Photographic Syntax in Non-Photographic Art
Syntax in art, stated simply is the process by which an image is made. Tools, technique, medium, etc. For instance if one sits down and draws the same landscape in charcoal, and then in watercolor they’d have two very different looking images of the same scene because of the difference in syntax. The effect created by the syntax creates different visual qualities.
Photographic syntax produces a variety of effects that are not inherent in any other medium. However for various reasons these effects have been copied in other mediums, and I personally have always found that very interesting, so I want to discuss some of the things that are distinct to photography but have been lifted for use in other mediums.
Degas is better known for his painting and sculptures, but he was also fascinated with photography and he is probably the first artist whose work was noticeably influenced by it. Degas noted that in candid photographs, unlike in posed portraits or paintings - there would sometimes be something, some person, partially out of the frame. This idea obviously intrigued him because it almost became a hallmark of his paintings - notice how often his compositions feature somebody partially “out of frame”. True this sort of composition is not inherent to photography, but this is one of the first instances of art being influenced in a noticeable way by photographs. He also seems to have used photographs as reference for sculptures - although there is some contention over this.
The image at the top of the post is a photo by Lartigue showing a distortion which was common in the early days of focal plane shutters and large formats. The early focal plane shutter consisted of a roll of fabric with a slot in it, which swept across the film - the slot exposing the film to light in a scanning motion. When an object moved faster than the shutter swiped, it would become distorted in a similar way to how a piece of paper gets distorted if you move it around on a scanner. This effect simply does not occur in normal human vision, and so it never appeared in any art until after the invention of the camera. It is however commonly used to imply motion in cartoons and comics.
When multiple exposures were made on a single plate, whether accidentally, or to study motion, this too produced images which had up to that point simply been beyond the realm of human experience, so nothing like this had been portrayed before in art.
Duchamp’s Nude Descending Staircase was inspired by such motion studies.
Then you have things like light trails:
The trails in Akira are interesting because they seem to mimic the the light trails that early video cameras would pick up - a bright light would leave a ghost image that would fade away after a second or two. It seems this effect no longer afflicts video cameras. But similar trails appear in long exposure still photographs too.
The ringflash has enjoyed some popularity in recent years for portrait photography. It is a circular flash which rings the lens of the camera, and produces a distinct, ring shaped highlight on a model’s eyes when used. Not surprisingly this effect has also influenced artists and appeared in drawn art.
Do I even have to mention lens flare?
(this particular cross shaped flare replicates an effect created with a special “sparkle filter” that was popular in the 60s and 70s - but generally considered tasteless by photographers in more recent times)
Lens flare is interesting because it’s something generally undesirable to photographers. But it is commonly inserted into animations as a realistic effect, because it suggests an actual camera is filming an outdoor scene (rather than a camera filming a flat table in a studio).
The effect has unfortunately been abused to the point where it’s kind of an art faux pas when used in that manner, although interestingly, highly stylized lens flares have appeared for example in Gurren Lagann - more as a stylistic special effect than as mimicry.
Photographic syntax has so widely been adapted in other mediums that we may not even realize the source of some of these effects. These effects have become so widely adopted and repeated that they are more or less taken for granted. But it’s always fun to know where they come from.
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