Basics of fine-art photography/Creating works in experimental photography



Experimental photography is a genre of photographic art based on an artistic representation of an object or action consciously modified through figurative thinking.

General information
Experimental photography is a subclass of conceptual photography, the subgenres of this direction are surrealism and subjective photography.

The goal is to explore the possibilities of photography through trial and error.

Viewers may ambiguously evaluate experimental works: many are accustomed to the classic, documentary reflection of reality, which will lead to a subconscious rejection of "incomprehensible", sometimes abstract topics.

Ways of implementation
In order to create a more or less interesting photo work related to the described genre, you need to be able to see world around us outside the box, sometimes with a certain degree of philosophical understanding.

Technically, you should use such techniques as pseudo-solarization, double (or multiple) exposure (see photo 2 in the gallery), photogram, blurry image effect. In addition, a wide range of digital post-processing software is at your disposal. In other words, you should experiment, as indicated by the root of the word displayed in the title of this chapter.

The reaction of an ordinary viewer can not always serve as an indicator. If your creation was not appreciated by a neighbor or a colleague, it does not mean that it is not aesthetic enough, but in the case of a negative assessment by a specialist, it is worth changing the direction of creativity.

It is difficult to imagine a ready-made recipe for creating images of this kind. Carefully look at the author's photographs as examples, try to come up with an original theme that is not like anything you have seen before.

If this genre does not appeal to you, close the page and choose another chapter of the textbook for yourself, for example, documentary photography.

Description of the image processing methods presented in this chapter of the textbook

 * 1) "Coming from the past" (in the upper right corner of the page); "Delusion" (photo No. 2 in the gallery) — double exposure on the same frame, plus post-processing with a graphic editor.
 * 2) "Lunar Landscape", "Path of the Dead", "Unearthly Flowers" (photos No. 1, 4, 5 in the gallery) — post-processing by graphic editors.
 * 3) "Happy NU year!"  (photo No. 3 in the gallery) — long exposure (approx. 30-60 seconds), as a result of which employed sparklers (3 pcs.) visually merged into one.