Learning photographic composition in these Japanese photographers’ work
beginner’s guide: using visual guideline and the rule of third
Tatsuo Suzuki is a Japanese street photographer who captures people randomly at Shibuya in Tokyo through richly toned black and white. Tatsuo uses low ISO film, small aperture and fast shutter speed to capture the movement of the pedestrian at night. It is a sharp image with high contrast due to the traits of the film and lens. Moreover, the reflection of the lady and the pass-by man in the mirror extends the depth of view. This photo applies visual guidelines — the beginning point is the lady stands next to the mirror and her reflection in the mirror who stare at the photographer, the turning point is the photographer, the end point is the pass-by man’s image in the mirror. It is interesting that the pass-by man is looking at the photographer in the reality, however we can only see his image rather the real subject. Also, the reflection of the lady refers to symmetry in aesthetic theory. Furthermore, Tatsuo uses back lighting from the gorgeous shopping stores for the main source of light for the lady, by contrast, the area where pass-by man’s image stands is relatively darker. Apart from the virtual lines, the mirror actually contributes to leading line in reality that pointing to the photographer. Tatsuo is good at capturing pedestrians in the street, particularly their expression and emotion showing in the eyes. In the photo, the lady may be waiting for her friends or someone else and she is to be fed up with photographer’s sudden disturbance, so she stares at the photographer. The connection established between the lady and the audiences.
Yoko Kusano is a young female film photographer in Japan. In the photo, the fashionable boy dressed with punk style stands at the middle of the street, however there is a girl at the left side of the view who takes up almost one-third ratio, also the background is too complicated where lots of pedestrians passing by, there is no ‘one’ outstanding subject in the center of the photo which separates the subject and background. Therefore, center framing is not applicable here. Yet, there are visual guidelines in the photo. The girl as a starting point looks at the fashionable boy. Then the boy as a turning point looks at the camera. The end point is the photographer beyond the view. In the street, all heads are down and phubbing with their smart phon. The girl as a bystander who observes the fashionable boys. The photographer uses front lighting towards the fashionable boy, his eyes look hollow that telling his story or pursing something. The fashionable boy at the spotlight and pedestrians in the dark creates great contrast.
Yoshitaka Goto is film photographer based in Gifu City in Japan. He uses double exposure that merges two photos together — a woman who dresses up with kimono stands on the beach looking at the ocean; another photo is high-rising buildings which can be found in modern city are leaning to the right side. The photo is perfectly applied with the rule of thirds in horizontal. The foreground is the beach with smooth sand in color of light grey where the woman stands. The middle ground is the ocean with waves beating the shore that the texture is more rough and the color is darker. The background is the high-rising building tilting to one side and the dark cloudy sky that the texture is the roughest with the darkest color. Metaphorically, the photo creates a stunning view like end of the world. In fact, Yoshitaka blurs the boundary between two photos symbolizing the imaginary world and the real world respectively by a grain of white smog between the ocean and the buildings. In addition, the woman’s hair and kimono are blowing in the wind to the right side as the same direction of the building tilting to. There may be a mysterious power from the left or winds generated by collapsing buildings. The photo captures the moment that the woman who witnesses the end of the world, freezing the movement of the buildings and all complicated emotions.
Orie Ichihashi is one of the new generation of Japanese female photographers. Her work is always healing or therapeutic with soft light. Orie uses the rule of thirds in horizontal in the photo above. The foreground is the reflection of the blue sky in the lake. The middle ground is the fisherman standing in the reflection of green mountain in the lake. The background is the sky and mountain. She uses symmetry perfectly where there are four layers in the photo — the real sky, the real mountain, the reflection of mountain and the reflection of the sky in the lake. The fisherman presents as a virtual line at the boundary between the reality and the reflection images. Also, the ripples in the lake adds rougher and blurred texture to the image/reflection. Orie uses wide angle with short focal length to capture the landscape. As the lake also reflects light, Orie uses small aperture to prevent over-exposure. In the photo, the fisherman feels dwarfed compared to the spectacular landscape. The photographer shows the relationship between human and nature in the photo.
