Bottom: Beginning

The message of my triptych will be a reminder that the floor is a place to remember. Almost everyone doesn’t walk with the ground in mind; they walk with their eyes on the front and look to the sides. But the floor is the beginning of all life, and it is indispensable to our lives as it may crack, yet it does not break down. I want the audience to look at my photographs and be reminded of the importance of the floor, to always be aware of its presence wherever they go, and to feel safe and secure that there is space to step on. For inspiration, I will look for texture in the floor’s cracks and bumps, plants emerging through the cracks, and the integration of the city and nature. Through this project, I intend to make my peers more aware of the existence of the floor, and to make them aware of the ground that supports our lives, which begins with the bottom.

Since all of the photos are black and white, the tone is present in all of the photos, so we’re going to consider them all revealing. The first and fifth photos are composed of lines, so I assume they are the ones that highlight the lines the most. The second, sixth, tenth, and eleventh photos are the ones where a single shape exists in a specific location with no continuity of shapes, and they seem to be the ones where the shape is most noticeable. The third and twelfth photos seem to emphasize texture the most, as they are made up of non-coordinated but identically shaped dots and lines, but they also seem to form a pattern of non-coordinated shapes in their respective locations. The fourth, seventh, eighth, and ninth photos are a series of continuous, repeating shapes, so the pattern is most prominent.

The first photo works as intended due to the sharp contrast between white and gray, and the second, sixth, and eleventh photos appear to achieve similar results to the original by focusing on specific shapes. The fourth photo shows a clear pattern of contrasting beige and brown colors, the eighth photo highlights the shape of the circle hole on the green background, and the ninth photo shows a strong color difference between the blue and the background, which worked as intended. However, I don’t consider the third and twelfth photos to have worked well, as the texture and color of the lines and shapes don’t show up well, and the seventh photo is too focused on the background to show the intended pattern. The fifth photo didn’t work as intended because the black lines were too small against the beige color, and the tenth photo I didn’t know how to make it look like the actual image.

Photographer: Edward Weston

Photograph: Shell (1927)

When the artist took the photo, he was interested in the color change on the outside of the shell, the entrance, and the shell itself. I believe this is because the white and gray color scheme of the opening and the outer shell suggests a sense of openness and coolness, and also because the black background and only the shell seems to highlight the sharpness and softness of the picture.

If I had taken this photo I would name this photo “Lighthouse on a Cliff”. If you were to simply look at this photo, it would look like a seashell, but to me, it seemed like it was taken from above, as if it were a lighthouse. The wide, white space of the seashell looked like a large, open beach, and the sharp edges looked like stairs, and where the stairs led to looked like a lighthouse on a cliff. Therefore, I would name it “Lighthouse on a Cliff”.

In the photo, the artist emphasized thin lines that emphasize the sharpness of the seashells. The curves add softness and flexibility. Although there are curves in the photo, the sharp angles at the ends create an angled feel between the smooth lines. The image appears to be composed of rectangular shapes surrounding a circle. There’s no clear pattern to the photo, but the sharp half-moon shapes repeat in the circular sections, giving the image a sharp feel similar to the angled sections of a seashell. The photo gives the impression that the outside of the shell is smooth, but the broken outer part of the shell and the black particles like grains of sand give it a crunchy feel. Since this is a black-and-white photo, it helps to emphasize the seashells by making the background darker and the seashells lighter. The outside of the shell is white and the center is gray to focus on the object. This photo mainly emphasizes the shell itself.

• Citation: Weston, Edward. “Shells.” The Art Institute of Chicago, Photography and Media, www.artic.edu/artworks/120835/shells. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.

Formal Elements are the six basic elements that compose a photo: line, shape, pattern, texture, and tone, which are often used in combination.

Lines are an essential element of photography and are fundamental to photography, and depending on their placement, they can make or break the impression of a photo. So when taking a photo, it’s important to think about where to place your lines to capture a good shot.

Shapes are created through the organic connection of lines, and like lines, shapes have different feelings depending on their placement. For example, circles create a sense of harmony and balance, while triangles emphasize drama.

Pattern is a repetitive element in photography that is used to establish structure in a photo, and you can create a variety of patterns using lines, shapes, and tones.

Texture is a visual aspect of a picture that seems like it could be felt through touch, and it’s something that can add a sense of life and vitality to an otherwise flat and lifeless picture.

Tone refers to the level of brightness in a photo, which can create shadows or highlights in a photo. Most photographs use mostly light and dark tones.

Focus refers to the sharpest part of the photo and is often what photographers want to emphasize.

I think an image can show many different elements at once, because every image in the world has at least lines and tones, and you can build a lot of elements from small things, such as lines can be combined to make shapes, shapes can be organically transformed to make patterns, and colors can be used to make textures through tones.

“Understanding the 7 Formal Elements of Photography.” Focus, focus.picfair.com/articles/7-formal-elements-photography. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.