Star Wars, Good v. Evil and Negative Space
Even before I first watched Star Wars I have been fascinated between the balance of light v. dark, yin and yang, good v. evil, black v. white.
One of the central tenants of Macrobiotics (which I dabbled in briefly many years ago) was “One Infinity manifests itself into complementary and antagonistic tendencies, yin and yang, in its endless change”
In other words, “What has a front, has a back. The bigger the front, the bigger the back”.
And as an accountant, I know that the central principle to accountancy is that, in order to balance the books, every debit must have a credit.
Balance must exist.
No I haven’t lost my marbles. What I am trying to say is that Life, Karma, “The Force”, call it what you will, is all about balance in the universe. Religions are founded on this concept; wars have been fought over it. Balance between the Dark Side and the Light is central to human philosophy and our very existence, and permeates all parts of our lives.
Beauty is mostly seen as a power for good (no matter what the reality is). A photograph or painting of a truly beautiful woman is seen as a representation of all that is good and morally right in the world. It is no coincidence that Princess Leia (Light) was stunningly beautiful in Star Wars, and also beautifully lit, I might add. Poor Darth Vadar was ugly and evil, and also cunningly lit in the shadows, to represent the Dark Side of the Force.
Obviously I’ve been hanging out with photographers too long, because I’m starting to see everything in terms of lighting, especially movies.
The light v. dark is a central principle which must be understood and practised by all photographers, if they want to be good at their craft anyway. Now I don’t know much about photography per se, but even I know this. The photographer who says, “Lighting is not important” is an idiot. And you can quote me on that.
The concept of balance and lighting are critical in a photograph. Perfect balance must exist. The dark must balance with the light; the shadow must balance with the illuminated part of the model. There is a perfection, a symmetry about a black and white photograph of a beautiful nude woman. When the photographer truly understands the lighting, the photograph lifts the soul of those who look at it.
Balancing lighting and composition can be learned when you study photography, and practice, practice, practice until it becomes second nature, until the photographer himself absorbs the ability to balance into his inner psyche. Eventually he does it automatically when he composes a photograph.
IMO, photographers who have this inner sense of balance, an innate sense of yin and yang, and who use this understanding to bend the laws of light and darkness, truly become great at their craft.
Richard put this in simple terms for the benefit of an idiot (i.e. me). If I can interpret what he said correctly:
“A photograph needs to be balanced between positive and negative space. Put simply, negative space is the space that is not the model.
A photograph needs to be weighted so that balance is reflected.
The composition has to be right, and there has to be a balance between the negative (space) and the positive.”
I really like the idea that the intrepid photographer is, in fact, Luke Skywalker on a quest to bring Princess Leia (or other beautiful models) into the Light, whilst recognising the force of the Dark Side, and tricking it into submission, in order to restore balance in the universe.
Star Wars and nude photography.
Cool.
This is Kate from Richard's first real shoot, many moons ago. I think it might have been featured before on the blog, but it does remind me of Princess Leia.
One of the central tenants of Macrobiotics (which I dabbled in briefly many years ago) was “One Infinity manifests itself into complementary and antagonistic tendencies, yin and yang, in its endless change”
In other words, “What has a front, has a back. The bigger the front, the bigger the back”.
And as an accountant, I know that the central principle to accountancy is that, in order to balance the books, every debit must have a credit.
Balance must exist.
No I haven’t lost my marbles. What I am trying to say is that Life, Karma, “The Force”, call it what you will, is all about balance in the universe. Religions are founded on this concept; wars have been fought over it. Balance between the Dark Side and the Light is central to human philosophy and our very existence, and permeates all parts of our lives.
Beauty is mostly seen as a power for good (no matter what the reality is). A photograph or painting of a truly beautiful woman is seen as a representation of all that is good and morally right in the world. It is no coincidence that Princess Leia (Light) was stunningly beautiful in Star Wars, and also beautifully lit, I might add. Poor Darth Vadar was ugly and evil, and also cunningly lit in the shadows, to represent the Dark Side of the Force.
Obviously I’ve been hanging out with photographers too long, because I’m starting to see everything in terms of lighting, especially movies.
The light v. dark is a central principle which must be understood and practised by all photographers, if they want to be good at their craft anyway. Now I don’t know much about photography per se, but even I know this. The photographer who says, “Lighting is not important” is an idiot. And you can quote me on that.
The concept of balance and lighting are critical in a photograph. Perfect balance must exist. The dark must balance with the light; the shadow must balance with the illuminated part of the model. There is a perfection, a symmetry about a black and white photograph of a beautiful nude woman. When the photographer truly understands the lighting, the photograph lifts the soul of those who look at it.
Balancing lighting and composition can be learned when you study photography, and practice, practice, practice until it becomes second nature, until the photographer himself absorbs the ability to balance into his inner psyche. Eventually he does it automatically when he composes a photograph.
IMO, photographers who have this inner sense of balance, an innate sense of yin and yang, and who use this understanding to bend the laws of light and darkness, truly become great at their craft.
Richard put this in simple terms for the benefit of an idiot (i.e. me). If I can interpret what he said correctly:
“A photograph needs to be balanced between positive and negative space. Put simply, negative space is the space that is not the model.
A photograph needs to be weighted so that balance is reflected.
The composition has to be right, and there has to be a balance between the negative (space) and the positive.”
I really like the idea that the intrepid photographer is, in fact, Luke Skywalker on a quest to bring Princess Leia (or other beautiful models) into the Light, whilst recognising the force of the Dark Side, and tricking it into submission, in order to restore balance in the universe.
Star Wars and nude photography.
Cool.
This is Kate from Richard's first real shoot, many moons ago. I think it might have been featured before on the blog, but it does remind me of Princess Leia.
posted by Lin at 11:58 AM
1 Comments:
Very nice image.
For what it's worth. Even Carrie Fisher had her own dark demons when she played the role of Leia. Things aren't always what they seem. Nothing is ever completely black/white or good/evil. It's all a blend.
I completely agree with you on the importance of lighting. It's everything. Don't think I'll ever completely get it, but that's OK, as long as the photographer gets it.
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