Letting Go of the Literal

Raise your hand if you love fall! 🖐️ It’s a season of beautiful light, interesting textures, and of course, the brilliant colors. As Albert Camus said, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

That sentiment carries the seed of an invitation to explore the autumn landscape a little differently this year. “Every leaf is a flower…” We know leaves aren’t flowers, but why can’t they be? In our imagination, leaves can be anything. You’re likely familiar with the expression, “what has been seen cannot be unseen.” This is certainly true; it’s also not entirely true. As photographers, we see what something is—a tree, a leaf, a river, a rock—while at the same time we are challenged to unsee what it is so that we can see what else it is.

I often get the question: how can I see more abstractly? The questioner knows there are techniques, such as ICM (Intentional Camera Movement), multiple exposure, and Photoshop tools that can abstract an image. But there’s a deeper question about how to see an abstract scene in the first place. There are likely as many ways to cultivate that skill as there are photographers, so I can only share what works for me. In summary, I try to suspend what I know (“unsee”), get curious, and start playing. My images evolve from literal to non-literal to abstract.

Here’s a way to start practicing this in the field:

LITERAL: When you come upon a scene that catches your eye, start with the literal and more obvious compositions. This practice warms up your eye and gets you pressing the shutter. Scratch the itch to capture the scene in front of you as-is, portraying nature, well, naturally!

NON-LITERAL: I differentiate between non-literal and abstract by how recognizable the object being photographed is: if I can relatively easily label the object, it’s non-literal; if I can’t, it’s abstract. Non-literal seeing is a bridge to abstraction, making space for both representing and reimagining a scene.

Take a look at the literal images on your LCD and notice forms, contrast, and negative space. Those are some of the elements that often point to abstract possibilities. Try to remove labels on what you see. Ask yourself: “what’s the most interesting part of this?” Focus on that, press the shutter. Then lean in a little more. What makes it interesting? Now capture that. And what about that is compelling? Capture more of that. You get the picture…

ABSTRACT: Now it’s time to play! Your eye has been loosened up, and you’re ready to challenge the norms. How can you exaggerate the choice that transformed your image from literal to non-literal? Perhaps you combined ICM with a still image. What would happen if you just did an ICM? Maybe you created a multiple exposure that imposed one part of the scene on another. What if you added exposures, changed the blend mode, and/or put your lens out of focus? Keep asking “what if I…” and then do it before logic or norms talk you out of it.

Example 1

Example 2

When you’re stretching into abstraction, expect to take lots of terrible images. Your keeper rate is going to plummet, at least at first. Keep playing and practicing. Even if these images never leave your Lightroom catalog, you’ve expanded your capacity to see a scene for what else it is, which in turn will energize your vision. And best of all, you will have learned some new techniques and had fun doing it!

Pro Photo Tips by Beth Buelow

Pro Photo Tips by Michael Bollino