What is composition?

We talked about "what is composition?".

Composition are the picture elements. It is everything that appears in the photo, in the rectangle. These elements must mean something to you, must tell something to you and everybody.  These elements are information.

We talked about this famous photo below took by Walter Firmo, a well-known Brazilian photographer.

"What do you think this man does in his life? What is he?", I asked the teens.

Silence in the class.

"What is this instrument in his lap?", I asked.

The teens answered: "It is a saxophone". 

"Then, what do you think is he?", I asked.

The teens: "A musician".

"Exactly. This element of the photography, the saxophone, gives us information about this man, tell us something about this man. Who he is. What he does. This is an information! That man is a famous Brazilian musician. His name is Pixinguinha. He isn't alive... Which place do you think he is?", I asked.

Silence in the class.

"Look at the background", I said.

"Inside or outside?", I asked.

The teens: "Outside".

"Yes. You can say it because the tree, the daylight. This a typical scene of the suburban culture in Brazil. People taking a rest in their house's backyard. All elements in this photo, the man resting in the chair, his saxophone, the daylight, are information, tell us about him, tell us about suburban culture in Brazil. You just can say he is a musician, because you don't know about the Brazilian culture. But Brazilian people can realize where is the scene, what is this culture. I am showing you this photo, because the suburban culture in Brazil is very similar to the culture of township. People on the streets, in front of the gates, in their backyards, the community life. You can show your culture to the people, to everybody doesn't live here and would like do know about the township lifestyle, the african lifestyle", I said.

This photo has an excellent composition!

"All elements of the photo tell us something, give us information and are organized in harmony with each other. This is our job. The job of photographers! To take pictures with information and harmony!", I said.