Photo by Christopher Duggan for R Wagner Photography
www.rwagnerimagine.com
rwagnerimagine.com/blog/
This is such a charming picture. At 570 pixels, you lose a bit, though, so I’d say to click here to see a larger version. It’s textbook use of foreground and background, and that’s well executed, but what really makes this work is body language and expression. It’s a context shot, so without those elements, everything falls apart.
We start off with a nice gaze from the girl (you can see my article on the art of the gaze here) that creates a good connection, and from there, the image builds. The tilt of her head combined with her face being ever-so-slightly obscured by the column tells us she’s peeking around, which creates the charm. It’s amplified by her posture – specifically, her arm resting against the wall and her feet pointing toward one another, childlike and coy.
The foreground gives us just enough information, as well. It’s not just a two blobs we can’t identify. It’s framed and shot so we can infer something. It’s a bride and a groom (presumably) with a nice bit of tension created by the bride’s body language. The lifted bouquet and the twist of her body – she seems to be trying to say something to the person she’s next to – give us a sense that something is going on. It’s active, stirring the imagination and making a picture that’s simple, yet evocative.
Leave a Reply