Death and Decay: 2 Amazing Photo Themes You Should Explore
Photo themes of death and decay explored in this colorful autumn leaf.
Photo themes help guide us to make the kind of photos we’re most interested in. After many years of practical experience as a fine art landscape, portrait and documentary photographer, I can speak to the importance of death and decay being photo themes worth exploring.
Photo themes evoke universal human experiences and act as a unifying concept underpinning a photo. Encompassing the emotions, actions, thoughts and interactions that shape our understanding of life, photo themes enable us to explore our experience of the human condition through the photos we create.
Popular photo themes, well worth exploring in your own creative journey, include the following:
Good vs Evil
Sacred and the Profane
Religious rituals, traditions and objects of devotion
Power, whether it be religious, state or military
Important historical events and the use of propaganda
Royalty and the class system
Love
Family, including weddings, birthdays and funerals
Sacrifice
Innocence
Coming of Age
Identity and Self Discovery
Politics
The Individual vs the Collective
Science and Technology
Man vs Technology
War
Revenge
Justice
Gender politics
Diversity
Death and Decay
The Hero’s Journey
Table of Contents:
Photos Themes Allow You to Move Behold the Known
The photo at the top of this post features an autumn leaf on stony ground in the tiny settlement of Vaughan in Central Victoria.
It’s a simple moment of beauty that most folks would simply pass by. In fact, I was exploring this old gold mining area with a friend and, given we were on a tight schedule, it would have been so easy to walk right past this scene while focusing our attention on what lay ahead of us.
And that, of course, is how we pass by so much beauty in our day to day lives.
Needless to say, there’s something to be said for simply looking down at your feet every now and again. There’s a whole world to explore.
Likewise, if you’re out chasing photos and things just aren’t going your way, try turning around. When the light comes from the opposite direction it might be all that’s needed to illuminate the world in unexpected and visually exciting ways.
Because it’s outside our normal experience it’s interesting, but photographing it is challenging and requires energy, technical competence and a unique approach.
Remember that good composition can make a big difference.
It’s a great feeling to know that by pushing yourself, both physically and mentally, you’ve done your best and, through the art of photography, employed even simple subjects to explore larger and more thought provoking themes.
One approach that often works is to photograph the subject or scene in question from a variety of distances and in a variety of ways.
Taking a physical approach and photographing from a variety of angles (up, down, from the right or the left) can make a difference, as can placing the subject in an unanticipated environment or against an unusual background.
The kinds of juxtapositions that can result from these kinds of interventions can allow you to push your creativity to entirely new horizons.
Just remember, when all else fails, or when you’re plain stuck for inspiration, get up and move.
Detail view of an elephant serves as a example of subject matter.
Photo Themes, Photo Genres and Subject Matter
Incorporating photo themes into your own photography practice is a powerful and meaningful way by which you can lift your photography up to the next level.
Just be careful not to confuse photo themes with notions of photo genres and subject matter.
They’re all important concepts, but it’s helpful to be able to differentiate between them, particularly when it comes to assembling portfolios, exhibitions and other bodies of work.
With that in mind, let’s take a moment to explore the key differences between these three classifications in photography.
Genre is concerned with categories like people, landscape and wildlife. So, for instance, you might describe yourself as a wildlife photographer.
Conversely, subject matter describes the actual subject within a photo. For example, king penguins on South Georgia Island.
Therefore, if you find yourself making a large percentage of your photos of penguins in the wild you could certainly refer to yourself as a wildlife photographer who specialises in photographing penguins.
Naturally, if the type of subject matter and the locations where you photograph are more varied, the way you define yourself wouldn’t need to be so specific.
So, let’s say you photograph predominantly wildlife, but the subjects you photograph include elephants, tigers, kangaroos, narwhals, southern elephant seals and penguins. In that case it’s fine to simply refer to yourself as a wildlife photographer.
If you’re not a specialist, why box yourself in through too narrow a description. After all, how you describe yourself tells the world a lot about who you are. To that end, long live the generalist.
To further clarify our understanding of the differences between photo themes, genres and subject matter, take a close look at the image of a fallen leaf, covered in raindrops, at the very top of this post.
The subject of the photo is the leaf, and the image is a good example of a photo that fits into the nature photography genre.
But the fact that it’s a fallen leaf, displaying typical fall/autumn colors, points to the changing of the seasons. And that fact adds extra emotion and relevance to the image.
So, while those facts help describe this particular subject as not just a leaf, but as a fall/autumn leaf, they also point to the photo theme of death and decay that’s being explored in this straightforward, yet poignant image.
Herein lies a simple, yet important truth and one of the primary factors that keeps folks looking at your best images longer.
It’s not just what you photograph, but the meaning your audience is able to extract from those photos that matters most. And the more simple the message or meaning revealed, the more potent the image becomes.
Actually, there are plenty of very successful nature photography images that deal with the notion of death and decay. And the reason those images are so emotive and relevant is because they’re symbolic of the human life cycle.
After all, it’s undeniable how the ageing process and the inevitability of death and decay are to the human condition?
The challenge is not to be overwhelmed by such concerns, but to recognize and accept them as part of our life’s natural cycle.
Needless to say, those of us who modify their life to incorporate healthy eating, regular exercise, less stress and better sleep will likely be able to experience better lives and, as a consequence, delay and also accept the ageing process with grace and humility.
I freely admit to being very late to embracing a healthy lifestyle, but I’m doing my best to embrace it and I’m looking forward to the benefits that will surely follow.
Over recent years I’ve noticed a lot of confusion on the internet as to what the actual photo genres are. As a way of reducing this confusion, here’s a list of the most popular photography genres:
People photography
Landscape photography
Nature photography
Urban and street photography
Architectural photography
Photojournalism and Documentary photography
Wildlife photography
This list is simple enough, but I think the confusion comes when folks make photos that don’t immediately appear to fit within the quite broad categories I’ve listed above.
It’s for this reason that abandoned photography is sometimes referred to as a genre. And, if that’s what you think, fine. Such tags a simply ways of describing particular types of photography.
It’s a box or, if you prefer a more precise analogy, a box within a box.
Photographers have been taking photos of abandoned buildings for a very, very long time. But the practice scored in popularity in western countries over the last few decades, no doubt due to socio economic decline in inner city areas.
There must be loads of opportunities to undertake similar projects in some of those newly built Chinese cities, all but absent of people, albeit with more of a post modern aesthetic.
The question is whether abandoned photography qualifies as a genre of its own, or does it belong, as a sub-genre, within the urban or architectural photography genres?
Naturally, if you’re concept of architectural photography is about large city buildings and the way they’re designed to allow people to inhabit and move through such spaces, then photos of abandoned dwellings might seem like an odd fit.
Likewise, abandoned buildings in suburbs or small towns, no matter how interesting, might not fit well into the urban photography genre.
This is where, if you allow it, categorising via genres can become problematic.
But there’s a solution, offered by the long established tradition of documentary photography.
Photojournalism and Documentary photography Photo Themes
In reality, the line between one photo genre and the next is not always clearly defined. In fact, there’s plenty of examples of images, and the photographer’s that created them, that might belong in one or another photo genre, depending upon the context in which they’re displayed or discussed.
For example, let’s consider famous British photographer, Samuel Bourne.
Bourne made a large series of photographs of people, landscapes and architecture throughout the north of India between 1863 and 1870.
Originally considered a commercial travel photographer, Bourne’s images have become important historical documents that revealed and catalogued parts of the then British Empire in a way that would have been largely unknown to most people back in Britain.
Returning to England to marry in 1867, Bourne and his wife, Mary, returned to India later that same year. Bourne continued to travel around India and produced over 500 more images before returning to Britain and changing career.
Martin Parr is a more contemporary British photographer whose fly on the wall documentary studies comment on everyday life and the sometimes eccentric nature of British culture and society.
Hist unique travel and documentary photography provides fascinating and hilarious insights into the consumer culture, mass tourism and how British folk behave when they travel.
Looking back in time it’s easy to see why the photos Samuel Bourne created fit into the documentary photography genre. Likewise, the travel based photos made by Martin Parr are really contemporary fine art images that fit into the documentary photography genre.
Photojournalism and documentary photography are often grouped together. But, in reality, they’re really quite different from each other.
Photojournalism is closer to newspaper photography in so much as it usually requires a photographer, whether on staff or commissioned, to photograph a story in a way that fits with the look, feel and opinions of the magazine in question.
Photojournalists, like newspaper photographers, need to understand the look and opinions of their editor, which should follow the preferences of their readership.
Conversely, documentary photography projects are usually self funded endeavors, often with no guaranteed commercial outcomes, undertaken by a photographer as a way of exploring ideas, concepts and concerns that seem important to them.
A notion of an exhibition or a book might exist, in the photographers mind, as a motivation to undertake and, indeed, complete the project.
In some cases documentary photography projects could be purchased by magazines or, in very rare cases, by book publishers. However, unless you’re a proven and highly respected documentary photographer, the chances of publishing unsolicited photos is rare.
Where significant travel is involved, the chances of making a profit from such an undertaking would be rare in the extreme.
Okay, so into what photo genre does abandoned photography best fit?
While it might depend, somewhat, on the actual images and the geographic location in which they’re created, I think the best option is that photos of abandoned buildings, with or without people, fit best into the documentary photography genre.
photo Themes: Separating the Wheat From the Chaff
We all want to photograph beautiful people and beautiful locations and, with a little bit of tuition, it should be possible to make great photographs of interesting subjects under ideal conditions.
Conversely, it’s a hallmark of an accomplished photographer to be able to make a great photograph of an otherwise banal subject or scene, even under less than optimal lighting conditions.
As a teacher of photography, I work really hard to educate folks to a point where they can make very good photos under a variety of lighting conditions. Even when that means photographing subject matter or scenes that, on first impression, might not look all that interesting.
“A man’s got to know his limitations.”
It certainly helps to know what can and cannot be photographed. I’m taking here, for the most part, about the kind of lighting conditions under which you can and cannot make a successful photograph without significant addition of lighting, reflectors, diffusers/scrims or, for that matter, post processing.
For the most part, most folks just want to be able to make really good photos, in camera. That’s true for me as well and, after almost 45 years taking photos, I have a very high success rate.
While not all my images are amazing, I almost never made a technically bad photo. And that’s because, having a very good understanding of the limitations of my camera, I simply don’t waste my time making pictures of what can’t be photographed.
But that doesn’t mean I give up. Rather, I adapt, often moving myself and/or the subject to achieve better lighting, a more appropriate background and a more interesting composition.
It’s important to understand that, once you know what you’re doing and are practiced at making these kind of changes, it usually only takes a few seconds to convert a guaranteed failure into a potentially beautiful and emotionally compelling photo.
But you need to look, understand and take action. This is why, even in a collaborative working environment, that the photographer needs to be in control.
It’s what I do!
So, you need to understand light and to be able to adapt to it, on the fly.
Part of that relates to how you use your camera’s shutter speed, aperture and iso to control the exposure or brightness of the image.
But it also relates to how you control the dynamic range or contrast of the scene in question. And that’s very much about the following:
The time of day when the photo’s created
The weather under which you’re photographing
The direction of the light, in relation to the subject
Your ability to alter the dynamic range of the scene by what you choose to include or exclude from the composition
Sadly, these points, while easy enough to read, can take years to fully comprehend. In fact, the vast majority of folks simply never will. And that’s a major motivation for the thousands of hours I’ve invested into writing content for this website and blog.
The good news is that you can greatly accelerate the learning process, through some expert tuition, which I hope you’ll undertake at some stage.
Photo themes of death and decay explored in wallaby skull still life.
Photo Themes Transcend Objects
Images that transcend the object you’re photographing are at the heart of fine art photography. In other words, the object depicted in a photo is not always what's most important.
That’s because great photography goes beyond mere subject matter to explore notions of meaning and metaphor, which is another example of the importance of photo themes in creative photography.
It was sad to see this wallaby skull lying on the ground in an abandoned gold mining area in Central Victoria, Australia.
I know not whether this poor animal’s demise was due to natural causes or otherwise.
In any case, initial sadness gave way to a deeper enquiry as to the nature of things, which lead to the making of the above image.
While undoubtably a still life image, that fits into the nature photography genre, this close up examination of a wallaby skull also serves as a metaphor that explores death and decay.
For me, that’s what makes it such an interesting image.
Photography Is The Search For Luminance
You can see how the wallaby skull has been picked bare and separated from the rest of the carcass, which was lying in a nearby puddle.
As disturbing as that might seem, the skull looked quite luminous, lying in the open shade.
The lighting quickly became a key consideration in the making of this image as it helped create the sense of luminosity, with the subject seeming to transmit rather than reflect light, that began to form in my mind’s eye.
I immediately knew that I wanted to make a photo and got busy doing so.
Although I needed a tripod to steady the camera, given I was using the relatively heavy Canon 180 mm f/3.5 Macro lens, the photo was quite straightforward to create.
I’m not at all keen about handling anything that’s dead. Fortunately, all but the skull remained, and it had been picked clean by birds and insects.
I had a bottle of water with me and, although I was thirsty, I put it to good use to wash away any dirt that remaining on the surface of the skull.
It was very hot, so the water evaporated quickly, but the now clean skull began to glow as it reflected light from the sky above.
As there is a sense of timelessness inherent to a black-and-white photograph, I decided to remove all the color and then to add a gentle warm hue, in post processing, for a more nostalgic feel.
Then, just like in the darkroom, I employed Photoshop to apply some local density (i.e., brightness) adjustments to better shape the image.
Finally, I applied a slight glow to the image and an amount of sharpening that seemed appropriate to bring out some of the fine textural lines on the surface of the bones.
How A Polarizing Filter Can Save The Day
I made the photo in Central Victoria, about an hour and a half north west of Melbourne. It's a harsh environment in summer, with so much of the ground either stony or red cracked earth.
In addition to a hat, sunscreen, drinking water and solid walking shoes the bright ground reflects so much light that, to be able to see what’s in front of you, sunglasses are often required.
Similarly, the use of a polarizing filter is essential to prevent the inherent color and texture in earth and leaf being reflected off their surfaces resulting in a flat, relatively colorless result.
I don’t have to tell you that it can be tough wondering around such a location in the middle of a baking hot day.
It’s the time of day any self-respecting landscape photographer would be resting or limiting their energies to basic reconnaissance, ideally from the comfort of an air-conditioned car, so as to determine one or more locations best suited for photography under more forgiving light.
A dream script would allow for a nap and a decent meal, prior to a leisurely photography, session either side of sunset. Unfortunately, it just never quite turns out like that, at least not for me.
Wallaby bones still life showcasing the photo themes of death and decay.
How I Made the Image Of The Wallaby Bones
On another day I found myself returning to the same location where I photographed the remains of another dead wallaby. I remember first seeing and smelling that particular carcass around 6 months earlier.
Each time I returned to the location the carcass had been reduced down in bulk until, eventually, all that remained were its bare bones, some of which had been ripped away from the skeletal remains.
As stated previously, I’m the type of person who’s not all that keen on handling dead animals. It’s partly a fear of disease and partly out of respect for the dead.
However, the history of photography is full of the exploration of life, death and decay. And, as you now know, the concepts of death and decay are photo themes in which I’m genuinely interested.
Have you ever observed the change in season from autumn to winter, or the rebirth that occurs in nature during the seasonal transition from winter to spring?
These are obvious, yet powerful metaphors that are well worth exploring in your own creative photography endeavors.
Once again, I don’t know if the wallaby had died a natural death or had fallen prey to predators. The fact was that scavengers, decay and weather had, over time, reduced this mammal to a series of scattered bones, clean and white.
It seemed to me that the connection of the bones with that particular Wallaby was now extremely distant and tenuous. I remember feeling that those bones now presented me with an opportunity to make a photograph that was less about the animal and more about other, larger concerns relating to existence.
Like my first adventure photographing a wallaby’s skull, this visit was also on a hot and very bright day. Once again, the light was so bright that it was reflecting much of the delicate detail off the surface of the bones.
I decided to take two of the bones the 100 meters or so back to my car.
Because the light was so bright, I made sure to move my car into open shade prior to setting up the image. Doing so reduced the dynamic range of the scene, allowing the light to illuminate the subject without blocking up important shadow details or burning out any of the fine highlight textures on the surface of the skull.
On arrival I noticed a piece of old metal, right next to where I’d parked my car. It was the kind of thing you might imagine on the door of an old boiler or furnace. I found this piece of old, rusted metal to be interesting so I poured some water over it to clean it up and enhance its color.
I then laid the metal on top of my car’s bonnet and carefully placed the wallaby bones onto, what was now, a flat, sturdy and potentially interesting background.
Doing so also allowed me to photograph down onto the bones, from a more convenient height than if they’d remained on the ground. Protecting one’s back in this way helps create more of an enjoyable experience when making photos outside on location.
Once again, I washed the bones to increase their inherent luminance (i.e., brightness), which helped emphasize their shape and made them glow against the much darker background.
Photo Themes: The Cycle of Life
On one hand the still life photos of wallaby remains that feature in this post are a documentary record of deceased animals that fit nicely into the nature photography genre.
On the other hand they’re a means by which I’m able to explore the deeper concepts of death and decay and the cycle of life we must all face.
Not your usual selection of still life images, but interesting nonetheless.
Making these photos involved effort, experimentation and vision. The process was fun and I hope you find these images to be both interesting and also good examples of how to explore photo themes in fine art photography.
Photo themes: death and decay, South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata, India.
Photography Is Where Opposites Collide
There are so many ways to explore the notions of death and decay in our photos. This particular photo, part of a larger series titled Vestiges of Empire, was made in the South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata, India.
Without wanting to be disrespectful, I’d say the cemetery is itself a metaphor for the city of Kolkata (i.e., Calcutta).
The city is beautiful, historic, atmospheric and in a state of obvious decay. If ever a city spoke to me about the melancholy associated with the season we know as autumn or fall, it's Kolkata.
It was a very hot day that found me stumbling around the South Park Street Cemetery. It was deserted, except for an attendant I met at the gate on my way out.
Nonetheless, I had a great time exploring the cemetery and making photos of many of the site’s tombs and graves.
The South Park Street Cemetery is full of memorials to politicians, military officers and other notables living in Kolkata during the time of the British Raj.
Kolkata is a great place to visit as it showcases the contrast between the dominant and prevailing Hindu culture against that of the once great British Empire. To illustrate this point, take a look at these posts showcasing two very different sides of the tourist experience in Kolkata.
An hour wandering around and photographing the South Park Street Cemetery is a great experience as it provides a glimpse back to a time now long gone. For me, the cemetery stands as a metaphor for the British Raj: a time when opposites collided.
Conclusion: Photo Themes and Juxtaposition in Photography
I’ve long been interested in the idea of juxtaposition in photography.
I’m referring here to the juxtaposition of opposites to evoke powerful associations and metaphors for the fine art photographer.
Such examples include the following:
Life and death
Beauty and horror
Old and young
Hope and despair
As long as the subject in question is dealt with in a respectable manner, I believe such images deserve their place within the fine art photography tradition.
In the process of exploring photo themes such as death and decay, such images cause us to think about broader and deeper issues beyond the mere appearance of the subject matter in question.
You might say that, by exploring the detail, we’re better able to understand the bigger picture.
And the more time we give to such pursuits, the richer our lives will become.
