The Virtues of Ambiguity

  It may be immediately apparent to some that this is a photograph of stairs, railings, and their corresponding shadows, but the framing, monochrome, and deep focus make this less apparent than it might otherwise be.

One of the hallmarks of some of the best photographs--one that I strive for but can't consistently achieve--is a sense of mystery and ambiguity. When we come across an image where it's not easy to tell at first glance what we're looking at or what's going on, it creates a visual puzzle. We get curious. We want answers. We want to solve it.

The difficulty in creating images like this is that things seldom look mysterious in real-time. We know--or think we know--what we're seeing and assume others will too. It's only later, when we have a chance to look at our photographs from a different perspective that they reveal aspects that weren't so apparent at first. They are now one-dimensional. Depth is indicated not just by perspective but the presence or absence of focus. Colors can be replaced by shades of black and white, where tones merge or separate in unexpected ways. Even you yourself begin to marvel at what you see on screen as opposed to what you thought you saw when you released the shutter.

In this case it's the open doorway, the odd angle of my son's egg-shaped head, and its relationship to the items above it that add ambiguity to this image.

I'll bet you can't look at this image and not wonder what he's doing, what sound he's making, and what role, if any, his sister in the foreground is playing.

There is no one guaranteed way to get images like this. A lot of it is luck. A lot of it is also in developing the ability  to recognize and appreciate ambiguity when you see it. If you're interested, try this exercise: Instead of releasing the shutter before something happens or after, trying aiming for the fleeting moments in-between, when things are still "up in the air," so to speak.

With stationary subjects look for lighting, arrangements, and cropping that suggest something rather than state it outright. For example, if you're composing a still life of loaves of bread, sprinkle a few crumbs on the table and add a 3/4-empty wine glass. Sometimes its the questions rather than the answers that make life and photography most interesting.

Comments

[Gary O'Callaghan]

Your Son is playing a blade of grass - great fun.

[carl frederick]

In my perception, there is a fine line between an ambiguous/mysterious image that is a good photo versus one that is not. I find that if the photo is not visually compelling to begin with, it just makes me frustrated, almost angry, very quickly trying to figure it out and I don't waste my time. This may be more so when the identity of the depiction itself is the mysterious element, rather than as your photos here depict, the ambiguity lies in something like what is being said or what lies behind a door.

carl

[Timothy]

Fascinating topic. Check out-
http://www.boredpanda.com/funny-optical-illusions/