A bit before Christmas and indeed before the Vietnameses New Year Festival ("Tet", 27 Januray 2009), we took a couple of days of leave and head towards Central Vietnam, Hoi An first, and Hue then.
7/10 for the scenario
6/10 for the visuals
7/10 for the music
9/10 for the acting
8/10 for the relevance
5/10 for the scenario
7/10 for the visuals
7/10 for the music
5/10 for the acting
5/10 for the relevance
Today, I was going around the Web, taking a look at my blog, at Flickr and a couple of other websites.
In my blog, I have noticed "0" uploads for over two weeks. So I added a couple of books I am reading at the moment.
On Flickr, I was going through my list of groups and noticed one I’ve always liked : Diptychs - two is better than one! But in the Pool, I found a lot of inconsistency (in terms of visual impact) between the works. My all time favorite on this regard is not on Flickr but here.
The Web is full of Photoshop - and alike - techniques : not much words on the recipe that make the diptych “magic”.
So, here I expose some of my thoughts on how to make a diptych to work. It is just an attempt to lead to ideas. By no means I am in true science here, all come from personal observations.
1. Format
Simply put : Any will do. The trick here is to put some thought in it. If you do not have a fixed format for your diptych album (or want to try something else out), consider the composition of the pictures you have chosen. For example :
“Plan to be surprised” by Leaca Young (under Creative Commons License)
Landscape & portrait orientations both work well.
2. Relationship
One of the key reason a diptych will work is the link or relationship between the two pictures. Of course, there are plenty of options, but here are a few keys.
Perhaps the most evident possibility is the “landscaping” created by visibly stitching frame taken at the same place. The rule in this case is the keep an individual trait for each picture. It will usually transmit either an idea of the time passing or the feeling of change. This picture is the best example I've found showcasing this idea.
2nd possibility is the “geographic” connection by location : inside/outside (see example below), front/back, side/up, etc.
“this is all i've got today” by ♥anna (All rights reserved to the artist)
Another example here is the time connection. In the example below, the photographer shows us the same person with 20 years difference. Since not everybody can have pictures 20 years old, pay also attention to the match of light between the two pictures.
“366 * 103 * 20 years later” by Pragmagraphr (under Creative Commons License)
Also, with same example, the use of symmetry and/or reflections usually impacts well. Remember the eye needs something to look at, all around the picture frame. Thus, symmetry, or even better, partial symmetry, gives the viewers’ eyes point to compare and content to look for. “dani” has a couple of good examples of this.
Finally, a last example of the relationship the two pictures may have is expression. Bear in mind expression does not necessarily comes from faces. This picture, along with the example below will explain you.
“Dogs who look like their owners” by Liam Higgins (under Creative Commons License)
There are many more examples on how two pictures may share a relationship.
3. Mood
Moody pictures usually generate strong impact. Diptychs are no exceptions and mood gives depth, sense and feelings to the composition.
“Morning Delivery” by Lucas Jans (under Creative Commons License)
4. Colors
Colors are very important. The picture you may have an equivalent strong colorcast. It surely may be linked as the mood above. Anyhow, a strong color, repeated over the frames, will increase the impact of the picture.
If you have some time and are interested in colors (all photographers should, no?), this article, from the Wikipedia encyclopedia is a good introduction. It may be incomplete or subject to critics but the main ideas are there. For
instance, the green feel of the above “Dogs who look like their owners” shares an idea of harmony and loyalty ; whereas the below example gives an idea of heat, as the colored gradient simulate a strong sun aside the
frame. Who wouldn’t want to get onboard that plane to escape the burning light?
“ATL Departures” by Peel Apart, aka Brian (All rights reserved to the artist)
5. Borders
From the above examples, you would have noticed almost everything will work in terms of borders, or separation between the two. Many artists prefer to showcase their work “On Black”, black borders work quite well.
6. A few don’ts…
· Twice the same picture (even with a little difference)
· Pictures too different in either color, mood, focus
· Obviously, no relations between the pictures
· Most of the general composition rules apply (two-thirds, geometrics, etc.), so don’t kill your diptych with a homemade seven-eighth rule!
· Use borders as large as ‘too large’. A tenth of the totalframe space is likely to be too heavy already.
Extra references or sources
http://www.flickr.com/groups/dyptichs/discuss/72157604242664247/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/dyptichs/discuss/72157600711480503
http://www.flickr.com/photos/solea/sets/72157603900214026/
http://www.redbubble.com/search/diptych/art
- Why the bus driver doesn't stop at the bus stop ?
- Why "xe om" propose you a ride when you just parked your motorbike ?
- Why is it better to collect the garbages during rush hours ?
- By the way, what is that green smoke escaping from the garbage truck anyway ?
- Why Saigonese who need to upgrade their apartment or house do so on Sundays between 6 and 8am to start again at 9pm ?
- Why are we nicely offered a shoe shine whilst wearing tongs ?
- Why bridges are considered so romantic here (and around Vietnam) ?
- Why there is only one set of music available ?
6/10 for the scenario
9/10 for the visuals
7/10 for the music
8/10 for the acting
9/10 for the relevance
