How To Photograph Unconventional Subject Matter
Christian cross and stained glass window at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Great subject matter makes for great photos. Here’s how I go about exploring both conventional and unconventional subject matter to make more emotive and visually dynamic photos.
Unconventional subject matter includes objects or scenes most people consider banal or not worth photographing. Making these subjects the primary point of interest can elevate the uninteresting or ugly into the beautiful, particularly when the photo is well composed and made under beautiful light.
Of course it’s not just the subject matter that’s conventional or unconventional in nature, but also the way we approach image making that determines the success of our photos.
Consider, for example, the above photo of a Christian cross backed by a stained glass window at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.
It’s a good example of the approach I often take to the photos I make. I refer to this approach as making something out of nothing.
By this I mean that we are not always in the position to be photographing amazing subject matter under fantastic light. More often than not we have to deal, the best we can, with less than optimal light and, on occasions, banal subject matter.
But I’d argue that the test of a really good photographer is to make an interesting and visually compelling image when dealing with, shall we say, uncommon beauty.
Sometimes an unconventional approach is what’s needed to make a great photo when the subject matter or light you’re dealing with are less than ideal.
Pere Lachaise Cemetery | Resting Place Of Luminaries
Pere Lachaise is the most famous cemetery in Paris, being the resting place of luminaries such as Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison.
It’s a marvelous place to wander around and explore the often grand tombs and gravesites into which the deceased have been laid to rest.
While a little tricky to navigate your way around the Pere Lachaise Cemetery it's worth putting aside a good half day to do so. The cobblestone pathways and hilly terrain just add to the atmosphere as you traverse the row upon row of gravesites throughout the large and fascinating cemetery.
About To Travel?
My Unconventional Photograph Of A Crypt At Pere Lachaise
I made the image at the very top of this post in a way that included both the outside and inside walls of a tomb at Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
Basically, I photographed looking through the cutout shape of a Christian cross towards a stained glass window on the inside back wall of the tomb.
A 70-200mm f/4 IS USM L series lens, at 89 mm, was utilized at a shutter speed of 1/30 second and an aperture of f/11 at ISO 400.
I chose to focus upon the stained glass window and used the aperture to extend the depth of field so that it brought the foreground (almost) into focus.
This is important because, while the rose and the cross shape are interesting visual elements within the frame, I didn't want them competing for attention with the stained glass window, which I wanted to dominate the composition.
Frankly, I'm thrilled with the result. It's one of my favorite photographs.
Tombstones along a corridor at St. Sebastian's Cemetery in Salzburg, Austria.
How to Approach Subject Matter in Your Photos
I find cemeteries to be fascinating places, worthy of exploration. Likewise, I find gravesites can provide highly compelling subject matter for my photos. They possess an emotive and, often, melancholic beauty that encourages attention and contemplation.
There’s a number of reasons why you might want to photograph a gravesite.
Document it for historical reasons
Make a visual record for posterity
Make a comment about a decayed or untended grave
Speak to the hardships of life and the sadness experienced when a loved one passes
Produce visually interesting and thought provoking images
Subject Matter Meaning In Photography
In our quest to understand how best to explore subject matter in our own photography the obvious question we need to ask is what is subject matter?
Basically, the term subject matter refers to the primary topic explored or the subject represented in the photos we make.
It follows then that the subject of the above photo is the corridor of gravestones that’s depicted at St. Sebastian’s Cemetery in Salzburg, Austria.
Actually, I rarely photograph gravestones for strictly documentary purposes (e.g., herein rests John Doe, died 86 years of age), preferring to concentrate on the abstract qualities inherent within the structures.
To this end emotion, mood and elements of composition such as light, shadow, color, tone, texture, shape, pattern and repetition guide my way.
To me the most important aspect of this image from St. Sebastian's Cemetery in Salzburg is the mood that's been created by the soft, gentle light.
It was raining at the time I made the photo and the associated cloud cover acted to soften the quality of the diffused light that illuminated the tombstones and other architectural elements along that lovely corridor.
I was careful to process the image in a way that was sympathetic to the soft quality of light under which I found myself photographing.
You can see the final result is an image with a wide tonal range that’s based, largely, around separation of mid tone elements within the scene.
I feel the warm tone, black and white rendering I decided upon is very sympathetic to the mood I felt emanating from the site on that rainy July day.
What Are Topic Based Photos?
To further our understanding of the definition of subject matter we should look into the notion of topic based photos.
A topic can be considered akin to a title in that it provides a context beyond that which would normally be explored through photos based entirely on a specific subject.
To help make sense of this think of an individual daisy as a subject and a group of daisies poking up through an overgrown nature strip as appropriate to a photo dealing with topics such as growth, overgrown or chores.
Examples of topics you could explore in your own photography could include the following:
How to Photograph a Cemetery
Winter in America
Drought in the Horn of Africa
Storm Chasing
Homelessness
Youth Suicide
Journey of an Under 12 Football Team
Falling in love at a school dance
A small town Bat Mitzvah
A topic that is based around an individual or group of people might include a place visited or an event or situation in which they’re participating.
Be Aware Of Unconscious Bias When looking At Photos
Notice how none of the topics listed above have been written using emotive or manipulative language.
That means your own response to those titles is based upon your own opinions, beliefs and life experience.
Is that a reasonable thing for me to say?
The topics themselves are simply topics of interest. Your own response to those topics, without seeing any images or associated text, is your own business.
Ultimately, it’s up to you if you read the topics I’ve listed with either positive or negative bias.
In the case of the topic Homelessness, the title is actually written without bias. It’s your own view, largely influenced by your own experience and political world view, that has likely determined your response to that topic.
However, I also understand that, given the negative nature of our unrelenting news cycle, together with difficulties in our own lives, such topics can also be tough to deal with on a regular basis.
Nonetheless, unconscious bias exists and is something we should all be aware of and try to control. In my case I’ve tried to train my mind to check my thinking whenever I become aware of the kind of negative thoughts that such bias elicits.
The subject of this photo is a dog in Húsavik, Iceland.
How To Make Subject Based Photos
In the visual arts it might be helpful to think of a subject (e.g., person, tree or building) as an element, primary or otherwise, within the image.
Examples of a subject in your photos might include the following:
Portrait of a family member
Action photo of a dog running
A desert landscape
Sydney Opera House
Close up of a daisy
Whether the subject is photographed indoors, in a natural landscape or an urban environment may not be relevant when the image’s composition is predominantly constructed around the subject.
That’s particularly the case when the subject fills the frame, such as a head and shoulder portrait or a close up of a daisy. But it’s probably equally true in the case of a tightly framed photo of dog running.
Action photos usually make use of a very shallow depth of field and a telephoto lens, both of which reduce the significance of the surroundings in which the photo was made.
But, of course, there are always exceptions.
Light, weather, time of day and the specific environment or action taking place can certainly influence the way we read the photo and introduce narrative or theme into an image.
I think that’s the case in this photo of a dog inside a car on a beautiful, sunny day in the north of Iceland.
I see an interesting visual tension that’s explored by depicting the dog, on such a lovely day, somewhat enclosed inside the car.
It’s the car that seems to surround, even enclose the dog, that moves this image from a straight subject based photo towards more of a theme based image.
Wouldn’t you agree?
Nonetheless, a photo that features a close up view of the primary subject with an out of focus background is, more often than not, a straight study of the subject in question.
To make your images more interesting and more thought provoking it’s worth exploring ways by which you can move your photos away from straight visual records towards more emotive, thought provoking images.
Grave of Felix Artuso at Grytviken cemetery on South Georgia Island.
Felix Artuso Grave, Grytviken Cemetery, South Georgia Island
I took more of a documentary approach to photographing Felix Artuso's grave in sight of the remains of Grytviken Whaling Station on the amazing South Georgia Island.
The setting is so compelling and, given the circumstances surrounding the death of Felix Artuso, I felt it was important to photograph the gravesite in relation to its surroundings. And I’m referring to the harsh and forbidden landscape, rather than the remnants of the whaling industry at Grytviken.
I feel the power of the natural landscape, and the unease with which the old Grytviken Whaling Station sits within it, adds poignancy and meaning to the image.
To me the photo speaks of isolation and hardship, both physical and emotional. That’s the theme of the image, at least as I conceived of it while creating the photo.
However, quite recently I learned more about Felix Artuso and the circumstances surrounding his death. That information takes the reading of this image to another place entirely, suggesting a narrative and theme very different to how the image might otherwise have been considered by those who don’t know his story.
Felix Artuso was a Petty Officer in the Argentine military who served on the submarine Santa Fe. He was shot dead shortly after British forces retook South Georgia in 1982.
But that’s not the only story associated with this tiny cemetery plot overlooking the abandoned Grytviken Whaling Station. Of all the other gravestones or markers in this cemetery, only one points to Antarctica. It’s the one where renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton is buried. While the other gravestones or markers point towards Europe, Shackleton’s faces Antarctica, his spiritual home.
The Madonna shedding tears at La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Making Unconventional Theme Based Photos
Of course great photos often utilize the primary subject of the photo in a way that allows the photographer, as artist, to explore larger ideas, concepts or concerns.
This is one key way by which our images move from simply documenting the people, places and events we experience in our life and become art.
The above photo featuring a beautiful stained glass window titled Tears for the Lost is a favourite of mine.
Made within the grounds of the wonderful La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina the image depicts Mary, the mother of Jesus, shedding tears.
By incorporating reflections of nearby high-rise buildings in the stained glass window I’ve endeavored to explore the notion of ever encroaching urban sprawl.
As a way of further clarifying what’s been discussed in this post we could say the following:
The subject of the photo is an image of Mary, the Madonna, painted onto a stained glass window
The topic of the photo is, perhaps, an Unconventional Approach to Photography at La Recoleta Cemetery
The theme of the photo is Encroaching Urban Sprawl
I encourage you to think of how you can use your own photography to explore a thematic approach to image making.
Examples of themes you might consider incorporating into your own image making could include the following:
Childhood Adventure
Regenerating the Landscape
Urban Renewal
A Challenging Workplace
The effects on our world caused by Climate Change
How Money Corrupts
How Education of Women is often the best way for a developing country to advance socially and economically
How to Assemble a Theme Based Photo Project
Rather than embarking on a long, expensive and, potentially, arduous photography journey it’s often best to look back through the photos you’ve already made.
Look to reorganize and, where appropriate, reprocess images to fit into the particular theme you’ve decided is worth exploring.
You might well have one or more bodies of work, hidden within your photo library, just waiting to see the light of day.
Alternatively, going through this exercise could mark the beginning of a way forward when embarking on a new theme based photo adventure.
You see it’s quite likely that delving back into your photo archive will allow you to begin to piece together the beginning of a number of partly formed, theme based projects. You can now use one or more of these incomplete projects to determine where and when you’ll travel next, and the types of images you’ll want to make on your journey.
Midnight sun contrasting a cemetery with houses and factories in Ilulissat, Greenland.
Should You Only Photograph Subject Matter You Love?
The best way to quickly advance your own photography is to concentrate on photographing subject matter that you love.
Family, friends, activities and holidays offer wonderful opportunities to explore the joy of photography and, in doing so, bring meaning into our lives.
Since my early years I've been drawn to stained glass windows. I don’t photograph them often but, given the chance, I revel in the opportunity to do so.
Light is the primary element of composition upon which many of my photos are created. It was the light that drew my attention to the houses and factories and the way they’re juxtaposed against the tiny, local cemetery on the outskirts of the town of Ilulissat in Greenland.
The image is full of contrasting elements, including the following:
Historical and contemporary
Natural and man made
Light and shade
Warm and cool
Life and death
I'd like to think that my own photography, whatever the subject matter or the genre within which I’m photographing, explores the transforming and transcendental nature of light.
In doing so I hope my photos provide a glimpse of the sublime beauty evident in all things.
I think this is an important point because, as it’s light that both illuminates and defines subject matter, it follows that light can be the primary subject of our photos.
I strongly recommend, whenever possible, that you explore unconventional subject matter, whether through a straightforward or a more creative approach.
It’s a way of increasing your own powers of observation and photography prowess. And the images you make will draw attention, comments and questions from genuinely interested viewers.
As long as you allow you eye and your inspiration to be guided by the revealing qualities of light, and you approach the subject matter of your photos with good intent, it shouldn’t matter what it is you’re photographing.
If you’d like help to accelerate your own creative journey, through the art of photography, feel free to contact me.
