Right Brain Left Brain Photography by Kathryn Marx

I have just finished reading Right Brain Left Brain Photography by Kathryn Marx (published 1994 by Amphoto).  And having read this book, I think it's pretty clear (in fact beyond doubt) that not only am I a right-brain photographer, but it is also that right-brain process that I get a kick out of.  To briefly sum up, right-brain photographers do everything in the moment.  The planning happens during the shooting.  Left-brain photographers plan their shots (see post on Chris Weston).  This is possibly one reason why I like street photography so much - it's fast, random, hap-hazard, depends on luck, basically an adventure!   You could plan street photography to a point, but so much depends on chance happenings, i.e. the right kind of person to walk into the shot, the appropriate gesture etc, that you're really limited to just seeking out your location and time of day (light).

In the book, Marx maintains though that it's not always so clear cut - right-brain people will plan somethings, and they learn to plan in the moment, i.e. to think through exposure, composition, framing and so on, although with street and wildlife photography, there is not always the time to do that, and that left-brain photographers will also be faced with chance encounters where there is no time to plan - you just have to take the shot.  Left-brain photographers are also very good at processing composite images and creating something totally unique and new.  I struggle with this, for a start I'm not interested, but also I don't have preconceived visions of images.  I have seen though that there is an exercise on this in this Context and Narrative module, so I'll have to get to grips with it!  Right-brain photographers are very good at reacting to situations, documenting what they see, although some planning and visualisation might be needed in order to create a successful narrative.  Some people also successfully combine both sides of the brain.

This got me thinking about photographs I've taken in the past, and I have tons of right-brain photographs, particularly in street photography a lot of which happens in a panic.  I did recently try planning a street photography shot: I'd found a poster in Wardour Street and I made several visits to it to get the right kind of interaction, but unfortunately the poster was changed before I'd made a success of it.  Here is a very recent right-brained street photography taken on 27th July, on an unplanned route, unplanned exposure and unplanned situation, where I'd stumbled across these amazing twins on Oxford Street, who were not only identical, but were also dressed the same with the same facial expression at the same time:

Oxford Street

BTW - this is my first successful photograph in the style that David Solomons taught (what I call crowd-surfing) on the In-Public workshop!

I then tried to think about left-brain photographs that I've taken recently.  This was much harder, as there aren't many.   First of all, I struggled to think about a situation I'd planned.  Then I remembered a recent trip to Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire to photograph puffins on 22nd June.  This was my second trip there so, I knew where to go, what boat to get, what time of day and so on.  I also knew that if it was sunny, I'd need Active D-lighting switched on (due to the overhead sun, dynamic range issues, and black and white puffins!), and I had roughly an idea of exposure: wide aperture, fast shutter speed and ISO 200 (if sunny).  Thankfully it was sunny, but once I'd worked all this out, everything still happened in the moment as animals are unpredictable, but this shot was one I'd really wanted of a puffin face forward carrying fish with a nice blurred background.  I didn't draw it or caption if before-hand though in the way that Chris Weston would have done.

Skomer Island Puffin

Finally, I tried to think about shots that were a mixture of right and left-brained approaches.  I recently visited Felixstowe on 10th May to complete Assignment Three for DPP.  I planned the location and the scenes I wanted.  I didn't plan the exposure as I had no idea what the weather/light would be like (and it was amazing!).  The presentation came later, after I'd processed the images, the story came first in the planning.  So I would say this was 40% left-brain 60% right brain.  My favourite image though, (which is also the header for this blog!) was probably more right-brain than left, as although I'd remembered visiting the dodgems and wanting to go back to photograph them, I hadn't banked on finding them looking like this; hence this photo's caption, "Waiting for Summer".

Waiting for Summer

I haven't done the exercises that Marx recommends - simply don't have time at the moment - but I at least know they are there now if my right-brain gives me problems!

p.s. Interestingly in other aspects of my life, e.g. travel, I plan meticulously to the point of knowing what restaurant to go to on what night!  I'm unable to go on holiday without planning for fear of missing something that I really want to do.  This is very left-brained!  So is that why I am such a right-brained photographer - to escape the areas of my life, like work also, that are so tightly controlled?

References:

• Marx, K. (1994) Right brain/left brain photography: the art and technique of 70 modern masters, New York, Amphoto

Bibliography:

• Chris Weston Wildlife Photography available from http://chrisweston.photography/ [accessed 2 August 2014]