Perspective

The interaction of the lines of composition and the absence of “constancy” in the perception of shapes (Arnheim, 1979, p. 86) plays an essential role in the creation of perspective. Rectangular shapes, for example, are perceived as oblique: following size gradients, they are placed on the vanishing lines of the perspective represented.

These objects, which appear to be in perspective, are actually deformed, as when a wide angle lens is used, the effect of which is to distort visual objects, making them appear slanted and volumetrically altered. Needless to say, perceptual gradients are responsible for the construction of three-dimensional space. These gradients are defined as “the gradual increase or decrease of some perceptual quality in space or time” (Arnheim, 1979, p. 204).

Depth of field in photography or film is achieved through the use of wide-angle lenses and very small apertures. The use of the latter technique is typical in the work of the f/64 group, represented by, amongst others, Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. The use of telephoto lenses generally causes the opposite effect: total absence of depth of field.

To finish we should briefly refer to the importance of artificial perspective as a system of representation dating from the Renaissance that signified the emancipation of human vision from the religious representation system. As studied in great depth by Erwin Panofsky, the construction of the perspectiva artificialis supposes first and foremost, a form of representation in which the human subject becomes the centre of the representation, in which for the first time the interior and the exterior of the pictorial representation, inhabited by the observer, are defined. This reference, simplified because of its brevity, is pertinent in that the photograph and the cinema have inherited this system of representation.

The structural nature of space in which the other morphological elements are found and the very compositional structure of the image should also be stressed. For this reason, we have provided a section entitled “representational space”, placed within the compositional level of our model of analysis, precisely because of its structural nature, as it corresponds to the compositional or syntactic system (interrelational) of the construction of the image.

Rhythm

According to professor Villafañe, rhythm is a dynamic element, the nature of which must be related to the experience of time in the perception of an image. Precisely this relational value between elements has led us to include this concept in this compositional level, insofar as rhythm constitutes a structural parameter.

Villafañe suggests that a distinction should be made between cadence and rhythm. Cadence refers to the repetition of elements such as dots, lines, shapes or colours, which lend regularity and symmetry to the image. However, regularity and symmetry are compositional options that remove activity and dynamism from the image. On the other hand, the rhythm of a composition is a weightier notion: it refers to a structural conceptualisation of the image, in which the idea of repetition is essential.

For Villafañe (1987, p. 154), two components are present in every visual rhythm: on the one hand periodicity, which implies the repetition of elements or groups of elements, and on the other, structuration, which may be understood as the way these repeated structures are arranged in the composition.

In this case, when a repetition occurs of units that are related by shape or meaning, we refer to the presence of isotropes.

We are clearly faced with a concept that is very difficult to define, habitually used in the field of music. In the same way that silences are decisive elements when defining the rhythm of a melody in a musical composition, the empty or interstitial spaces in a visual composition are essential to discovering the existence of a rhythmical structure.

Tension

Tension is likewise a dynamic variable of the photographic image. This tension may appear in compositions that present a clear balance that, in this case is of a dynamic nature, what is known as dynamic equilibrium. Amongst the plastic agents that can contribute to creating visual tension, the following may be highlighted:

• In some cases, lines may be decisive in lending tension to a composition when they express movement. In photography, photographic scanning or the capture of moving subjects with a low shutter speed are techniques that use the line as a dynamic element, that place tension in the image. In the world of comics the presence of kinetic lines is referred to.
• Regular geometric shapes, such as the triangle, circle or square, are less dynamic than irregular shapes. The greater the deviation from simple shapes, the greater the tension in the composition will be. However, it should be remembered that the triangle has a greater tension and dynamism than the circle or the square, due to the angles it is defined by.
• The representation of elements in perspective or the presence of oblique orientations in the way the elements are arranged within the frame contribute to the transmission of tension to the viewer.
• Contrast of lightor chromatic contrast is also responsible for creating compositional tension.
• The presence of different textures, of marked differences of sharpness between areas or planes in the image, etc., contribute to the creation of compositional tension.
• Finally, the break-up of the proportions of the photographed subject or object also helps to introduce marked tension in the composition, as we will see below.

Proportion

According to professor Villafañe, proportion “is the quantitative relation between an object and its constituent parts, and between the different parts of the said object” (1987, p. 160). Although it is of a quantitative nature, and as such has a scalar dimension, given its importance proportion is a parameter that merits examination along with other compositional concepts. In general, proportion is mentioned in reference to the representation of the human figure in the compositional space. Since the Renaissance, when the Greek Pythagorean thought was once again adopted, the measurement of the human body has been referred to in relation to its constituent parts. The “golden section”, “divine proportion” or the “golden number” allowed a numerical measure (the letter phi) to be established that corresponds to a type of proportion seen in nature. In any event, the ways the human body is represented in painting, and by extension, in photography (which is grounded in the representational tradition of painting) has followed this model, which is firmly rooted in the collective imagination and in conventional aesthetic taste.

In photography, the use of the wide-angle lens, in addition to accentuating the perspective, also deforms the proportions of the subject as can be seen in certain photographs by Bill Brandt or JeanLoup Sieff. At times, the break-up of the photographed subject’s proportion provides a base for an aesthetic of ugliness, and is commonly seen in photographers such as Witkin.

Finally, it should be borne in mind that proportion is a compositional concept that also alludes to the subject/object relation represented, and the representational space itself. The quantitative dimensions of the photographic motif remain in proportion with the dimensions of the frame of the image. Likewise, the proportion established between the sides of a photograph should also be taken into account. This so-called image “ratio” is often determined by the photographic format used, as with the small rectangular format or the square format, frequently used by Robert Mapplethorpe. The vertical or horizontal representation of the photographic motif is often based on the proportionality that occurs between the dimensions and shape of the motif and the photographic frame, as occurs with rect angular formats(35 mm –24×36 mm, ratio 1:1.5–, large photographic formats –9×12 cm, ratio 1:1,33–). Formats of positive photographic copies such as 13×18 cm, 18×24 cm, 24×30 cm or 30×40 cm, have respective ratios of 1:1.33, 1:1.33; 1:1.25 and 1:1.33.

In the same way, a trick of the eye may give rise to a change in proportions that is revealed through the subtlety in the observation.

Weight distribution

The various visual elements contained in an image have a variable weight in the space of the composition, to the point where a specific visual weight distributionis present that determines the activity and plastic dynamism of these elements (Villafañe, 1987, p. 188). However, we believe, along with Arnheim, that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to disassociate plastic meanings from the level of semantic meanings or interpretations that provoke the analysis of any image, that cannot be removed from the observer’s previous experiences and his or her degree of reading skill, to use semiotic terminology. Some of the factors that determine weight distribution in an image are the following, as posited by Villafañe (pp. 188 ff.):

• Location in the interior of the frame may increase or decrease the weight of an element in a composition. A central location contributes to a greater symmetry in the composition. Generally speaking, the nearer an element is to the top right hand part of the frame, the greater its weight is consider to be. This is profoundly cultural, with its roots firmly in western iconic tradition.
• Larger size of a visual element also determines greater weight in the frame. A large visual element may be compositionally compensated by the presence of a series of smaller visual elements.
• Visual elements placed in perspective, even when of a smaller size, have an increased visual weight, depending on their sharpness.
• Visual clarity in the isolation of an element particularly affects its greater visual weight (determined by the sharpness of the object’s outlines, contrast, shape, colour etc.), and also according to where it is placed within the frame, as mentioned above.
• The surface treatment of visual objects, a textured as opposed to a polished finish, also determines greater weight of a visual element in the frame.

Rule of thirds

How important the centre of interest of a visual object is within the frame is closely linked to the weight it has in the composition vis-à-vis other visual elements. If the centre of interest coincides with the geometric centre of the image, its weight will be lower than if it were placed in areas away from the centre.

As both Villafañe and Arnheim state, the geometric centre of focus of attention is a weak zone in terms of visual attraction. On the other hand, if the visual element leans excessively to the edges or borders of the frame, strong imbalances may be created in the image. The visual force of a plastic element will be more intense when it is located on one of the intersections of what are known as the third lines. This is the principle expressed by the rule of thirds. Indeed, the formulation of the rule of thirds is directly related to the golden section theory or the golden number, the exact calculation of which is complex. While somewhat less accurate, third lines are generally obtained by dividing the image into three equal parts both horizontally and vertically, using the horizontal and vertical edges of the photograph as a reference.

There are thus four points where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect: when the object or visual element falls on these four points, it takes on greater force and visual weight. For example, we can see in numerous photographs how the position of the horizon within the frame of a landscape photograph generally coincides with one of the two third lines in the composition. Most photographers are unaware of this compositional principle, whose application is needless to say conditioned by western representational tradition.

Iconic order

The concepts of equilibrium and iconic arrangement are equally determined by the influence of the western representational model that came out of the Renaissance with the appearance of the perspectiva artificialis. Equilibrium and order are two concepts that go hand in hand according to Gombrich, and enjoy a long tradition in western cultural history, in which they have come to powerfully determine the spectator’s vision.

The concept of iconic order is a parameter that affects both morphological and compositional elements. According to Villafañe, visual order “is shown through iconic structures and their articulation”. In effect, it is a nuclear concept “on which the composition of the image is based” (Villafañe, 1987, pp. 165-166).

Professor Villafañe correctly distinguishes the existence of two basic types of compositional equilibrium (Villafañe, 1987, p. 181):

• Firstly, static equilibrium, characterised by the use of 3 techniques: symmetry, repetition of elements or a set of visual elements, and the modulation of space in regular units. The latter two techniques are closely related to compositional rhythm as a structural concept.
• Secondly, to use Arnheim’s terminology, dynamic equilibrium, the result of which is the permanence and invariability of the composition, based on: the way the plastic space is hierarchically arranged, the diversity of plastic elements and relations, and luminous and chromatic contrast.

Dondis (1976, pp. 130-147) establishes a series of compositional situations that oscillate between extremes applied in the field of design, and which may easily be extended to the area of photography:

• Equilibrium-Instability. The breakdown of equilibrium can lead to compositions that the viewer may find provocative and unsettling.
• Symmetry-Asymmetry. Symmetry is defined as axial equilibrium. Rupture of symmetry gives rise to a wide range of possibilities.
• Regularity-Irregularity. A composition based on regularity makes use of element uniformity.
• Simplicity-Complexity. Iconic order is based on composition simplicity with the use of simple elements.
• Unity-Fragmentation. In a composition based on unity the set of elements used is perceived as a whole.
• Economy-Profusion. Economy in a composition makes use of a limited number of elements.
• Understatement-Exaggeration. Understatement used in a composition achieves the maximum viewer response with the minimum visual material.
• Predictability-Spontaneity. Composition predictability refers to the ease with which the viewer is able to predict, almost instantly, the visual message.
• Activeness-Passiveness. Activeness consists of the representation of movement and dynamism.
• Subtlety-Boldness. A composition based on subtlety shuns the obvious and seeks delicacy and refinement in the plastic materials used.
• Neutrality-Accent. A neutral composition aims to overcome resistance on the part of the observer by using very simple plastic materials.
• Transparency-Opacity. The observer can easily perceive visual elements that are hidden in the perceptional background, semi-hidden by others situated in the foreground of the image.
• Consistency-Variation. Composition consistency is based on the compatibility of form of the plastic elements used in the composition.
• Realism-Distortion. This pair defines the degree of distortion in the photographic motif.
• Flatness-Depth. This is based on the absence or use of composition in perspective.
• Singularity-Juxtaposition. Here, the composition uses one isolated topic.
• Sequentiality-Randomness. A sequential composition uses a series of visual elements arranged according to a rhythmic pattern.
• Sharpness-Diffusion. Sharpness is linked to clarity of visual expression, which eases interpretation of the visual message.

The pairs of concepts listed above provide a full, though not exhaustive list of compositional situations that we may find in a photographic compositions. When analysing a photograph, we use just some of these concepts.

The set of situations examined corresponds to visual manifestations, and thus has a structural value. It is our opinion that visual order and the identification of compositional structures are concepts that are dialectically related, that are interrelated, and consequently, we do not consider that a hierarchical relation can arise between them. At the same time, the identification of visual order and structures is loaded with meaning, and cannot be detached from the analysis of the composition.

It should be pointed out that many of these compositional situations have an enunciative weight that may be described as “modelising” or “aspectualising”. In other words, they constitute textual and qualifying markers that must be dealt with one by one in the final level of the analysis, the interpretative level, in which we focus on how the viewpoint is articulated, the real “engine” of representational construction as we propose it.

Visual check

A visual check enables us to establish a series of relations between the plastic elements in the composition. The order in which the visual elements are read is determined by the internal arrangement of the composition, which defines a series of visual directions. Professor Villafañe (pp. 187-190) classifies the types of visual directions as follows:

• firstly, the directions of the setting, within the composition, are created by the arrangement of the plastic elements inside the frame which in turn, can be graphically represented (by means of graphic elements such as the representation of movement, the presence of arms or fingers that point in specific directions or the presence of puntiform shapes and objects) or induced by the look of the characters present in the frame.
• secondly, the reading directions, at times are determined by the existence of the directional vector present in the composition itself. In this case, the weight of traditional western culture can also be felt as the composition is read from left to right and top to bottom.

The visual check can often be done in various ways in the reading of a photograph, when we are faced with complicated or deliberately open images, as in the case of artistic practices.

Staticity / dynamism

The inclusion of a section devoted to examining the staticity/dynamism is redundant at this stage of the analysis since they are two concepts that should have been dealt with in other sections involving rhythm, tension, proportion, weight distribution and iconic order.

However, we consider it worth carrying out an overall evaluation of whether a composition is staticor dynamic, since they are essential concepts in the analysis of the representation that we examine in depth at this level of the analysis.

This section enables us to ascertain the overall balance in evaluating staticity/dynamism in the composition, as aspects previously dealt with can be related. If the issue has been extensively covered in the sections above, it obviously need not be reiterated here.

Pose

In certain photographic genres such as the portrait, the pose of the model or photographic subject is of crucial importance. Here we attempt to describe how a subject poses, whether we are dealing with a photograph that seeks to capture the spontaneity of a gesture or a specific look, or whether the model is consciously posing. We will deal with the evaluation of his or her attitude and the examination of the qualifiers in the interpretive level of the analysis.

The subject or object of the photograph is sometimes shown in a forced position, also known as foreshorteningwhich, for some authors such as Arnheim (1979), may be interpreted, being a dynamic element, as a manifestation of the overwhelming power of death, resistance to destruction or the growth process in life.

The use of foreshortening presupposes the fracture of perceptive consistency, which introduces a semantic structural ambiguity into the composition, and leads to a multitude of readings.

Others

This space is reserved for the inclusion of other concepts that may be related to the compositional level of analysis of the photograph. This is entirely up to the analyst studying the image.

Comments

Once the various concepts comprising the study of the syntactic or compositional system of the image have been examined, a summary of the most relevant aspects should be made.

Range / out of range

In the words of Philippe Dubois, all photographic activity involves “a take of the view or the look in the image”, in other words, a cutting gesture: “Temporally (…) the photographic image-act interrupts, stops, fixes, immobilises, separates, detaches duration, and captures just one instant. Spatially, in the same way, it fragments, chooses, extracts, isolates, captures, cuts a portion of the extension. The photo appears like this, in the strongest sense, as a unique, singular slice of space-time, literally cut alive” (p. 141). Photographic space, as opposed to pictorial space, is a space that is not given and is not constructed. Photographic space is space to be taken, as selection and removal that operates in block. “Put another way, beyond all intention or all compositional effect, the photograph, from the start, always cuts, slashes, wounds the visible. Every view, every take is an inescapable blow of the axe that retains a piece of reality and excludes, rejects, strips its surroundings bare. Needless to say, all the violence (and the depredation) of the photographic act is comes essentially from this cut gesture” (p. 158).

As we are aware, photographic range is defined as the space represented in the substance of the image, and that constitutes the full expression of the space in the photographic representation. But the compression and interpretation of the visual range always presupposes the existence of an out-of-range, supposedly adjacent and supporting the image.

The ways that out-of-range can be represented in photography and its meanings can be most varied. The dominant photographic representation, which we can associate with the paradigm of classical representation, is characterised by a fragmentary visual range, but which at the same time hides its discontinuity by erasing the enunciative marks so that the viewer does not perceive the artificial nature of the visual construction. The classical paradigm is based on the construction of an impression of reality, even more exaggerated than in other audio-visual media such as cinema or video.

Clearly, out-of-range or the lack of it, are structural elements in an interpretation or reading of the photographic representation, in the same way as in the area of film.

Regardless of other reflections, it seems obvious that objects or characters in range may “point” towards the out-of-range, thus obtaining the co-involvement both by contiguity; however, mirrors, shadows etc., are also elements that directly inscribe the out-of-range in the range.

Open / Closed

This pair of concepts not only refers to the physical or material dimension of the representation. The representation of an open space has a series of implications regarding how it determines the photographed subject or object, and also vis-à-vis the type of relation of enjoyment that the image provokes in the viewer. The same occurs with closed spaces. We are also referring to the metaphorical effects involved in the representation of one type of space or the other. It should be remembered that we are always dealing with the study and analysis of complex photographs.

Interior / Exterior

This pair of concepts not only refers to the physical or material dimension of the representation. The representation of an interior space has a series of implications regarding how it determines the photographed subject or object, and also vis-à-vis the type of relation of enjoyment that the image provokes in the viewer. The same occurs with exterior spaces. We are also referring to the metaphorical effects involved in the representation of one type of space or the other.

Specific / Abstract

This pair of concepts not only refers to physical or material dimension of the representation. The representation of a specific space has a series of implications regarding how it determines the photographed subject or object, and also vis-à-vis the type of relation of enjoyment that the image provokes in the viewer. The same occurs with abstract spaces. We are also referring to the metaphorical effects involved in the representation of one type of space or the other.

Deep / Flat

In the study of the compositional system, we referred to the importance of perspective and depth of field in the construction of the representational space. At this level of analysis we evaluate the extent to which a flat representation of space corresponds to a more standard or normalised view such as classicism, in contrast to an in-depth representation, closer to the baroque plastic configuration, following the distinction put forward by Wölfflin, which we examine in greater detail in the interpretive level of the analysis.

Habitability

Depending on the degree of abstraction in the image, the space will be easier or more difficult for the viewer to inhabit. Habitability refers to the type of involvement the photographic representation causes in the reading of the image. In this way, we speak of greater or less habitability in accordance with the identification or the distancing, as centripetal and centrifugal forces, that the space causes the viewer to experience. We return to these concepts in the following section, specifically, in that devoted to the study of enunciation.

The characterisation of a space as symbolic occurs when the photographic representation moves away from the indicial vocation of photography to be a trace of reality, to follow Dubois.

Santos Zunzunegui states, when referring to landscape photography, that a landscape will be indicial “when its ascertaining dimension is dominant”, while a photographic landscape is considered “symbolist or symbolic”, “in the extent to which the essential element of its meaningful strategy places the visible at the service of the invisible” (p. 145).

While landscape photography has a testimonial value for certain photographers such as David Kinsey or Timothy O’Sullivan, all Ansel Adams’ work seems to be aimed “towards the construction of a substantially aesthetic vision of the world and its contents”. In Adams, indicial poetics is replaced “with an elaborated luminous game that spans bridges between the waterfall, the river and the rainbow, constructing a dramatic emotive sensibility before light”. (p. 152)

In effect, the symbolic space we are referring to may be considered as a subjective space, in strictly semantic terms. The recognition of a symbolic poetics will depend on the person carrying out the analysis, since the interpreter’s subjective experience also interrupts the action of reading.

Staging

The photograph cannot be understood as a mere reproductive agent, but rather as a means designed to produce certain effects; the impression of reality amongst others. In this sense, the photographic image is not far removed from the deliberated action of a textual statement, a stagesetting that reveals a specific ideology and that an analysis cannot ignore.

This aspect is closely linked to the articulation of the viewpoint that we will examine in detail in the following section.

Others

This space is reserved for the inclusion of other concepts that may be related to the compositional level of analysis of the photograph. This is entirely up to the analyst studying the image.

Comments

Once the various concepts comprising the study of the syntactic or compositional system of the image have been examined, a summary of the most relevant aspects should be made.

Instantaneousness

Instantaneousness refers to how the photograph always constitutes the representation and capture of a tiny fraction of time from the temporal continuum. Cartier-Bresson spoke of the “decisive instant”, when referring to the importance of the moment the photograph is captured, in which an instant of crucial value is frozen. The choice and attainment of that instant is not a question of chance, but involves a special attitude, predisposition and preparation on the part of the photographer.

Certain authors such as Santos Zunzunegui (1994), writing on the genre of landscape, also refer to punctuality as an aspectual category of temporality defined as the absence of duration, although with a different meaning from that of Cartier-Bresson. The photographs of Timothy O’Sullivanand Robert Adams point to the same aspectual category: punctuality as absence of duration. O’Sullivan’s photos show two variations in action: terminativity (“we have arrived up to here in the exploration”) and initiation (“the taking of possession of the territory begins”). Punctuality in some landscape photographs such as those by Robert Adams, are set in ”exclusively terminativity terms“, and show how in his photographs, “something has happened” (p. 169). The photographer’s task is not now to capture the decisive instant [Cartier-Bresson ], but rather to “witness the end of all utopia close to nature” (p. 169). In the cases analysed by Zunzunegui, the photographic landscapes based on the idea of punctuality (discontinuity) refer to the system of classical representation.

In other cases, the freezing of time simply constitutes a strategy to make the viewer feel estranged as with Philippe Halsman’s famous portrait of Dalí. In general, this category would not consider the idea of time as duration.

Duration

The representation of a duration of time is, paradoxically, a further discourse option in photographic text. Photographs taken at a low speed provide a very particular vision of the world around us, especially when prolonged exposure times are used. Scanning is another technique that enables the transmission of this idea of duration, added to the idea of movement, as it consists of taking a photograph at medium or low speed, following the movement of a subject or object. This type of vision causes a feeling of estrangement in the viewer, and at times, a spectacular representation of the world. The presence of clocks, calendars and other objects, the sequential reading of the photograph or the presence of an image that forms part of a series of photography (Duane Michals) are sometimes elements associated with the idea of time as duration, in whose images the presence of time markers is found.

For Santos Zunzunegui, “the photographic poetics of the works of Ansel Adams and Edward Westonbelong to the area of durativity, in which a tensioning effect that extends the duration is produced”. Here, we are dealing with an indeterminate, indefinite time, “giving rise to a type of stationary state that is constituted in a continuous durativity, in which nature appears to establish itself”, in the case of Ansel Adams. As for the case of Weston, “the micro-landscape is installed beyond any time”. The durativity seems to be the result “of a long geological duration, responsible for a patient, long-time finished work” (p. 169).

In these cases, analysed by Zunzunegui, the photographic landscapes based on the idea of durativity (continuity) refer to the system of baroque representation.

Timelessness

The term timelessness is frequently used as a synonym for durativity, or in other words, the conception and representation of time as duration. We wish to differentiate this parameter in an attempt to include information on those cases in which the photograph does not show any type of time marker. Indeed, we could say that it is impossible for a photographic text to lack time markers, since, as it is viewed, any photograph must be placed on a time continuum, even though it may be just a small portion of it.

However, we consider that there are a huge number of photographs in genres such as advertising photographyor industrial photography, in which time markers are deliberately hidden. This discourse effect is frequently motivated by the weight of the classical representational system, in which the principle of erasing enunciative marks is faithfully followed, in order to strengthen the illusion of reality.

Symbolic time

The recognition of the existence of a symbolic time in the image occurs when the photographic representation is removed from the indicial vocation of the photograph, as a trace of what is real, as Dubois would say.

To continue with Zunzunegui, in his analysis of landscape photography he states: “What fundamentally defines the symbolist poetics of Ansel Adams is found in the fact that his images point in the direction of something different from what they show, they refer to a reality that exists beyond what is actually represented” (1994, p. 160). Zunzunegui reminds us of the words of Argan when he speaks of “poetics of the absolute”: “what we see is no more than a fragment of reality; we think that the extension of time and space at either side of this fragment is infinite (…) we jump beyond the seen and the visible (…) What we see loses all its interest (…); the infinity of what we do not see arouses an anguish about our own finitude” [G. C. Argan: El arte moderno 1770-1970. Valencia: Fernando Torres Editor, 1975, p. 11]. This leads to a suggestion that we are dealing with a representation of the Kantian sublime, where “the sublime consists merely in the relation exhibited by the estimate of the serviceability of the sensible in the representation of nature for a possible supersensible” [Immanuel Kant: Crítica del juicio. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1979, p. 170] (p. 161). The nature shown by Ansel Adams is pristine, primitive, and can be associated with the North American myth of the journey west.

In the case of abstract photographic compositions, where figurative motifs cannot be identified as with the photography of Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalencias series, images of skies with almost unidentifiable clouds, we can also speak of the manifestation of symbolic time, whose poetics lies in the representation’s onirism. This type of temporality can only be decoded through interpretative activity.

Subjective time

The symbolic time referred to above may in effect be considered as subjective time in strictly semantic terms. The recognition of a symbolic poetic will depend on the person carrying out the analysis. Nonetheless, the time represented in a photograph may sometimes take on a particularly subjective dimension for the analyst, which other interpreters may find difficult to decode. The concept of Barthesian punctum may be related to the presence of a subjective timein the image.

The punctum is defined as the opposite of studium: “In this habitually unary space, occasionally (but alas all too rarely) a “detail” attracts me. I feel that its mere presence changes my reading, that I am looking at a new photograph, marked in my eyes with a higher value. This “detail” is the punctum (that which pricks me). No rule can be established to link studium and punctum (when they are found). They are co-present, no more can be said…” (p. 87).

Studium, in contrast, “is to discover the intentions of the photographer, to harmonize with them, to approve them or disapprove them, but to always understand them, discuss them, because culture (on which studium depends) is a contract between creators and consumers.” (pp. 66-67). In this way, the analysis of the photographic image can be transferred to the arena of radical subjectivity, where sentiments and visual pleasure appear to be intertwined.

Obviously studium and punctum are not restricted to the context of time. The element, gesture, look, tension etc., that moves us brings with it an interruption of the reading of the image, of the directionality it might involve. Subjective time is a catalytic time, when the flow of time seems to be suspended, even, or especially, in the act of reading, because what breaks into the image is the interpreter’s own subjective experience. For good reason Barthes’ reflections on this question came out of his perusal of the family photograph album, which has nothing to communicate to an outsider. Clearly, the projection of the interpreter’s own ghosts in some cases turns the contemplation of a photograph into an intensely emotional and intimate activity.

Sequentiality / Narrativity

Visual order and reading directions are determining factors in the recognition in an image of the presence of temporal sequentiality or narrativity in a photograph. Numerous photographs by Duane Michals are based on this principle. According to Zunzunegui, “an image is, together with what is plastic, a set of narrative-figurative determinations that, by means of complex syntactic-semantic operations, construct the effect of temporal sense” (p. 172). The very time taken in the reading of an image is of a temporal nature. Obviously, every image tells a story, however small, that always requires the help of our active participation in its reading.

Others

This space is reserved for the inclusion of other concepts that may be related to the compositional level of analysis of the photograph. This is entirely up to the analyst studying the image.

Comments

Once the various concepts comprising the study of the syntactic or compositional system of the image have been examined, a summary of the most relevant aspects should be made.