feeling. This technique encourages the viewer to resonate with the piece of art. It allows room for the viewer’s creativity to soar as the photo itself is incomplete and does not reveal the physical object; only hints of colored dots scatter across the frame. Likewise, Gursky also appeals to the senses of the viewer. He zooms in on repeated patterns, uniquely shaped structures, and geometrical elements. This expertly handled technique of repetition converts into an abstract masterpiece, allowing the image to be viewed more broadly rather than focusing on specific subjects, making the viewer step back to admire his work from an abstract point.

Original photo on the left, edited on the right.

I focused the camera on the “MS FICTION” in the back to create a blurred effect.

The only change I made to the photo was to change it to black and white. There was a touch of yellow on the shelf and a green label that read “History” on the side. The burst of colors here distracts the viewer’s eyes from the main subject. I changed the photo to black and white to bring everything to an equal value, with no scattered splash of colors. 

I deliberately turned the camera out of focus to create a foggy effect. The photo reminds me of waking up in the morning with greasy eyes and when the first signs of light blends with my body.

I enhanced the saturation in the photo to recreate a warm atmosphere, like waking up when hints of sunlight bleed through my curtain.

Yechan: “This is a random chocolate cover in a bin in library and I took this photo because a unique atmosphere was formed since it was cut off from the surrounding environment. I add some exaggeration by putting shadows and highlight. Also I put Brightness only on the chocolate cover because that was the main focus point that I wanted.”

Abstract photography can be defined as capturing objects or subjects in an unconventional way. The main focus of abstract photography is not to capture what the real thing looks or feels like but to present the image in an unrecognizable form, encouraging the viewer to see beyond the actual object and allow them to appreciate the visual elements in their own way. Abstraction emphasizes the story and emotion past the image, not just what is simply presented. 

Abstract photography does not always have to be aesthetically pleasing. Instead, it focuses more on the photographer’s emotions and the story behind the photo. So the main subject of the photo is not required to be “interesting” when there is a story to be told. 

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Context is like the soul of a photo. Without context, the photo lacks emotion and meaning. Any photo requires context, even if it’s seemingly insignificant to the viewer, it could mean tons more to the photographer.

Balance is an essential aspect of a good photo. A balanced amount of light, color, and lines is the soul of the photo. Too much or too little of one steals the life out of the photo, making it lifeless and unbalanced. But not every photo needs a splash of colors. A common example is black and white photos. They are used especially in portraits and simple photos that feature one to two lines. Having only two colors directs the viewer’s attention straight to the subject of the photo.

Rules could be broken unknowingly, and sometimes, that is a good thing. That is the beginning of a unique style. Plenty of amazing photographers created their own style by breaking the rules of photography.

There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” photos. Any object or subject can be art, with enough context and a story to back up the decision, even if the photo breaks the rules of photography.