Street Photography Composition Rules

in #neoxian4 years ago

Venezuela is not the only place where people have been confined, but it is the only one with fewer deaths and infections per day.

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In the popular sectors of Venezuela many people have to go out every day to work to earn their living. Today's graphics have a double purpose: to establish some rules for the composition of urban photography and to make the reader aware of the laziness and opulence of one of the unequal capitals of the world.

When I talk about rules of photographic composition I imagine that many will imagine that I am talking about rule of thirds or theory of framing, in reality photographic techniques are more complex than we imagine, since it is the treatment of semiology, textures, context are really the main reason for this type of photography.

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Among my basic rules for composing documentary or urban photography I take as a reference the immediate or ancient history of the site.

In this case I am in one of the main streets of Sarria, a popular neighborhood in Caracas, whose name comes from Creole landowners of Spanish origin with the surname Sarria. In 1920 the city of Caracas suffered a series of modifications that completely changed the panorama. What used to be haciendas were transformed into neighborhoods where the government built housing projects, although some colonial buildings remain.

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In the same way other areas of Caracas were planned in a more modern and efficient way, that's why my attention in the composition of this photograph is one of the two towers of the urban complex of central park, impossible to ignore these two skyscrapers that until 2011 were the highest in Latin America.

The exercise I practiced for a few months was to pass by the same place repeatedly, and this was not difficult since my mother-in-law lives very close to the street where I took the pictures. Then I thought about the specific place where I would be willing to shoot from the camera. But then I decided to use my smartphone to achieve my goal.

So I took several shots all edited differently and here I'm a bit daring due to the fact that normally it's not allowed to edit documentary or street photographs. But come on! I just played with the contrast and saturation of each of the pictures and this is valid.

I have used the rule of thirds as a technique to focus the viewer's attention on the skyscraper.

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The other part is a small study of semiology that I've done for months identifying some signs and iconographies of the city, so it's impressive to highlight the contrasts between the opulence of a state that built two skyscrapers with commercial and residential areas at the same time that the city grew disproportionately due to the effect of no social assistance. On the one hand perfection and on the other disorder or as I prefer to call it the order of the great majorities, because in itself the great majority is clear. The need to inhabit and reproduce is contrary to the capitalist system that buys and sells everything.

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These are the rules that I use to compose urban photography, it is not only the moment, it is to study on history the and the political - economic events that are developed in all the places where I go visiting temporarily or permanently.

Thanks for reading

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