Art & Visual Communications In Perspective

I am going to be looking at how perspective is used to convey deep space/openness, compared with a confined space and how these have an effect on the visual perception and emotion?

The first person I am going to look at is 'Aleksandr Rodchenko', who is a Russian Photographer/Graphic Designer. Im going to look at an image he took called 'Fire Escape'. This was the first time that someone had changed the angle of photography in order to create a great perspective. You can see the man on the ladders, then you look up the ladders to see how tall the building is and the scale of it. It also looks very interesting, especially how the lines of the ladders look to be getting closer and closer together, even though in reality they are not. A good thing to do in relation to this image, is look for a very long straight road which you can see all of the way down, it will give the same effect as the ladder does in this image. Things which are further away appear to be smaller and closer together than they actually are. At the bottom of the photograph it looks very open as you can see the gaps between the steps on the ladder, however the space becomes much more compact at the top of the image as the steps on the ladder get closer and closer, which stopes the steps having the lighter coloured gaps, making the image much darker and confined. Obviously the effect would differ if the image was in colour, I personally believe it would not be as effective as having a monochrome contrast.

Aleksandr Rodchenki - Fire Escape (With A Man) Photograph [1]

Next I am going to look at a painting by 'Claude Monet' called 'Rain, Steam and Speed', which was painted in 1844. It is quite abstract in how the objects in the painting are not defined. You can make out that there is a train coming towards you across a bridge, but then the rest of the painting is undefinable. Al of the colours are mixed together to create an effect of the rain/steam. However in addition to that, as you cannot see some of the train, it creates a sense of speed. As if to say that it is going so fast that you can only see what is close to you and that through perspective the train is too long and travelling too fast for you to see it properly. The only other recognisable part is in the background, which is another bridge. Although only parts of the painting are understandable, it is still a beautiful painting which I believe conveys the emotion of being powerful and fast. I also really like the contrast between the background being a blue/cold colour, with the orange/red colours dominating the foreground to show like they are breaking through the cold blue to get to the front.

Claude Monet - Rain, Steam and Speed, 1844 [2]

I am now going to look at another photographer called 'Bill Brandt'. This photograph is called 'Ear on the beach', which was created in 1957. You can understand the slightly abstract feel to this image through the use of perspective. Normally you would not expect to see someones ear at the bottom of the photograph. Naturally the focus would be the cliffs in the background. However I do like how Bill has created this piece. It would have been interesting to see what the outcome of this photograph would have been like if the ear was replaced with other body parts, such as a foot, hand, tongue, etc. I think that the use of the ear also helps to make the image feel very open as you can understand the scale of the cliff in comparison to the ear. I also really like when the photograph was taken as the sunlight creates great lighting on the beach and cliffs.

Bill Brandt - Ear on the beach, 1957 [3]

Dolly Zoom
In films, a new way to add emphasis, particularly in horror/thriller movies, was to use a technique called dolly zoom. Dolly Zoom was a good way to create an emphasising perspective. You basically would move the position of the camera forwards whilst zooming out, as the movement forward would counteract the zooming out, so you were basically not getting any closer or further away to the eye, but realistically you were getting closer. Below is a very good example of dolly zoom from a french film called 'La Haine'. You can see how with in the matter of a few seconds the scene goes from having a very open and wide feel, to a very closed and concentrated feel. This is a very effective way in which to entice the audience.

Image Reference:
[1]http://arttattler.com/archivealexanderrodchenko.html
[2]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Rain_Steam_and_Speed_the_Great_Western_Railway.jpg
[3]http://c300221.r21.cf1.rackcdn.com/seaford-east-sussex-coast-1957-brandt-1362767498_b.jpg