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I’m interested in how much visual blockage a photograph can carry before it stops feeling layered and starts feeling cluttered.
Here the foreground heads are dark and heavy, but they also place the viewer inside the crowd rather than outside the scene.
The black and white edit flattens the museum space a little, which may help connect the painted figures, the guide, and the visitors.
Would you crop or lift the foreground, or does the weight at the bottom make the image work?
I think i would prefer a wider aperture here, creating some blur in the crowd.
Otherwise, i like this image the way it is! Nicely done.
That makes sense. I usually like the foreground a little too present, but more separation or blur could stop it from becoming a wall. Useful point.
I've been doing this of late to also give folks more anonymity. Been fun to get out the ND filters for daytime for this objective.
For my amateurish eye there are two crops that I found good.
Here I found a portrait-like framing of the guide.
Here I found as if guide stands inside the crown.
In your picture I don't like that there isn't a primary subject. The painting takes too much space fighting for attention without getting it, having it blended into the crowd. Another solution would be to add color to the paiting as if they are real and we are not. lifting the attention to the painting.
Thanks for taking the time to crop it. The portrait crop is cleaner, but I think it loses some of the pressure between the guide, the painting and the audience. The second crop gets closer to what I was trying to test: the guide sitting inside the crowd rather than being isolated from it.
What's the primary subject being photographed here? Is it the painting with the, people secondary or is the guide the subject, or is it the scene as a whole, all parts equal? What style are you going for also? A portrait, a 'street' scene, a documentary/newspaper shot, an artistic shot? These will dictate how much each element may be out of balance.
My assumption is that you've gone for the scene as a whole/'street' scene, in which case I think it's all nicely balanced. The crowd are to the side not blocking the figures in the painting or the guide, and the guide is also not blocking the figures in the painting. The crowd also makes a good frame around the guide without becoming too prominent overall.
If you're trying for something more artistic then you'll probably need to try a more interesting angle as this doesn't offer much scope in that regards, and like you say it is a little flat. E.g. You could make it as if the viewer is looking over the shoulder of the person in front with the guide more prominent, but still partially blocked, and the painting looming over both.
Thanks, this is really useful. I was thinking of it less as a portrait and more as a street/museum scene where the guide, the painting and the audience all compete a bit. Your point about the crowd framing the guide without taking over is close to what I was hoping for. The flatter angle may be the real limitation here.
Just because you wanted it :)
I can't help not feeling inside the crowd / the scene, but behind the crowd. I can't decide if I should watch the white haired man or the painting. I don't know either... it is somewhat meaningless...
Fair point. ‘Behind the crowd’ may be the problem here. I wanted the foreground blockage to pull the viewer into the audience, but if it reads more like a barrier, then the frame starts choking itself.
It looks to me like the subject is the person facing the camera as well as the art behind him. In that case and considering your intent to have the viewer stay among the audience, I think it looks good, although the painting could have had a little more headroom, or perhaps at a less steep angle.