Another Go at the Gestalt Principle of Figure/Ground
I am on vacation this week, so I am reposting a blog that was adapted for the Facebook group, Inspired Street photography. Thanks to members Felipe Miranda, Deiv Lubezki and Sudipta Das for allowing me to use their work as examples of how we can separate the figure from the ground.
When I first encountered the Gestalt Principles for Visual Perception and how they might apply to street photography, I knew these were concepts I had to explore. For a long time, graphic designers have used the principles of Gestalt Theory to capture viewer attention. I want viewer attention for my photographs. Can the Gestalt Principles help me?
What is Gestalt Theory?
• It is a school of psychology that seeks to explain how the human mind perceives things as a whole rather than as individual parts.
• It began in the 1920s in Austria and Germany
• Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka applied the theory to the field of human perception.
• The briefest, most coherent description I could find comes from the article, Gestalt Principles, which can be found on the website of the Interaction Design Foundation. “The Gestalt Principles are a set of laws arising from 1920s’ psychology, describing how humans typically see objects by grouping similar elements, recognizing patterns and simplifying complex images.”
How is Gestalt Theory relevant to street photography?
Humans have to process a staggering amount of visual data every waking minute of our lives. In order to cope, we seek what is called visual simplicity. For street photographers, that means visually simple images will likely be better received by viewers than complex images. Unfortunately, street photos are not inherently simple images. Here is where using the Principles of Gestalt Theory in composition can help. Humans group parts of visual scenes to simplify images. The Gestalt Principles tell us how we do this. If we incorporate these principles in our work, we can help viewers simplify our complex images.
The Principle of Figure to Ground
When we look at a photo, the first thing we do is try to identify the subject. We want to know what is important to look at. We do this by putting all of the visual data into two buckets. The subject goes into the figure bucket. Everything else goes into the ground bucket. In order to have a successful street photo, you have to have a subject for the viewer to put into the figure bucket. The more that it is is separated from the background, the better. The more it is not tangled up in an overlapping mess with secondary subjects, the better. The subject is in the figure bucket. The background and secondary subjects are in the ground bucket. Humans do not like it when these buckets are mixed up.
It is important to note that different viewers will consider different things to be the subject. That does not matter. What matters is that the viewer can easily find some subject to put in the ground bucket. It is also important to understand that your viewer will sometimes choose to look through the ground bucket, but after they have settled out the issue of what is in the figure bucket.
Knowing that we have to have a subject is different than knowing how to convey that something is our subject. We do this by using a variety of compositional tools.
In my picture below, I have used the tried and true method of b&w photographers. Your subject should be in light tones against a dark background or dark tones against a light background. Photographers who work in color can do this by the use of color.
Another strategy, which is used by Felipe Miranda, is to have the subject in focus and everything else out of focus.
Photo by Felipe Miranda. Used with permission. You can see Felipe’s Instagram gallery at @felipemiranda.
Sudipta Das has posted a picture where there are contenders for the subject. Sometimes the largest person, who is typically in the foreground wins, but in this picture, the dynamic gesture is what identifies the subject for me.
Photo by Sudipta Das. Used with permission. You can see Sudipta’s Facebook gallery at Sudipta Das.
Finally, Deiv Lubezki also posted a photo where there are two possible subjects. In this case the person in the foreground won out for me. However, if we use the figure and ground bucket analogy, this is an example where I will definitely go to the ground bucket to study the secondary subject.
Photo by Deiv Lubezki. Used with permission. You can see Deiv’s Instagram gallery at @bermejostreetphoto and his Facebook gallery at Street PHOTO Puebla.
This week, try be aware if you see a street photography post that has no subject. Also, try to find a post that has good separation of the subject from the background and secondary subjects and one that does not. Being aware of how you perceive figure/ground is a way to learn how to use it in your own work.