{"id":110568,"date":"2018-08-20T13:09:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T20:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=110568"},"modified":"2018-08-20T13:09:58","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T20:09:58","slug":"21-stanley-kubrick-photography-composition-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/20\/21-stanley-kubrick-photography-composition-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"21 Stanley Kubrick Photography Composition Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some personal lessons I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve learned while studying Stanley Kubrick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s early photography collection<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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1. Film noir:<\/h2>\n

Dramatic high contrast light, leading lines, and subjects walking a certain direction:<\/p>\n

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2. Shooting head-on<\/h2>\n

Multiple subjects, shot head-on, with a triangle composition:<\/p>\n

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3. Shooting New York City Subway<\/h2>\n

Handheld, at 1\/8th of a second!<\/p>\n

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4. Two subjects<\/h2>\n

Two subjects, dynamic hand gestures and body gestures, and an engaging perspective:<\/p>\n

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5. Three subjects, depth, and triangle composition:<\/h2>\n

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6. Intimate moment between two subjects<\/h2>\n

Love the heads touching, the bar in the foreground, and the ‘cherry on top<\/a>‘ of the man’s hand and cigarette!<\/p>\n

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7. Horizontal vs vertical<\/h2>\n

Twin brothers: one sleeping in bed (horizontal), and the other standing vertically. Love the brother in the background, with his hand gestures<\/a> making a triangle with his elbows:<\/p>\n

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8. Depth<\/h2>\n

Photographer on far left (blocking technique<\/a>), and subject in center and one subject on the right (with his legs in a “V”\/triangle shape).<\/p>\n

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9. Placement of 5 subjects<\/h2>\n

Love how 3D this photo looks, with the depth of the photograph, and also all the subjects looking upwards. A very interesting image:<\/p>\n

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10. Shooting in the rain<\/h2>\n

How epic it looks, when shooting bright lights at night, with water and rain in the road:<\/p>\n

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11. Kubrick in action<\/h2>\n

Note how he makes these epic mirror shots:<\/p>\n

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12. Group photos<\/h2>\n

Look at the intimacy of all these kids; their hand-gestures, and body language. And the simple background with the graffiti:<\/p>\n

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13. Ambitious and dynamic flash compositions<\/h2>\n

Very much like Weegee<\/a>, see how dynamic these flash<\/a> photos are, with all the multiple subjects, and the blocking of all the visual elements:<\/p>\n

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Another example:<\/p>\n

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14. Curve composition and flash<\/h2>\n

Even when shooting with a flash, try to make a curve composition<\/a>, shooting from behind some people (seeing some photos with the back of people’s heads, and some photos where you can see their faces):<\/p>\n

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15. Minimalism, shot from a low angle<\/h2>\n

Simple lines of the background, and a clear separation (figure to ground<\/a>) of the black gun against the white sky:<\/p>\n

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16. Dynamism and movement<\/h2>\n

The joy and dynamism and movement of the carnival bobsled ride:<\/p>\n

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17. Intimate moment between brother and sister<\/h2>\n

Shot from a low angle, accentuating the curve on top of the frame. Interesting composition, especially when you shoot with a “waist-level finder” on a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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18. Three subjects, and depth<\/h2>\n

Focusing on the middle subject, and having a subject on the far left blocking:<\/p>\n

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19. Surreal flash photographs shot from a low angle<\/h2>\n

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This is a photograph that I find even more surreal than the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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The woman’s left eye overlapped with the man’s left glasses, and the face of the man in the painting, and the man in the far left with the cigarette:<\/p>\n

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Love this photo, with the men and their large “Graflex” cameras in the past:<\/p>\n

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20. Kids boxing<\/h2>\n

Not wanting to get punched in the face (while they’re punching the other):<\/p>\n

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Reminds me of my ‘Gallo Boxing<\/a>‘ series with the kid and the boxing gloves:<\/p>\n

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21. Mirror selfie<\/h2>\n

Have a subject in the far right block, and get yourself in the photo — and your selfie<\/a> in the center:<\/p>\n

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Reminds me of my picture with Cindy:<\/p>\n

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\"Selfie<\/p>\n

\"Selfie
Selfie with Cindy in mirror with flash. Marseille, 2017, shot on Program mode, Ricoh gr ii<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Selfie
Selfie with Cindy in mirror, marseille<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Stanley Kubrick 101<\/a><\/h1>\n

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Stanley Kubrick: Master Photographer and Film-Maker<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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