t

The Nature
of Photographs
By Stephen Shore
A Primer

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Tn The Nature of Photographs, Stephen

Shore explores ways of understanding
and ]ooking at all types of photographs -
from iconic images to found pictures,
negatives to digital fí]es. Based on Shorers
many years of teaching photography at
Bard College, New York State, this book
serves as an indispensable tool for
students, teachers and everyone who
wants to take better pictures or learn
to ]_ook at them in a more informed wav.

As we]l as a selection of shorers own

work, The }trature of Photographs contains
images from throughout the history of
photograph;r, from works by the fathers
of photography such as Alfred Stieglitz
and walker Evans to that of artists
working with the medium today such
as Co]lier Schorr and Thomas Struth.
rt covers a range of genres, such as
street photography, fine art photography
and documentary photography, as well
as images by unknown photographers,
be they in the form of an old snapshot
or an aerial photograph taken as part
of a geographical survey. Together with
his clear, intelligent and accessible text,
shore uses these works to demonstrate
how the world in front of the camera
is transformed into a photograph.

Jacket iL}ustration:
Kenneth Josephson
New york state
!,97 0
The Nature
of Photographs
phaidon press Limited
Regent's Wharf
A11 Sain]:s Slreet
London Nt 9PA

Phaidon Press Tnc.

1B0 Varick Streel
New York, NY t0014

www.phaidon.com

Second edition (revised, expanded and redesigned)

@ 2a07 Phaidon Press Limited
Reprinled 20O7
First edilion published by The Johns Hopkins
University Press

ISBN 97B 0 71,4B 1585 2

A CIP catalogue record for this book is a"vaiLable

from ihe Bri]:ish Library.

A11 rights reserved. No part of this pubLica,lion

rnay be reproduced, stored in a retrievaL system
or lransmitled, ín any fcrm or by any means,
electronic, mechanica1, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the written permission
of phaidon press Limited.

Design and Typeface by A2/SW/HK

printed in china
The Nature
of Photographs
By Stephen Shore
Contents

7 The Nature of Photographs

!.5 The Physical Level

37 The Depictive Level

97 The Mental Level

!.17 MenLal Modell ing

|.34 Picture Credi]:s

!,35 Index of Arlists
L36 AcknowLedgements
Robert Frank
View from Hotel Window
- Bulte, Montana
L954-56

ó The Nature of Photographs

The Nature
of Photographs
How is this photograph different
from the actua] scene that Robert Frank
saw"as he stood in his Butte hotel room
and looked out on this depressed mining
town in the northern Rockies? How
much of this image is a product of
1enses, shutters, and media?'M/hat
are the characteristics of photography
that establish how an image looks?

The Nature of Phoiographs 7

 This book explores v/ays of understanding John Gossage
the nature of photographs; that is, how Romance Industry # 175
photographs function; and not only the !,99B
most elegant or gracefu1 photographs,
but all photographs made with a camera
and printed directly from the negative
or a digital file. A1} photographic prints
have qualities in common. These qualities
determine how the world in front of the
camera is transformed into a photograph;
they also form the visua] grammar that
elucidates the photograph's meaning.

B The Nature of Photographs

 The Nature of Photographs 9

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A photograph can be viewed on several Dieter AppeLt
]evels. To begin with, it is a physical The Mark on the Mirror
object, a print. 0n this print is an Thal Breathin8 Makes
image, an illusion of a window on to the !,97 7

world. Tt is on this level that we usually

read a picture and discover its content:
a souvenir of an exotic land, the face of
a lover, a wet rock, a landscape at night.
Embedded in this level is another that
contains signals to our mind's perceptual
apparatus. Tt gives (spin'to what the
image depicts and how it is organized.

tO The Nature of Photographs

:,

The Nature of Photograpns l rt

 The aim of this book then is not
to explore
photographic content, but to describe Walker Evans
physical and formal attributes of a. Fami]y Snapshots ín
photographic print that form the
tools a Hale Coun:iJa A]abama
photographer uses to define and
interpret
that content. L936

12 l The Nature of Photographs

The Na]:ure of Photographs 13
Anonymous
Ca"r by roadside
Date unknown

t4 The Physica} Level

The
Physica1
Leve]
A photographic print is, in most
instances, a base of paper, plastic,
or metal that has been coated with
an emu]sion of light-sensitive metallic
salts or meta]lic salts coupled with
vegetable or metal]ic dyes. Tn some
prints, the base is coated directly
with or imprinted with dyes, pigments,
or carbon. A photograph is flat, it has
edges, and it is static; it doesnrt move.
'V/hile it is
flat, it is not a true plane.
The print has a physical dimension.

The Physica,1 Level | 15

 vsical and chemical attributes
Th ese nh Stephen Shore

form the boundaries that circumscribe Luzzara, Italy, !-993

the nature of the photograph. These
atrribules impress lh emselves upon
the photographic image. The physical
qualities of the print determine some
of the visual qualities of the image.
The flatness of the photographic paper
establishes the plane of the picture.
The edges of the print demand the
boundedness of the pícture. The staticness
of the image determines the experience
of time in the photograph. Even the
image of a photograph on a computer
monitor is flat, static, and bounded.
The type of black and-white emulsion
determines the hue and tonal range
of the print. The type of base determines
the texture of the print.

L6 ] The Physical Level

illllilfl
l

\a

The PhysicaL Leve1 | t7

Co]our expands a photographrs palette Anne Turyn
and adds a ne\M level of descriptive !,2ct7cL96a
information and transparenc.y to the From
image. Tt is more transparent because (FLashbu]b \4emories'
one is stopped less by the surface - colour L9B6
is more ]ike how we see. It has added
description because it shows the colour
of light and the colours of a culture or an
age. While made in the 19BOs, the palette
of this image by Anne Turyn seems to
date the picture a generation earlier.

1B The Physica1 LeveL

>}-

The Physical Level l9

 Slephen Shore
Room 2B, Holiday Tnn
Medicine Hat. Alberta
August 18, 1974

ry

ft§
]s
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ii f;
l;i

*/

2OITl e Physica. Leve]

Joe] Slernfe]d
Mclean, Virginia,
December {97B

".i.r:'

The Physical Level | 21

Stephen Shore
Amarillo. Texas

22 The Physical LeveL

Thomas Demand
Sink/Spůle
!,997

The PhysicaL Level 23

The tonal range of a black and-white Richard Benson
print is affected by the type of emulsion Untitled
the print is made with. The composition Date unknown
of the film emulsion, the chernistry
of the film and print developers,
and the nature of the right source from
which the print was rnade also determine
the way shadows, mid tones, and
highrights are described by the print;
they determine how many shades of
grey the print contains and whether
these tones are compressed or separated.

This reproduction of a prinl by Richard

Benson has an exceptionally long
tonal scale with subtle, clear, beautiful
separation of the Low vaLues. The
original print is acryLic paint applied
to aluminium. It was produced from
eight halftone separations made from
the origina1 negative.

2 Th^ Ph"ls, ,a - ,ó Je
The Physica1 Levet | 25
As an object, a photograph has its
Anonymous
old man v/ltn apples
own life in the world. It can be saved
in a shoebox or in a museum. It can 'rr" "*""-"
be reproduced as information or as
an advertisement. It can be bought and
sold.. It may be regarded as a utilitarian
object or as a work of art. The context
in which a photograph is seen effects
the meaníngs a viewer draws írom it,

26 ] The Physical LeveL

The Physical Level|27
 Cindy Sherman
Untit]ed Film Stil]
L97 B

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za I tne Physical Leve1

Anonymous
PubLicity shot of actress
Joan Foniaine
4 otrZ

J'l,.io. Dice"
CUŤE FETÁOíý: Joan Fontaine cud,dles lrer
rrrěircaďHáiriess 1up, during a lvr,] ialar,nourt.
sl]ooting
oí ],at Holt's "}light To 'angivr" at
(PLEÁ§E cRr,DIT IIFLIGHT TO ŤA]§GIERI| )

The Physical Level | 29

T. H. 0'SuLlivan U.S. GeologicaL Survey

Historic Spanish Record Longitudina], parabo]ic,

oť the Conquest, South and transverse dunes
Side oí Inscription Rock, on Garces Mesa Coconino
New Mexico County, Arizona, Lat
LB73 35'39'N; long 1tO"55'W
Photograph scaLe:
1:54,0OO, Feb. 19th !-954

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The Physica} Leve1 | ót

ťilffitiltill1ll,Fim*
 col]ier schorr Bernd and HiLla Becher
Herbert, New SoLdier Waterlowers,
Goethestrasse L972 L9B6
zaaL

ó2 l The Physica,l Leve1

I
The Physica1 Level óó
By consciously adopting a visual style, Wa]ker Evans
a photographer can reference this B-d, o- an| fa rn ho .so

context and bring these meanings to Ha]e County, A]abama

-Walker
the reading of the image, as
Evans did when he made this photograph
in, what he called, (documentary style'.

34 l The Physical Level

The Physica1 Leve] 35
Andrew Moore
Burger King, Governor's
Island, New Tork
200 3

Lisa kereszi
Burger King, Governor's
Island, New York
2aa3

36 l The Depictive Level

The
Depictive
LeveI
Photography is inherent]y an analytic
discipline. -Where a painter starts with
a blank canvas and builds a picture,
a photographer starts with the messiness
of the world and se]ects a picture. A
photographer standing before houses and
streets and people and trees and artifacts
of a cu]ture imposes an order on the
scene - simpJ_ifies the jumble by giving
it structure. He or she imposes this order
by choosing a vantage point, choosing
a frame, choosing a moment of exposure,
and by selecting a plane of focus.

Ih^ D.p..r'v- |eve J

 'Walker Evans
The photographic image depicts, within
\4ining Town,
certain ťormal constrairrts, an aspect
West Virginia
oí the world. This photograph by Evans
!.936
depicts a store, gas pumps ) a car, a road,
hit]s and houses, sky. Tt also depicts
receding space.

The formal character oí the image is a

resu].t of a range of physical and optical
factors. These are the factors that define
the nhvsical level of the photograph,
But on the depictive level there are
four central ways in which the world
in front of the camera is transformed
into the photograph: flatness, ťrame,
time, and focus.

These four attributes deíine the picture's

depictive content and structure, They
ťorm the basis of a photograph's visual
grammar. They a]]e responsible for
a snapshooter's 6mistakes': a blur,
a behead.ing, a jumble, an awkward
moment. They are the means by which
photographers express their sense of the
world., give structure to their perceptions
and articulation to their meanings,

oB|,l^D^p,"L,i^L^\^
ll'.

The Depiclive Level ó9

 C. E. [latkins
The íirst means of transformation CastLe Rock, CoLumbia
is flatness. The world is three- River" L867
d,imensional; a photographíc image
js lwo-dimensjonal , Because of thjs
flatness, the d,epth of depictive space
always bears a relationship to the
picr,ure pJane. The piccr,,rc plane is
a field upon which the lens's image
is projected. A photographic image
can rest on this picture plane and,
at the same time, contain an illusion
of deep space.

40 l The Depictive Level: FLatness

The Depiclive LeveL: FLalness l 4t
 Lee FriedLander
Photographs have (with the exception T"1."ry§
KnoxviLLe,
of stereo pictures) monocular vision
L97
- one d.efinite vantage point,
They |"

do not have the depth perception that

our binocular vision affords us, when
three-dimensional space is projected
monocularIy on to a plane, relationships
are created that d-id not exist before the
picture was taken. Things in the back of
the picture are brought into juxtaposition
with things in the front, Any change
in the vantage point results in a change
in the relationships. Anyone who has
closed one eye, held, a finger in ťront of
his or her face, and then switched eyes
knows that even this two-inch cha,nge
in vantage point can produce a dramatic
difference in visual relationships,

To say that new relationships are

created does not mean that the yield
sign and cloud jn rhis pholograph
by Lee Friedlanderwere not there
in front of the camera, but that
],he visual relationship between them,
the cloud sitting like cotton candy
on top of the sign, is a product of
photographic vision,

42 l The Depictive Leve]: FLatness

The Depictive Leve]: Flatness 43
Some photographs are opaque. Thomas struth

The viewer is stopped by the Paradise 9

picture plane. (Xi Shua"ng Banna"),

yunnan province
Chína
!-999

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+4 ] rne Depictive Leve].: Flatness

The Depiclive Level: FLatness | 45
 Thomas struih
Some photographs are transparent, Pa,ntheon. Rome
']''i. a rr j errrer i s d.ra V/n thrOUgh
oí l990
the surface into the illusion
lh e image.

46 l The Depictive Level:

FLatness

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The Depictive Leve]: F]atness 47

In the ťield, outside the controlled André kerlósz
coníines of a studio, a photographer is Dubo, Dubon,

confronted with a complex web of visual Dubonnel, Paris, 19ó4

juxtapositions that realign themselves
with each step the photographer takes.
Take one step and something hidden
comes into view; take another and an
object in the ťront now presses up against
one in the distance. Take one step and
the d.escription of deep space is clarified;
take anolner and it is obscured.

48 The Depictive Level: F]atness

 ilF*I

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The Depictive Level: Flatness \ 49

Lísette Model
Sammy's Bar, 1940

5O The Depictive Leve]: F]atness

illiltilil
Zeke Berman
Domestic Still Life
Ari and Entropy
1,97 9

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The Depictive LeveL: FLalness i 51

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52 The Depictive Level: F]atness

 Nicholas Nixon In bringing order to this situation,
Friendly, a photographer solves a picture,
Wesl Virginia", more than composes one.
L982

kj

The Depictive Level: Flatness | 53

The next transformative element Robert Adams
is the frame. A photograph has edges; C]ear cut a]ong
the world does not. The edges separate the Nehalem River
what is in the picture from what Til]amook Couniy,
is not. Robert Adams could airn his 0regon
camera down a little bit and to the 1,97 6

right, include a railroad track in this

pholograph of a partially clear-cut
Western landscape, and send a chilling
reverberation through the image's
content and meaning.

54 The Depiciive Leve]: Frame

The Depictive Level: Frarne | 55
 The frame corra]s the content of the Aaron Diskin
photograph al] at once. The objects, The Shadow
people, events, or forms that are in !,995
the forefront of a photographerrs
attention when making the fine framing
decisions are the recipients of the
ťrame's emphasis. The frame resonates
off them and, in turn, draws lhe viewerrs
attention to thern.

Just as monocular vision creates

juxtapositions of lines and shapes within
the image, edges create relationships
between these lines and shapes and the
frame. The re]ationships that the edges
create are both visua] and (contentualr.

56 | The Depiclive Leve]: Frame

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The Depictive Level: Frame l 57

The men in the foreground of this He]en Levilt
photograph by Helen Levitt bear a New York
visual relationship not only to each ^ 4 aLE.

other, but also to the lines of the frame.

The frame energizes the space around
the ťigures. These formal qualities
unite the disparate action of this picture,
the seated man with his stolid stare,
the languid dialogue of the two on the
left, and the streetwise angularity of
the central figure, ínto the jazzy cohesion
of L940s New York Citv street ]ife.

58 | The Depictive LeveL: Frame

 §.\

The Depictive LeveL: Fra"me | 59

 $,/i}liam Eggleston
For some pictures the frame acts
UntitLed
passively. It is where the picture ends,
c. L97a
The structure of the picture begins
within the image and works its way
out to the frame.

As the street in this photograph by

V,/illiam Eggleston leads to a pine wood
beyond the sub-d_ivision's boundaries,
so the photograph's structure implies
a world continuing beyond its edges,

60 l The Depictive Level: Frame

The Depictive Level: Frame | 61
I

For some pictures the frame is active. Slephen Shore

The structure of the picture begins El Pa,so Sireet,
with the frame and works inward. El Paso. Texas t 975

'M/hile
we know that the buildings,
sidewalks, and sky continue beyond
the edges of this urban landscape, the
world of the photograph is contained.
within the frame. Tt is not a fragment
of a larger wor]d.

62 Tl:,e Depictive Level: Fra,me

uuffiiluililliliililllilllil]il l]lillll]llL1lll1lllllll]lllll]ll i]i l ] ii ll]i]l |]

,,rnilfl
tl:

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ThA Depict iVó L-Vel. t 1a6^ \ o3

llilillil
Japanese woodblock prints use the Toyokrrni III (Kunisada)

frame in a wa.y that is more reminiscent S.^,- fro.r a Kab,k' plaJ

of photographs than of Western painting. c. t85O

It has been suggested that this was a

resu]t of the Eastern scroil tradition -
seeing the infinitely variable croppings
that occu,_r when viewing a scroll as it
is roLled from hand to hand. Perhaps by
examining what gives these prints their
sense of photographic framing we can
clarify what photographic framing is.

Notice hoq in the upper right of the

picture, the frame gives emphasis
to the angel's hand staying the sword.
The angel is described with the greatest
economy: the artist has given the least
information needed ťor us to read this
being as an angel. There is something
slyly wonderíu] about our ability to
make an interpretation based on this
m i n ima l descri pL_ on.

Now, notice the leg jutting into the

image frorn the lower right. It is really
arnazing that the artist chose to add this.
It doesn't relate to any of the action in
the picture. It is enlirely extraneous. 11,
typiíies the sort of seemingly arbitrary
cropping that occurs when the frame
of a photograph slices through the world.
V,/hile it doesn't relate to the uníolding
drama of the picture, it does imply that
this drama is a part of a larger world.

64 l The Depiclive LeveL: Frame

 |,§\
'
...
|....::a,:,:

. :

The Depictive Leve]: Frame | 65

ffi'ii*n-,
 Pau] Graha"m
Untit]ed, Spain, 19BB
(coins on she}f)

ař

66 l The Depictive Leve]: Frame

IlllI llilililil|il,,
Phílip-Lorca" diCorcia
Ha"rtford, 1979

The Depictive LeveL: Frame | 67

llilillllillllillllilil]li ]llllill]lllllilllll
Richa"rd Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
!"989

Richard prince
Untit]ed (Cowboys 4)
t 987
Deta,iL

6B The Depictive Level: Frame

,ilt

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 ,,3{§

Richard prince
Untitled (Cowbov t

1 9BO-B 9

-/

The Depictive Leve]: Frame 69

]
Two factors affect time in a photograph: Larry Fink
the duration of the exposure and the Studio 54, New York
staticness of the final image. Just as a City, May 1977
three-dimensional world is transformed
when it is projected on to a f]at piece
of film, so a fluid world is transformed
when it is projected on to a static piece
of film. The exposure has a duration, what
John Szarkowski in The Photographer's
Eye called (a discrete parcel of time'.
The duration of the exposure could be ...

one ten thousandth of a second ...

Frozen tirne: an exposlrre oť short

duration, cutting across the grain
of time, generating a ne-w moment.

7 2 | The Depiclive LeveL: Time

,W
 The Depictive Level: Tirne 7J

lll]lilililllililil|]lI
or two SeCondS ... Línda connor
SLeeping Baby,
Extrusive time: the movement occurring Kathmandu, Nepa], 19B0
in front of the camera, or movement
of the camera itself, accurnulating on
the film, producing a blur.

74 Tl:,e Depictive Level: Tirne

,m
l

]li ll |]ill
The D.pi .iiye |^y"_. Time -5

lll llllll I llll rlllll |lll l ll ::;l l l Il lll| l

.,. or six minutes. Edward weston
Pepper, l9ó0

still time: the content is at rest and

time is still.

76 The Depictive Level: Time

 ",, .:.'

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The Depictive Leve]: Time 77

|

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Tod Papageorge
Zuma Beach, Ca"]ifornia
L97 B

ZB ] rne Depictive LeveL: Time

#,ll

il|]lllill|illl|]lI
Frank Goh]ke
Aftermath: the Wichita
Fa]L, Texas, Tornado
no. 1OA, Maplewood Ave.
n^ar SiKes 'onuor lr/a

Looking East, April

!-4,L979/Aflerrnaih:
lhe Wichiia, FaLl
Texas, Tornado no. tOB,
Maplewood Ave., near
Sikes Center Ma]]
Looking East, June, l9BO

The Depiclive LeveL: Tirne | 79

l]llil|il]ll ]lllllll]illliillllll
 Bob Mulligan
[Richard Nixon the Day
afier lhe Hiss Verdict]
1950

BO The Depictive Level: Time

rt
Michae] Schmidt
From
íwaffenruhe'
L9 B5-87

The Depictive Leve]: Time i B1

ll|]llil]llll illilllilill]ilffi lil]il]ili]ilili]ill]ili]llili

Focus is the fourth major transformation P. H. Emerson

ol the world into a photograph. Not During lhe Reed Harvest

only does a camera see 1nonocularly from tBB 6

a deťinite vantage point; it also creates

a hierarchy in the depictive space by
defining a single plane of íocus. This
plane, which is usually parallel wilh
the picture plane, gives emphasis to
part of the picture and helps to distil
a photograph's subject írorn its content.

In this photograph by P. I{. Emerson,

the shallo-w area in íocus - the image's
depth of field - draws the víewer's
awareness immediately to the three reed
harvesters in the foreground. It isolates
them from the fourth harvester and from
the marshes in the background. The plane
of íocus acts as the edge of our attention
cutting through the scene.

B2 The Depictive Leve]: Focus

ryW llililllilil
IIililllllulllIl!lIlillIlill|il| lilllill|illillil
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 -6. |cpicti,e ipv- : Tocus l BJ

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 Robert Adams
Examine this photograph by Robert
Outd.oor Theater and.
Adams. Move your attention from the
Cheyenne Mountain
bottom edge, back through the parking
L968
lot, to the movie screen. From the screen,
move your attention to the mountain
to its right and from there to the sky,

Follow the same path through the picture,

but now be aware that as your eye moves
back through the parking lot - as your
attention recedes through the depictive
space - you have a sensatíon oť changing
íocus, yoL^r eyes focusi ng p-ogressiveJy
íurther away.

Notice that as your attention moves frorn

the screen to the mountain there is Little
or no change of focus.

Notice that as your attention moves from

the mountain to the sky there is a shift
oť focus, but now, instead oí moving back,
your focus is seemingly moving forward,
coming closer.

NoL,icerhat rhe dj rection and speed

of your relocusing is not tied to the
recession in depictive space. The clouds
may be further away than the movie
screen, but your íocus moves closer,

84 The Depictive Level: Focrrs

lillliillillí{lfr tllllílt

llilllilllililll

ililllil]lilililLil lllililiil|lililiffiiliilil
l|l|l]|]llllilllllllllil]lllllll]l]ll]| ll]l 1 ]i
 *il§§L§.L!§i§§§§jj

,,i§li_l§i\"iiii§]:š

The Depicli.re Level: Focus B5

ililililillilll l|ffiLililllililllffiffi
 Robert Ada"ms
Examine this photograph by Robert
outdoor Theater and
Adams. Move your attention frorn the
bottom edge, back through the parking Cheyenne Mountain
L968
lot, to the movie screen. From the screen,
move your attention to the mountain
to its right and from there to the sky,

Follow the same path through the picture,

but now be aware that as your eye moves
back through the parking lot - as your
attention recedes through the depictive
space - you have a sensation of changing
focus, your eyes focusing progressively
ťurther away.

Notice that as your attention moves from

the screen to the mountain there is little
or no change of íocus.

Notice that as your attention moves from

the mountain to the sky there is a shift
oí focus, but now, instead of moving back,
your focus is seemingly moving forward,
corning closer.

Notice that the direction and speed

of your refocusing is not tied to the
recession in depictive space. The clouds
may be ťurther away than the movi e
screen, but your focus moves Closer.

E4 The Depictlve Level: Focus

ilnl]lffi

llilffi lil|lilil iili ]i l l]lilillii]liilllii]f lillif lf ii l]i|

The Depiclive Leve]: Eocus \ 85
M/hile with most cameras the lens is
Jan Groover
Untitled
attached to a rigid camera body and so
bears a fixed relationship to the picture
L9B5

plane, with a traditional view camera

the lens, which is attached to flexib] -,
bellows, can be pivoted sideways or up
and down. This allows the plane of ťocus
to be manipulated so that it is no longer
parallel to the picture plane, It can even
run perpendicular to the picture plane,
as in this still life by Jan Groover,

86 ] The Depictive Leve]: Focus

M
liliillill Ilil
 The Depiclive Levei: Focus I B7

frffiilfi[lilffiilllllllllliltillll|l|l||l |l]litlit t r,

i|lilillililllilffi |lilil|illlililililll]illl]ilillll]i]ll]i ilti i ]i

The spatial hierarchy generated by the Brassar
plane of focus can be eliminated only by Graffiti
photographing a flat subject that is itself c. L935
parallel to the picture plane.

88 J The Depictive Leve]: Focus

-.ililr,,,'affi'

llil|lilliilil]i

lilllilllilliliil

lll|lill|llll|lilliil|l|ll|lilltlll]llll]lilllilll|lllllllllill|lll]ilil]iitlttit]i
 The Depictive Leve]: Focus ] 89

!iiřú!llll]]]]l]!]]]rr]L---,
The hierarchical emphasis created by Judilh Joy Ross
the plane of focus can be minimizeC From
(Easton Portraits'
by increasing the depth oť fieLd. But
there is still one plane that is in focus, t 9B8

with space before and behind rendered

with diminishing sharpness. There is
a gravitation of attention to the plane
of focus. Attention to ťocus concentrates
our attention.

9O l The Depictive Leve]: Focus

llilililllilill

illilillllillilllil|l|lillillilill|lllllill|llll|llll|lllllllllll]llll]tlil]ttl]i
 The Depictive Level: Focus | 91

lillililillillililllillililllilllillil
il]|llll|lilllllllillilillillllilll]illl]lll]illl]illllil]illlillll]illt]i]ili]l]i
Anonymous
Prrhli eilv still í'rom
(Docks oť New Or]eans',

s -rj T g Polar d h -r [^rs

,a

as charLie chan
!-948

:t*
,o$
t''i:
§ l,:,
_-,&d
.l& ;;

92 ] The Depictive Level: Focus

]lffi]ililllilil
lilllilllillillil
Vik Muniz
Aclion pholo
(After Hans Namuth)
1997

,
t
J

'2
b-1 -l
§

The Depictive Leve]: Focus 9ó

lll|lilillllillillillillll|lllI|lil]illlllililllllllll]illllill|lll]llli]i]ilriitri
 Mitch Epstein
Unlilled, New Tork 1998

94 The Depictive Leve]: tr'ocus

*, llil|l|tltllltlllillllliilillllllllllffi

llffi lililliffi ffi l]il|ilillil liliiliili ]il

llffiffi|iltili
Guido Guidi
....- Nord.
Rimini 1991

;-u

,:,

,#.&
L.ď
'., ,':
,"?-

The Depictive Leve]: Focus 95

]

|ill|ililliliil
illilillililllffi ffi ill]ilffi lililiil|iliil
 Paul Caponigro
Death Va]]ey,
Caliťorniar 1975

:'.";,§"..'r-_ffi

"'i\t\}"ffi
,'irl \š:
', , ",\*,:j
'! \ l'l ' i*
",irn ,', 'at,.,.,..' .l
, \..,, ,

§o,u'1* ,,,." .1, ,

,.}, !''
.,..l ',,
:

96 ] rne Menta] Leve]

]lilil

lliilillilillill]|
The
Mental
Leve1
You see a mental image
- a mental
construction when you read this page,
or look at a photograph, or see anything
else in the world. your focus even shifts
when reading this picture by Paul
Caponigro. But your eyes don't actually
refocus (since you are only looking at a
ťlat page). Tt is your mind that changes
focus within your mental image of the
picture, with all the attendant sensations
of refocusing your eyes. It is your menta1
focus that is shifting.
pictures exist on a mental ]evel that
may be coincident with the depictive
level - what the picture is showing -
but does not rnirror it. The mental
]evel elaborates, refines, and
embellishes our perceptions of the
depictive level. The mental ]evel of
a photograph provides a frarnework
for the menta] image we construct
oť (and for) the picture.

Light reflecting off this page is focused

by the lenses in your eyes on to your
retinas. They send electrical impulses
along the optic nerves to your cerebral
cortex. There your brain interprets these
impulses and constructs a mental image.

This, surprisinglg is an acquired ability.

Patients who have had their eyesight
restored after having been blind from
birth at first see only light. They have
to learn how to construct a menta] image.

The Menta] LeveL 97

]lflllil]lilililLil

llffi]ililllillili
 Thomas Annan
While the mental level is separate írom CLose, No. 6l Saltmarkei
the d.epictive level, it is honed by formal
LB6B-7 7
decisions on that level: choice of vantage
point (where exactly to take the picture
from), írame (what exactly to include),
time (when exactly to release the shutter),
and- focus (what exactly to emphasize
with the plane of focus), By focusing
on the black void at the end of this
impossibly narrow ally, Thomas Annan
draws our mental focus through the
confined space of the image, Focus s the
j

bridge between the mental and depictive

levels: focus of the lens, focus of the eye,
focus of attention, focus of the mind,

9B ] The MenlaL LeveL

|liilillilil]ili]i
 .1*;".ť

The Menta] Level | 99

fl||fiilrlt*,u*,

llffi]ilililffiffi

lllilillilillili]lil

li|]
 A photograph may have deep depictive Wílliam H. Be]1
space but shallow space on the mental caňon of kanab wash
level - in which there is little sensation Colorado River,
of your eye changing focus. Looking Soulh
Io / J

100 | The Menta] Leve]

 The Mental Level i 101

Illffi lililll]ilillilili|]ilillilill]ilil ]ili ]l]i

Conversel3r, a photograph may have Frederick sommer
shallow depictive space but deep Glass, l94ó
mental space.

102 | The Menta"L LeveL

lliilillilil]il|lil
 ý1' l
V,i."
,.l
ř_,

!i
fl
l-i

..

f,!ffi,:.,:__i
-€_.,É!L

:ř +ě§

§
iX*,
'.**§

The Mental LeveL l 1O3

lllilillilillffi tilt]iiltiliiiillil|lilil|ili]l]il]i iltt ttli

A photograph may utilize structural Berenice Abbott
devices to emphasize deep space (layering Department of Docks,
of planes, receding diagona}s, verticals New York City, 19ó6
in tension with the edges, etc.) but have
shallow mental space.

tO4 The Menta] Level

llilffi]|ilil
ll|illil]illil
 The Mental Level 1O5

]lilffi

lllilillilil]lli]i
A photograph may have a relatively PauL Caponigro
uninťlected structure but have recessive Peach, Santa" Fe,
mental space. New Mexico, 19B9

1O6 | The MentaL Leve]

l|illlil]llilil
l]iilillilil]|ilil

lffillffiffilil

lil]lili]i
 The Menlal

lllilililllffiffillffiffillilil il]ililiilill]ffi lililiilllffi ffi iiltffi l]iilt]iili]i ]lli

 'WaLker Evans
In this Walker Evans photograph
track your focus through the space Gas Station, F-eedsvi]le

of the picture. Mlesl Virginial t936

Look at the sky in relation to the rest

of the picture.

Unlike the Adams photograph of the

drive-in theatre where the sky moved
forward, the sky here appears to float
on a diťferent plane, as though it were
cut out from a different picture, as
lhough it were a collage. This collaging
appears when there is a difference in
the degree of attention a photographer
pays to different parts of the picture.
For this to happen, the photographer
needs to pay intense, clear, heightened
attention to one part of the picture,
but not to another.

tOB The Menta] Level

Illffililil]illili

iil]liilli
 *

m
§i6ř,{
::::.\

l
§l
*|

}l;;
Tl§
, §.
X
:l
,,}

fJ;
The Menla] Levet | 1O9

,lffi||""'
llilllillll
 Garry Vlinogrand
The crystallíne clarity of Garry WorLd's Fair,
Winogrand,'s awareness of a photograph New York City, 1o64
cutting through motion and time makes
this image oí people interacting on
a bench absolutely riveting, The
quality
and intensity of a photographer's
attention leave their imprint on the
mental level oí the photograph, This
does not happen by magic,

A photographer's basic formal tools

for defining the content and organization
of a picture are vantage point, frame,
focus, and. time. What a photographer
pays attention to governs these decisions
(be they conscious, intuitive,
or auto-
matic). These decisions resonate with the
clarity of the photographer's attention,
They conform to the photographer's
mental organízaŤ,ion - the visual gestalt
- of the picture,
Tf you right now become aware oť
the space between yourselí and this
pagel there is a transmutation of
your
attention and perception, This sort of
perceptual change - this modification
oí the mental image - would, for a
photographer, lead to a realignment
of his or her forma} decisions in
making a photograph,

ttO l The Mental Level

llillilillffil]l
 The Menta] Level ] 111

lliilillilil]lilil]i
 Gustave Le Gray
The Beech Tree
c. LB56

t{2 l The Mental Level

I-
WiLLiam Eggleston
Unlitled
c. !,97 0

The Menta] Leve] 11ó

Emmet Gowin
'Wadi
Sivap,h Petra
Jordan, 1982

l,L4 TbLe Mental LeveL

l]ilffil]il

|llilillilil]iilili
 Dorotbree" La-rrge

Second Born. Berkele

The Mental Level I t15

il"..-r1,15;Pll"
illill|lill|llllllill|llllil]illl]illl]ill]iiil]llll]|lll]lllllli]illi]iilliiili
|'|l|
Alfred Slieglitz
Poplars, Lake George,
/ 07a

116 MentaL Modelling

llililllililllflilllilillil
lllilillilill|ilillIiill]l

,i
 Menta1
ModelIing
The mental levelrs genesis is in the
photographerrs menta1 organization
of the photograph. V/hen photographers
take pictures, they hold mentar rno.le]s
in their mínds; models that are tre :es:l,|
oť the proddings of insight, conci,_cll_ng,
and comprehens,i on of th- wor_c.
At one extreme, the model is rig_i a:_l
ossified, bound by an accumui:_tiol oj _:s
conditioning: a photographer recog.__z:s
only subjects that fit the mod.eL, o:l
structures pictures only in acco:lCar_c:
with the model. A rudimentary ex:,:1_1_-
of this is a mental ťilter that perr:_:s
only sunsets to pass through. At lre o:.,.:
extreme, the model is supple anC j_:_i.
readily accommodating and adjus:i:::
to new perceptions.
For most photographers, the mode,
operates unconsciously. But, by mak_l_g
the model conscious, the photoglap]]er]
brings it and the mental level of ;he
photograph under his or her controi.
Earlier r suggested that you become
aware of the space between you and
the page in this book. That caused arL
alteration oť your mental model. You can
add to this awareness by being mindful,
r_ghi now, of yourself sitting in your
:h:._::, its back pressing against your
s1-1e. To this you can add an awarelless
ci:le sounds in your room. And a]l the
-.=:_le, as you]] awa]]eness is shifting and
;-:,;: lleriia] model is metamorphosing,
;-]- :,r]e :eading this book, seeing these
-.-.-_]]];-
- -,ar3"3- t".ordS, which are only
_:_'l.- ::_ tapel, the ink depicting a series
:i i,_:_:l;,- __t.ie symbols whose meaning
_s ::l_-,-:;ea cn the menlal leve]. And
,__ ::_: .,,;|--el as your framework of
-;.:ll-::stalClng shiťts, you continue
:c :::a j :.ld to contemplate the nature
:i l:l_c:cgraphs.
MenlaL Modelling ] 117
lll|lillill|lllllllllill|lll][ll]lllillll]llll]|lii]lll|lli]l]ll]i ll]i]li]i
Diane Arbus
Woman on a Pa,rk Bench
on a S.nnJ DaJ, N.V.n.,
L9 69

* t **,:§
§

É,il *ů l
t* ůÉ
,

{b

'B Ve-ta Mod^.LLing

]lilil

tlilffillilillili

llilllilil
 Lee Friedlander
IdaT,o !-972

Modetling l 119

ffi llffillillffi
Fazal Sheikh
Darmi Ha]ake GiLo,
SoloLo, Kenya, 1992 93

t20 MentaL ModeLting

l]ililllililll

l|lililililil|lffi lililiillffi iillllilillililiill]il]l ll]i

Frederick sommer
V,^g'-aror,i,] dll:.,
St. Anne and the Inťa"ni
St. John,1966

Mental Modelling t21

i, i,,'t I t li t tttlltitttilttt
Each level oí a photograph is determined Eugěne Atget

by attributes of the previous level. 0rienla"] Poppy

The print provides the physica,| Date unknown

framework ťor the visual parameters

of the photographic image. The ťormal
decisions, which themselves are a product
oť the nature oť that image, ar:e the tools
the mental model uses to impress itselť
upon the picture. Each ]evel provides
the foundation the next level builds
upon. At the same time, each reflects
back, enlarging the scope and meaning
of the one on which it rests. The mental
level provides counterpoint to the
depictive theme. The photographic image
turns a piece of paper into a seductive
illusion or a moment oť truth and beauty.

M^. a, Vod^L,'1g

llffiffillffiffillffiffi]illil]liffi ]il

ililffiilffiill|lilililillillllilililil|lilillill|lillllillili|ll|]|llliill|]il]i]il]i]il]l]iliriririrlrrl
 Menta"] \lodeLling | 12ó

lllilffi |ilffi lllilfl |illil]lilffi liliiltffi ii]iiliill]i ]ili

Augusl Sander
JobLess
1,92B

t24 MentaL \4odeLLing

]|ililiilllilil

llililllillillli
Illffi|ilillillill

llilillilil
 An My Lé
Ambush II
From
(SrnalI Wars'

!,999 2aa2

Mental MocleLLing 125

lllilillilillllilillilillffi iiilil]ilffi iili]i ll]i ]l]i

)llllllllllul,r,,,,
Jeff Wa}l
lr4an rn §ireel

**

t26 | Mental ModeLling

llffilililllilil

llillllilll
Williarn Eggleston
Untitled
c. !,9Bó

Menla] }lodeLLíng | 127

Lee Fried]ander
New York
1 966

,s
§

12B MenlaL ModeLLing

llffiffiilffiffillilil
Kenrreth Josephson
New york state
!,97 0

Mental Modelling | 129

llilil

ilililll
Tim Davis
StiLL Life with Apples
2003

1 JO I M.r ra, Vode lj ng

i|lililiilil|lilffil]liliili
Andreas Gursky
Greeley
2003

\,4erraI Mod, ,irgll3'

-When Stephen Shore
make a photograph: mJ
T
Yucatan, Mexico L990
perceptions feed into my mental
model. My model adjusts to accommodate
my perceptions (leading me to
change my photographic decisions),
This modelling ad justment alters,
in turn, my perceptions, And so
on. It is a dynamic, self-modifying
process. It is what an engineer would
call a íeedback loop,

It is a complex, ongoing, spontaneous

interaction of observation, understanding,
imagination, and intention,

1J2|}"4,n'aL Voo" 1'ng

Menta] ModelLing l t33
picture credits
6 Copyrigh]: Robert
Frank, from (The
Americans), courlesy
Pace/MacGilL Gallery,
New York; 9 Copyright
Jo'n Gossag"! l' CaJe-',
Rudolf Kicken. Courtesy
of Dieler Appett; l3
Library oí Congress;
t4 Col]ection of Stephen
and Ginger Shore; l7
Courtesy 303 GalLery,
New York; L9 Photo copy
right 1986 O Anne
Turyn; 20 Courtesy ó03
Gallery, New York; 21
Courlesy of lhe ariist
and Luhring Augustine,
\-w lorx1 22 Co,r'^sJ
3O3 GaLlery, New York;
23 Courlesy of lhe arlist
and JOó Gallery, New
York;25 Courtesy
Richa"rd Benson; 27
CoLLection oť Slephen and
Ginger Shore; 2B
Courlesy of ihe artist
and Meiro pictures
Gallery; 30 George
Eastma"n House; ó1 U.S.
Geologica} Survey1 32
Courlesy 3O3 GalLery,
New York; 33 Courlesy of
Bernd and HiLla Becher;
35 Library of Congress;
36 top O Andrew L.
Moore/courtesy Yancey
Richardson GaLLery1 ó6
boltom Courtesy of the
artist and Yancey
Richardson GaLlery; 39
Library ol Congress1 4l
The J. PauL Gelty
Museum1 4ó Courtesy
L -aen<el Ga "ery, Sa
Francisco; +4 7 @
Thomas Struth, 2aa5;49
Copyright Eslate of
André Kertész, courtesy
of silverstein
Photography, New York;
50 Courtesy Baudoin
Lebon Keite]man; 5t O
Zeke Berrnan, courlesy ROSS, couriesy ťaťe/
Laurence Mil]er Gal}ery, MacGill GaLLery, New
New York; 52 3 Courtesy York; 93 O Vik Muniz
Fraenke1 GalLery, San and lhe Estate of Hans
Francisco; 55 Courtesy Námulh/VAGA, NY,
Fraenke] GalLery, San courtesy Fortes Vilaga
Francisco; 57 Courtesy GaLLery, Sikkema,
Aaron Diskin; 59 O Jenkins&Co.&Xippas
He]en Levitt, courtesy Gallery; 94 O Black
Laurence MiLLer Gallery, River Productions,
New York; 6í O 2006 Ltd/Mitch Epsle,n;
Eggleston Artistic Trust, 95 Courlesy Guido
couriesy Cheim and Guidi;96 Copyrighl
Read, New York. Used PauL Caponigro. Used
with permission. ALL by perrnission; 99 The J.
rights reserved; 6ó PauL Getty Museum; tOt
Courtesy 3O3 Gallery, The J. Paul Getty
New York; 66 Copyright Museum; !-a2 ó a
of the artist, courtesy Frederick & Frances
Anthony ReynoLds Sommer Foundalion1
Gallery; 67 Copyrighi, tO5 BereniceAbbott/
PhiLip Lorca diCorcia, Commerce Graphics Ltd,
courl:esy Pace/MacGiLL Inc; 107 Copyright Parrl
Gal}ery, New York; Caponigro. Used
óB-9 Copyright Richard by permission; t09
Prince. Photos: Davio Library of Congress1
Regen, Courtesy 1tt O The Estate
G]adstone Gallery, oť Garry WinograncL.
New York; 7t O The Courtesy Fraenkel
Estate of Garry GaLlery, San Francisco1
'Winogrand, courtesy The J. Paul Gelty
:]_t2
Fraenke] GaLlery, San Museum; !-1-3 @ 2aa6
Francisco; 73 Courtesy lgg_^s,on A _r _sl'- TrusL.
Larry Fink; 75 Courtesy courtesy Cheim and
Linda Connor; 77 Read, New York. Used
Co]]ection Center for with permission. A]l
Creative Pholography rights reserved; ll4
O19B1 Arizona Board of
-ooy-igJ" Fm,"- ard
Regents; 7B Courtesy Tod Edith Gowin, Courtesy
Papageorge; 79 Courtesy Pace/MacGiLL GaLlery,
Frank GohLke; BO O l.trew York; 1t5
Bortnanl/^ola,s;at Dorothea Lange
Courtesy Michae] Collection, The OakLand
Schmidt; 83 The J. PauL Museum of California,
^ Getty Museum Cily of OakLand. Gift
B5 Courlesy FraenkeL of PauL S. Taylor; t16
Gallery, San Francisco; George Eastman House.
B7 Courtesy Janel Courtesy lhe Georgía
Bord^r . nn.. Ncv rorki U,Keeie trounclatlon;
89 o tSTATf BP ASSA l
,
/ o l o72 lh^
R.M.N. @ Photo RMN/ O Diane Arbus LLC; !,L9
Adam Rzepka; 91 Courtesy FraenkeL
Copyrighl Judith Joy Ga"l1ery, San Francisco;
llil||il
illilill|ilffi
_/ l2O Courlesy Fazal
Sheikh; l2t O Frederick
& Frances Sommer
Foundation; l23
Co]lection of Stephen
and Grngel Ďnole; rZ+
O Die Pholographische
SammLung/SK Stiítung
Kultur August Sander
Archiv, Cologne1 DACS,
London, 2aa6; !.25
Courtesy Murray Guy,
New York; l26 Courtesy
Jeff WaLl; 1-27 a 2aa6
Eggleston Artistic Trust,
courtesy Cheim and
F,ead, New York. Used
with permission.
ALL rights reserved;
,.
B Co "r--sJ Fra^nk^
GaLlery, San Francisco;
129 @ Kenneth
Josephson, courtesy
Rhona Hoťfma"n Gallery,
Chicago; 1óO Courtesy
Tim Davis; 131
Copyright Andreas
Gursky, courlesy Monika
Sprůth /Phi}omene
Magers1 tó3 Courtesy
303 Gallery, New York;
ló5 Copyright John
Szarkowski. Courtesy
Pace/MacGi1l Ga"LLery,
New York.
@ The
EsLa L- oí,
llt]i]ll|lillllillillll|lillllillllillill|illllllllillilillllilllillllilllllll|llll|llllll]lll]t]illi]t]r
 Index of Artists

Abbott, Berenice Eggleston, 'W

il]iam Lé, An-My Sommer, Frederick
105 6L, LLs, !-27 L25 Laz 3, !-2!-
Adams, Robert Emerson, P. H. Le Gray, Gustave Sternfeld, JoeL
55, 85 Bó !,t 2 2I
Annan, Thomas Epstein, Mitch J'evíll, Helen Stieglitz, ALfred
99 94 59 L!,6

Anonymous Evans, Wa]ker Model, Lisette Struth, Thomas

L4, 27, 29, 92 L3) ó5, ó9, !-09 bL) 4+7
Appelt, Dieter Fink, Larry Moore, Andrew Szarkowski, John
!,L 36 L36
Arbus, Diane Frank, Robert Mulligan, Bob Toyokuni III (Kunisada)
LLB 6 B0 65
Atget, Eugěne Friedlander, Lee Muniz, Vik Turyn, Anne
l o7
43, LL9. LzB 93 !,9

Nixon, Nicho]as U.S. Geological Survey

3ó F-, z
3!-

Be}l, William H. O'Sullivan, T. H. WaLL, Jeff

LoL 3a

Benson, Richard Papageorge, Tod Watkins, C. E.

78 1+
!,

Berman, Zeke Prince, Richard Weston, Edward

689
FÁ
77
Brassai Ross, Judith Joy Winogrand, Garry
B9 9L 7t, t !,L
Caponigro, Paul Sander, August
96, !,07 L2+

Connor, Linda Schmidt, Michae]

75 E1

Davis, Tim Schorr, Co]]ier

L30 32

Demand, Thomas Sheikh, Fa,zal

t20
diCorcia, Philip-Lorca Sherrnan, Cindy
67 1,ó

Diskin, Aaron Dorothea Shore, Stephen

57 L7r 2a,22, 63, Ióó
 A cknowledgements John szarkowski
Mother
6. This book grew oul of a course I have taught
l for many years at Bard Col1ege in Annanda]e- t 99B
A on-Hudson, New York. When I first started
I teaching lhe course, I used John Szarkowski's
} The Photographer's Eye as a text and wilhout
J it as a precedenl The Nalure of Photographs
F would nol ha"ve been written.
c)

l The first dra"ft was written whi]e I was a"

I feL]ow at the MacDoweLL CoLony in New Hampshire.
a The combinalion of so]itude during the day and
C Lively conversation at dinner heLped me keep
} my focus. While there, the ea"rly stages of this
I project benefited frorn the advice of Michae]
T Almereyda. The present work evo]ved over severaL
C years. I arn especiaLly gra"tefuL to Jarnes Enyeart,
C Char]es Hagen, and George F, Thompson ol the
a Center for American Places, the publisher of
} lhe first incarnation of lhis book, for the time
a lhey took to rnake detai]ed comments on rny
manuscript.
a
My understanding of lhe importance of focus
was stirnuLated by Amos Gunsberg. For a descriplion
of lhe mechanics of seeing, T have referred lo
Seeing wilh the Mind)s Eye (1975) by Mike and
Nancy SamueLs.

Without the cooperation of a]L lhe photographers,

gaLLeries, and instilutions who a]Lowed me to
reproduce work, this book wouLd nol have been
possible. T particularly wish to thank 'Weston
Naef of the Getty Museum, Peter MacGill of
PaceMacGiLl, and Lisa SpeL}man and Mari Spirilo
oť 303 Gallery. My interest in pholography
and perception conlinues to be stimu]aled by
conversations with Jeff Rosenheim of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, with Pielro
Perona of CalTech, and with MichaeL Fried of
Johns Hopkins. I have aLso learned rnuch from my
coLleagues at Ba"rd CoLLege, Laurie Dah}berg,
Tim Davis, Barbara Ess, Larry Fink, An My Lé,
John Pilson, and Luc Sante, as weLl as from
my studenls.

At Phaidon Press, I'm deepLy indebted to Arnanda

Renshaw, Alex Stetter and Paul McGuinness for their
wisdorn and insight throughoul the whoLe process of
producing this book, to Scotl Williams and Henrik
Kubel for lheir elegant design, and to Richa"rd
Schlagman for his continued support.

Finally, I arn indebted to my wife, Ginger, for her

council and encouragement.

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