By Gary Rabenko
My February 2 article on starting image selection for albums included suggestions that have helped many here in completing their albums. In that article I suggested software, touched on portrait sessions, and ended with a tip on starting off your image selection by viewing thumbnails and quickly scanning for images that get your attention. Since then I have been reminded that many involved in image selection and most album designers I have met miss a critical concept in image layout. For old timers, that may be due to the days with one image on a page. For everyone else, I am sure it is simply because it is so easy to miss the difference.
Being an artist must mean something, and if you want an album that is really a design, then that word must be based on substance, not just speech. In reviewing albums, I find that most of the graphic and visual elements, other than pure imagery, are distractions. Graphics such as borders, bevels, and shadows cannot be considered meaningful design components when they present the viewer with details that only serve to distract from the emotion and substance of image content. They are distractions that a true designer should never want to bother the viewer with. I am not saying that when multiple images exist on a page there should not be some division or demarcation. Such practical considerations must be minimal most of the time and not the main source of design.
As I try to help you with image selection for your album, I must emphasize a key concept that becomes obvious if you look at most albums. Often you will find the one redeeming aspect of what they call design—that some images seem to face others. Some designers will try to match up images so that they guide the eye from one to the next. That is good. That is part of a meaningful design. That is something which can and should be applied to all images, placing them so that the eye is led into and out of them to the next image whenever possible. However, what I find most annoying is that there often is confusion on the part of the design side as well as the client about what facing images mean or don’t mean. And often that subtlety is everything. This can apply to the juxtaposition of any two images in which there is, or is interpreted to be, some emotional relationship. While it is most common in the juxtaposition of bride/groom shots, it is more easily discussed in other relationships. Here I will use the example of a groom and his parents.
Imagine that on the right we have a close-up of a groom, where he is facing left. On the left we have his parents. A meaningful design would have a choice of expressions matched so the viewer would get the suggestion that the groom was inspired by the moment and appreciative of the love of his parents or their feelings for each other, or any of a myriad of emotions in which the viewer was able to latch onto some inspiration due to the implied shared or contrasting qualities gleaned from that image arrangement. That is true and meaningful design. Non-meaningful design simply has the viewer/client/designer thinking, “They are looking at each other.” No! They are not looking at each other. They are not really people. They are only pixels. They are representations for the viewer to enjoy.
There is nothing enjoyable or meaningful about images looking at each other. If that is what we are thinking, then we are lost! Because we think in the terms that we speak, this is important. There is a huge difference between selecting images that lead the eye from one to another, where we say this image is “facing” in a certain direction, and selecting an image where we say he/she “is looking at.” I have tried for years to teach this to several designers and photographers. It is hard. The ones who get it actually get it right away, but they can easily lose that concept if not continually reminded. Most think I am simply playing with words, so they will never get it. Others think they got it, until it becomes obvious that they didn’t. The bottom line is that if you are thinking they are “looking at” you, you will never be able to select the right images that can make a powerful statement.
Furthermore, it is most likely that you will take four images and match them up weakly in pairs that fail to touch the heart and will reduce great emotion to superficiality. Perhaps it is easier to understand my point if I explain that “facing” can lead the viewer to interpret the expression in context of the relationships of the various parties, the moment, or the environment, whereas “looking at” lessens the interpretation to the expressions that might be expected when simply viewing the physical. In the “looking at” mindset, one is tempted to match expressions and choose subject matters that similarly match. In the “facing” approach, one can be free to make much more meaningful and powerful statements about deeper understanding and appreciation.
I know this is a topic over the heads of most photographers. But if you value what an album of meaningful imagery might be, then it is vital subtext that goes to the core of true album design.
You cannot get an emotional album design from non-emotional, non-empathetic employees who consider themselves graphics technicians—not a warm, emotional job description! Nor do you get emotional images from the many photographers who are just in it as a job.
Last time we selected images that grabbed you when they were small. Now let’s select images that have personality. Forget the logical, practical, analytic thinking you were planning. Scroll through the images—this time in large format on your screen—looking for personality. Forget groups, crowds, and even the main moment shots. You want images that get your attention or about which you say, “Yes, that’s him!” Try to find the 10–20 most expressive shots where a person’s expression says something. That statement could be: excitement, surprise, shock, curiosity, sadness, grief, anticipation, nervousness, or joy, for example. I would pay most attention to shots of individuals or those with one main obvious subject. You should find a good overlap of images between your new collection and those that you chose last time as thumbnails. That is good. Just as music involves stronger and weaker sounds, an effective album that has a design, as opposed to merely being a holding place for photos, must have stronger attention-getting shots to work the other images around.
There is little point to choosing a whole bunch of images that fail as a group. Start by grabbing the excitement that images with personality convey. You want physically flattering and attractive shots. But an album of superficial beauty will not in the long run be more than superficial! In an album of many images, not every image must be that image of perfection. If you chose the right photographer, your most emotional shots would have been done tastefully and still flatter while conveying what is most important in the moment. Try to find those shots in time for my next article, which will continue to prioritize what should be next in your selection, so you can finally own the exciting and meaningful photo album you desire! ¢
Rabenko Photography & Video Arts is located at 1053 Broadway in Woodmere. To learn more, contact Gary@Rabenko.com, 1-888-RABENKO, 888-722-3656, or visit Rabenko.com.
