Photographs have dimension.
Not only does an image have height and width, it also has something that is much more important. Photographic depth is not about depth of field, focus, lens perspective or the height of your camera from the ground.
Dress in Window – © John Neel
Photographic depth is about your relationship with the subject and the your ability to extract meaning. As a photographer, the depth comes from what you choose to shoot and why. As a viewer, it comes from the ways in which you process the resulting representation. It requires both seeing and thinking by both the seer (the photographer) and the looker (the viewer).
Photographic depth is about the intensity of the message, the gist of the story, the implication and validity of the expression. Depth is the deeper connotation, the intent, the echo and the implication. It is the suggestion that there is something that is more profound, more intellectual, or perhaps more philosophical to be considered.
Photographic depth acts as a trigger for contemplation. It is one of the ways in which we connect with another mind. It is a way to see the world through the eyes of another person. It is also a way to open our minds to new ways of understanding the world.
Photographic depth is a way to understand what we may not know and to see the world in a new light. It can be a handshake between the maker and the viewer. It can be another way of communicating what we already sense. It can also be a turning point in our realization. Photographic depth is what allows us to realize a new perspective. It provides another way of seeing that which we all should probably see. It is a reflection (communication) of the photographer’s vision and the capacity for a viewer to absorb (comprehend) what is shown. It is the reflection of another viewpoint from another point of view.
Window – © John Neel
It takes at least two minds to communicate. The qualifier is that they both be open to new ways of seeing what is there to see. That requires that both are thinking with open minds. The more open, the better the outcome.
Photographic depth is what makes a worthy photograph worth our full attention.
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Read about my book Rethinking Digital Photography.
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