Form and Pressure Response

Stephen Shore’s form and pressure is an incredible way of analyzing photography on a painterly level. Currently I am in a scientific liberal education course where we look at the history of science and where it comes from. I analyzed Thomas Kuhn’s paradigms which essentially is the idea that science heavily relies on the scientific community and pre established theories to farther advance science. I feel as if Shore is also hinting at this advancement in form and pressure with his Kepler example and the difference between the heliocentric and the geocentric earth models. Shore uses examples of his own work days apart to see the difference considering the form of objects and the relationships they have with another. Shore tries to capture the scene more as if he is there within the photograph and what it is like to be there and not overly manufacturing the image. He describes the difference between structure and composition which in turn are actually quite different. Composition is a synthetic process like painting, he says each addition of a brush stroke adds complexity. The photographer on the other hand has to find structure within the world and each decision within the photo creates order in itself. This way of thinking can be applied to one of my photographs I believe. Consider how the sign interacts with the space structurally in colour photograph compared to the black and white. Though this photograph is about the sign and the experience of viewing it on the side and to consider it’s location and it’s message. The black and white photograph pulls it more into the forefront and takes you out of the scene doesn’t consider the space and it’s interaction to the town. 

I also want you to consider these street photography photos from Gary Winogrand. His ability to add depth into an image shot likely at f8 is remarkable. I often view Street photographer’s instagram who rely on out of focus backgrounds to create depth and not the scenes themselves. Gary creates structure in these images out of the world which is an incredible skill to have. The beauty of photography is slice moments out of the world, and to prove that they happened. Winogrand was a master of slicing the world and preserving moments with depth and breathe that many aspire to recreate.