Term 2: Week 2 Portfolio Research Juxtaposition and Contrast

Andrew S. Gibson is a writer and photographer living in New Zealand.

Reference: digital-photography.com

How to Improve Your Composition Using Juxtaposition and Contrast

A Post By: Andrew S. Gibson Reference: digital-photography-school.co

Juxtaposition occurs when you place two contrasting subjects side by side. The difference (i.e. the contrast) between the two subjects creates an interesting photo.

I took this photo at sunset in the Argentinian city of La Plata. The cathedral is one of the largest in the Americas and was only completed in the 1990’s. The juxtaposition here is between the statue in the foreground and the spires of the cathedral. You can’t tell from this photo but the statue is located in a square in front of the cathedral. The two are some distance apart, separated by a road. By finding a position from which I could include both the statue and cathedral together, I created a composition that is more interesting than one containing either the cathedral or the statue alone. There is also a contrast between the gothic architecture of the cathedral and the weathered stonework of the statue that encourages the eye to move between the two.

A classic example

A great example of this is the Annie Leibovitz portrait (bottom of page linked) of jockey Willie Shoemaker (4’ 11” tall) and basketball player Wilt Chamberlain (7’ 1”). Placing the two men side by side (juxtaposition) emphasizes the difference in their height (contrast). As we’re not used to seeing an extremely short person standing next to a very tall one, the difference in height appeals to our sense of curiosity.

Juxtaposition and contrast in action

Here are some more examples, this time using my own photos, showing how you can use juxtaposition and contrast to improve the composition of your images.

I took this photo in the remote village of Iruya in north-west Argentina. It was late afternoon and I wandered beyond the boundary of the village towards a pass through the mountains. I saw two people walking down a path cut between the rock, one of them leading a donkey.

The juxtaposition here is between the human figures and the mountainside. The contrast is one of scale – the difference in size between the people and the landscape they are passing through.

This photo is a simple close-up of a seashell on a beach. The juxtaposition of the white shell against the black sand emphasizes the difference between them. It’s not a coincidence that I chose to convert this photo to black and white. Sometimes, good black and white photographyis created simply by juxtaposing a black subject with a white one.

I photographed this waterfall on the side of Mount Taranaki, a conical volcano on New Zealand’s North Island. I used a tripod to support the camera and a shutter speed of 1/3 second to blur the water.

The juxtaposition here is between the rock and the water. The rocks are still, hard, and have a beautifully textured surface. The water is moving, soft and blurred. This type of contrast is the basis of many long exposure photographs.

Andrew S. Gibson is a writer and photographer living in New Zealand. He is the author of over twenty photography ebooks and he's giving two of them away. Sign up to his monthly newsletter to receive complementary copies of The Creative Image and Use Lightroom Better.