
In Wrong!, Baldessari shows a photograph of a man standing in front of palm trees, but the way the picture is arranged looks strange instead of nice. Instead of placing the man carefully and in a balanced way, Baldessari positions him awkwardly in the frame. His head lines up directly with one of the palm trees, making it look like the tree is growing out of his body. This makes the image feel uncomfortable and slightly wrong to look at. Rather than trying to make a beautiful or professional-looking photograph, Baldessari purposely breaks common photography rules, especially the rule of thirds. This rule says that important parts of an image should be placed along certain lines in a three-by-three grid to make the picture look balanced. By ignoring these rules, Baldessari seems to be making fun of traditional photography standards while also questioning why artists are expected to follow them. His approach feels both playful and thoughtful because he intentionally creates what looks like a mistake and then highlights it by naming the work Wrong!. This title encourages viewers to rethink what actually makes a photograph good or bad. The black-and-white color of the photograph also supports Baldessari’s idea. Because there is no color, the image looks plain, dull, and less emotional. This makes viewers focus less on beauty and more on how the picture is arranged. In addition, the low contrast makes it hard to clearly see the difference between the man, the house, and the palm trees. Instead of standing out, the man blends into the background, making the image look flat and unclear. This can make the photograph feel confusing. Normally, this would be considered a mistake in photography, but here it seems intentional. By making the image look unclear and imperfect, Baldessari emphasizes that the photograph is meant to be “wrong.” At the same time, he challenges the idea that all good photographs must be sharp, clear, and perfectly composed.
Baldessari, John. Wrong, 1967. WikiArt, https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-baldessari/wrong-1967. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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