Why care about backgrounds?

Understanding the significance of the background is essential to create captivating images. The background refers to everything that appears behind the main subject, and it plays a crucial role in directing the viewer's attention.

In photographs, the main subject is the part that creates the primary visual interest as is a

focal point that should engage and captivate the viewer.

The background provides context, setting, and a sense of place for the subject. It can enhance the narrative and help viewers better understand the subject's surroundings.

There are three key ways that backgrounds can support their subjects listed below.

Minimal Backgrounds

In well-composed photos, the background should complement the subject and work harmoniously to highlight its significance. It should not compete for attention or distract from the main focus. A distracting background can detract from the impact of the subject, making it confusing to know what to look at and is aesthetically cluttered and uncomfortable.

You can create photos with non-distracting backgrounds, by finding places with minimal distractions, shooting in a studio, framing or cropping images to remove unneeded content and in some cases, shooting on a low aperture (which creates a shallow depth of field and creates more of a separation between a subject and its surroundings). You can learn more about camera settings to achieve this here.

McCury, S. (1984) The Afghan Girl URL

Nishimura, K. (2022) Taylor Swift. URL

Eggleston, W. (1974) Los Alamos series. URL.

Chou, J. (2022) Michelle Yeoh. URL (Evrything, Everywhere All At Once for The Times).

Leading Backgrounds

Another background that will work well with the subject is one that uses framing techniques or elements within the image to direct the viewer's eye towards the subject. This can be achieved by framing the subject with elements in the foreground or background, such as archways, branches, or doorways or even shooting through a glass window or at a reflective surface. Leading lines and shapes can also be used to emphasise the subject against the background. You can re-familiarise yourself with compositional tools that might help achieve this here.

Fisher, P. (2022) Michael Imperioli. URL
(White Lotus for The Times)

Llorente, V. (2022) Sadie Sink. URL.
(The Whale for The Times)

Drew, R. (2001) The Falling Man. URL.

Zulawski, E. (2016) Street Ballet L.A. URL

Boyl, D. (2010) 127 Hours. URL.

The Beatles (1969) Abbey Road. URL.

Contextual Backgrounds

The background in photography is more than just a backdrop; it has a significant role in supporting the main subject. It provides context, setting, and helps tell a story. By understanding the background, viewers can better understand the message, mood or story of the photo. By encouraging viewers to consider what is happening, to whom and when and where, they will get much more out of the image. In documentary photography and photojournalism, the background provides factual information about what happened while the photo was taken. In creative and art photography, different background elements can convey various emotions or messages, such as an old broken building representing the passage of time or urban decay or a serene landscape could evoke feelings of the tranquillity or harmony of nature. In film posters, particular types of backgrounds help us to understand what genre the film might be. A contextual background should give viewers a broader understanding of the image.

Bachman, J. (2016) Taking a stand in Baton Rouge. URL.

Eisenstaedt, A. (1945) V-J Day in Times Square. URL.

Yavari, F. (2023) Serenity. URL.

Squires, J. (2023) Scream VI. URL.

Leifer, N. (1966) Muhammad Ali and Cleveland Williams. URL.

Quilliam, W. (2021) Indigenous Ceremony. URL.

For Your Portfolio

C level (ish)

You must now take at least one photo that displays each type of background, which means a total of three photos. If you want to try and get creative, consider what type of story your photo tells and give it a title that reflects this. You will need:

Minimal Background
Leading Background
Contextual Background
Tertiary: 1-2 sentences to explain how each of your backgrounds aligns to the each category.
Accredited: Dot points that answer the question, which type of background is this and how do you know?

B level (ish)

Complete previous steps
Take several photos for each type of background.
Include all of your photos.
Tertiary & Accredited: Label which ones are you finals / best and explain why.
Tertiary: Note why this type of background is useful or a context you might use it in.

A level (ish)

Complete all previous steps
Find at least one other important / famous / historic version of each type of background (like my examples).
Insert them in to your process journal
APA reference them.
Explain what visual elements of the background make the overall composition of the photographs effective. Evaluate how well they have engaged their audience through these choices and if you believe anything could be done to improve the images.