Wrong: Post 1

Can you take a wrong picture? According to what I wrote in the Padlet post, rules in photography are used to enhance the photographer’s purpose. If this purpose were to create a portrait of a man in full detail, and to use his complexion to reflect some deeper source of meaning, rules would of course apply—the lighting needs to be deliberate, the positioning exact. If this purpose were to depict a suburban neighborhood in order to document the environment and culture of a specific time period, rules would, again, be helpful—the rule of thirds should most likely be relevant, along with the use of diagonal lines. However, the purpose of the photo “Wrong” is, indeed, completely different. The photographer wants not to emphasize any setting nor to illustrate any subject, but to elicit a sense of juxtaposition and disharmony. When the purpose of an image is to cause confusion in the viewer, or to exemplify all aspects of photography in discombobulating ways—in simpler terms, when the purpose of an image is to defy rules, then rules, of course, do not apply in the typical way.

Some photos: