A part of the whole

Boulder Falls, Abstract. Colorado, 2014

How much of something do you have to capture in order to capture the essence of the whole?

I remember a blog post by Thom Hogan some time back about this idea. He had just returned from one of his African photo safaris and was wondering…Do you always have to capture the entire subject if your goal is to communicate something of the fundamental nature of that subject? With his comments, he was referring to the entire giraffe, the entire rhino, the entire hyena, etc., but it applies to just about anything you might photograph. (Come to think of it, it likely applies to all the arts–music, literature, painting, sculpture, opera, theater…)

Take the case above. This is an image made at Boulder Falls–but it is likely not an image you have ever seen before of this oft-photographed cascade. Does it communicate to you something of the soul of the water and the rock that you find in that special place?

The next time you approach a subject–be it a waterfall, a rhino, an architectural icon, a landscape, or even your own child–go ahead and make that photograph of the entire subject…but then, start moving in and see if you can’t find some part of the whole that might communicate something more of the subject’s inner soul.