Photography was invented many years ago, and even since the first photographic image was saved on film, photographers have been experimenting with this art form.
Most genres of photography are fairly easy to understand. For example, landscape photographers capture a scene that hopefully engages with the viewer. Portrait photographers depict a person, perhaps capturing their mood and emotions, and documentary photojournalists tell a story through images.
What about conceptual photography? What is it?
Conceptual photography differs somewhat from ‘traditional’ image-making. This genre starts with an idea in the photographer’s mind rather that a tangible thing. Suppose, for example, a still-life photographer wanted to capture the form and shape of fruit, they would arrange fruit in a bowl and use creative lighting to show form and shape. A conceptual photographer may also use fruit in a bowl, but instead may use it to illustrate a ‘concept’. Let’s say they wanted to illustrate loneliness as an idea. The fruit in the bowl may show lots of different varieties of fruit but there may be a single withering apply placed outside the bowl. Here we have a concept rather than simply an image.
Conceptual images are designed to engage with the viewer, to challenge their thinking and to encourage a deeper look into the image, to explore what it means to the viewer.
Conceptual art and photography is not for everyone! Perhaps the next time you see an image that has elements arranged in a strange way, you might want to give it a few minutes of your time to explore the meaning that the photographer was trying to convey.
NGT Photography 