Formal Elements are art’s essential eight visual elements: line, shape, repetition/pattern, texture, value/tone, and focus. Even though the elements may be basic and fundamental, they allow artists to find balance and create dynamic and expressive artworks. In other words, “Without standards, there can be no improvement”.

Lines can be straight, curvy, thin, thick, vertical, horizontalontal, and diagonal. The lines are the base of an artwork, giving a more detailed view of the photograph. Lines can sometimes represent directions or outlines. The lines can be used as movement or energy when the artist wants to show an abstract movement,

Shape is the second most fundamental element. Shapes can be heavy, light, big, small, or intersecting. Some people believe that shapes are only used to recognize objects, but the organic and trendy vibes a shape has can express nature and the intersections with the surroundings.

Repetition/pattern creates a rhythm or pattern through repeating shapes or lines. When looking at a photograph with a pattern, you might see echoes or reflections within the image. Patterns may sometimes exploit a picture’s creative opportunity, but repeating a pattern creates another sense of beauty.

Texture is the feeling of the surface the photograph is representing. The texture of the surface can be inspired by the natural world or the urban environment. Texture can be described as the small details filled in the frame of a photograph, giving a strong sense of design and all-over interest. Texture can be irregular or complex, creating little nooks and crannies. Also, it can identify an artwork’s age, condition, and other qualities.

Value/tone is the range of light and dark; a tone is identified as a color mixture that is not a pure hue. The tone of an artwork sets the mood. The artwork is transformed by what was seen and captured; they do not clearly represent something, meaning they can be abstract.

Focus is the clarity a photograph has. Focus can sometimes help the viewers see the artwork’s purpose while also making it unidentifiable, meaning the picture is detached from a bit of reality on which it had been based. The artist intends to blur a photograph to create an illusional world from reality.

In the picture above, the lines are straight when outlining books and curvy lines when outlining people. The shapes vary from squares, rectangles, circles, and carving to represent a unique and natural setting of a library with people riding on horses. The artwork is full of bumps and ridges, meaning the painting is full of rough texture. The focus is in between being blurry and clear. The bokeh effect on the artwork is probably trying to make the painting appear more tangible and evoke a wide range of motions to viewers.

“Birds.” WAC, 10 Mar. 2023, wac.art/artwork/jamil-molaeb-birds-10/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

1. The pictorialism movement is a movement away from commercial trash to intervene objects on camera lenses to make photography a handmade process. Photographs began to look like art, paintings, drawings, and beautiful rich prints. Photographers started to view pictures as having an illusional world with no rules or limits, like a seductive quality. It brought back the nostalgic traditions of handmade art.
2.  Photographies can capture shapes and forms simply, directly, and with a sharp focus. The modernist movement became merely known as straight photography; it became the aesthetic of the 20s. In other words, taking photos of how they were and not manipulating them. The picture was supposed to look the way it looks in the viewfinder; the camera was supposed to clearly focus. It symbolized people had to face reality, not look around with it. Instead of editing or manipulating the image afterward, straight photos will focus on the photo’s selection and framing.
3. Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind were influenced by sharp, focused realism photographs, and the camera became an instrument of a new vision. In Aaron Siskind’s artworks, he opens a new generation of abstract paintings, expressing his photographs in an abstract form. For example, he takes photos of a free environment and a natural background. However, the intention of abstract art is an illusional work, so the painting has no exact meaning, and we, as artists, can only infer the depth of meaning of abstract art.
4. Andreas Gursky is definitely a straight photographer. In his artworks, we artists can infer that his intention is to purely show the natural setting and beautiful surroundings that we forget in our lives. For example, Gursky takes pictures of plain fields and desert roads. Even though he uses a variety of angles in his photographs, his images are well-focused and not manipulated. On the other hand, Uta Barth also takes photos of natural settings like a house or office; however, the images are all blurry, foggy, and out of focus. In other words, she manipulates her pictures, meaning she is a pictorialist photographer. In my opinion, the new generation of photographers tends to take straight photos, trying to show the pure beauty of today and our lives.

Lubow, Arthur. “How Uta Barth’s Art Illuminates.” Nytimes.com, The New York Times, 9 Feb. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/arts/design/uta-barth-light-getty-photography.html. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.

Parkin, Tim. “Andreas Gursky | the Rheine | on Landscape.” Onlandscape.co.uk, 26 Nov. 2011, www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/11/andreas-gursky-the-rheine/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.

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An abstract photograph represents futurism by creating an illusional and subconscious world of reality, attempting to hallucinate the audience by taking photos that aren’t typically seen in our daily lives.

“Abstract photography can be defined as capturing images in which the subject isn’t the most interesting element. Albert Renger-Patzsch and Aaron Siskind photographed the ordinary to reveal their beauty. Uta Barth reversed the typical use of the camera, shooting out of focus and Andreas Gursky photographs the repetition of elements. During this unit, you will investigate appropriate examples of abstract photography and respond in your own way.”

Firstly, we must understand abstract photography’s definition and factors/elements. As mentioned above, abstract photos are ordinary. However, the beauty comes from the small, mysterious details in the art. Abstract art includes shapes, colors, textures, patterns, lines, and gestural marks. These elements are original, fundamental, and essential, but the artist’s imagination, emotional depths, and technical mastery create the pure beauty of abstract photography. For example, in fantastic artwork, the strokes, colors, and patterns are unique and creative; every stroke has a deep meaning displayed by the artist but cannot be explained. In other words, abstract art is an original pure beauty but cannot be described in any form. In summary, I’m excited to explore the varying emotions and feelings artists are trying to provoke in abstract art and, at the end of the day, discover the mystery and real meaning of abstract art in this unit.

Awkward… but with a sense of beauty. The composition, angles, and clarity are ridiculous to the point that they cannot define the photo’s purpose. However, the contradicting perspective shows a new view of how pictures can be taken, bright lighting flashing on the artwork, abstractness, and, most importantly, the juxtaposition of the colors, giving the illusion of a rainbow. What we, as artists, forget is that we always emphasize a basic and simple form of art rather than a new form of beauty. Why are we artists restricted from exploring when art is all about the freedom to explore.

The photograph forbids the rule of art through vagueness, irregularity, weird proportions, and lousy structure. Why just a bunch of books? I can only simply answer this in one sentence: Why not let it be? We, as artists, are so ridiculously manipulated by the idea that paintings need to follow rules while exploring new art forms. Let’s think of nature art; why is the picture not allowed to have blurry or awful focus. Artists, let us think outside the box. Why cannot blurrily be a form of beauty? Or why would having a horrible focus be an awful photo? Artists should throw away the stereotype that photos must follow the rules and try to understand these complex arts.

As we can see, the photo obviously lacks background, roughness, jaggedness, and mouldness. However, what if I say the picture has smoothness rather than roughness and great anatomy instead of moldiness. Every day, we artists don’t appreciate the effort and beauty in front of us while mocking our artwork all day. The photo brings contradicting views, i.e., ald; however, what if it is needed? The contradicting views will form new thoughts, ideologies, and revolutions and, at the end of the day, reform the world of art in a unique, engaging, and new form. In summary, photos like this will contribute to building a new generation in the art world.

For artists, the photo is against the rules of art in ways of a lousy angle and focus, forbidding the laws of third, having no symmetry, and the golden ratio is astray. Obviously, the vagueness, camera stability, and light exposure have interfered the photo from being perfect. However, let’s try to appreciate the picture for its aggressive approach. The picture is asymmetric; the fade, ripple, and glow from the reflection bring an adverse and positive effect by opening a new opportunity for artists to view painting and establish a paintwork with the latest trends and approaches. Also, not to mention, the word “peace” in the center of the picture has a juxtaposition with the bright colours conveying the painting.

The picture can be broken down into two parts for breaking the rules of art. Firstly, the balance on the photo is tilted to the right, creating a different perspective for the viewer. Secondly, the photo is a close-up, not being able to include a clear proportion and outline of the painting. Other than that, the painting isn’t dull, full of overlaps, complementary, or contrasting, meaning it is just a plain boring painting. Additionally, the painting’s radiance and illumination are on the orange and yellow colors, which are the primary and secondary colors.

The painting has committed an offense against the law of art by having minimal focus, full of blurriness, and awful perspective. Probably, the photographer’s intentions were to lift its camera before the picture was taken. The picture was taken in a natural scene where light and shadows are visible, showing highlights. The Sunlight illuminates, shines, and brightens the picture, bringing a sense of brilliance.

The photo breaks art rules like perspective and symmetry. The photo depicts a reflection of the light off of the ceiling, translated through the floor. Even though the photo has a great perspective and symmetry, the vague focus and blur make the photo unclear as a whole. The blue -the primary color- on the wall brings radiance and illumination to the walls rather than the front view. The colorfulness of the photo forbids the rule of art because usually, traditional paintings would be painted with paint colors that are primary or secondary.

Firsly, we can point out that the photo is closed-up, leading to the lack of outline of the whole drawing, also, it is unclear what the intention of the photo is leading to mystery. Secondly, the photo is blurry due to the camera movement, leading to vagueness and, again, creating a sense of mystery. The sunlight is being reflected on the temple, showing a contrast between light and shadow. Artists need to keep in mind that the intention of the photography is to make it abstract. Meaning it represents futurism by creating an illusional and subconscious world of reality, attempting to hallucinate the audience by taking photos that aren’t typically seen in our daily lives. The photographer’s intention to make the photo abstract actually bring a unique, unrealistic, and futuristic persepctive.

The black paper overlaps the blue, dark blue background behind it. Without the Pikachu, which has primary colors like red and yellow, the framework, proportion, foreground, and background would make it unclear what the focus and intention of the photo is. The texture of the Pikachu is jagged, creating an isometric and 3D feeling to the image. Also, because the photo only takes the top half of the Pikachu, we cannot see the complete anatomy of its body. On the other hand, the picture is unclear, and only showing the top half of Piachu may be the artist’s intention to create abstractness, make people wear their imagination hats, and become creative philosophers on what the bottom half of Pikachu may look like. Also, to clearly show the contrast between Pikachu and its surroundings,  the author purposely might use primary colored furs on the Pikachu to overlap the dark blue tone background. In other words, to spotlight the Pikachu.

It is obvious the picture is overexposed. This is due to the plant being under strong lighting while the camera moves upward when taken, leading to overexposure. Due to the overexposure, it makes the photo look artificial, more complex, and vague. On the other hand, the green- the primary color- and spiral shapes of the leaves bring small details like smoothness to the drawing. Also, with a decent perspective, symmetry, rule of thirds, golden ratio, and overwhelming color of green -the primary color- brings radiance and illumination.