The fifth and last of Alister Benn’s triggers of stimulating photography is Atmosphere. Dictionary definitions of atmosphere include: “the pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or creative work”; “the quality of the setting around us which evokes our emotions”; “a surrounding influence or environment”; “the overall aesthetic effect of a work of art”. Terms such as “ambience; aura; climate; and/or mood” summarise the concept neatly. Photographically, Alister suggests that including such elements as clouds, flowing water, mist, fog, snow, rain, or diffused areas can help to amplify the atmosphere of an image - but these are not a requirement. However, as with the other four elements, attempting to evoke atmosphere in an image that says something to the viewer can be challenging.
To try to illustrate this, I’ve selected a number of images from my back catalogue to explore this concept and discuss various aspects described above. I’ve purposefully avoided posting images I’ve included in previous blogs (except one) as many of them offer obvious examples and I’ve tried to challenge myself to explore this issue in more depth.
Floating hill top…
"Floating hill top…” is the first example of atmosphere showing the sunrise kissing a hill-top which seems to float on a sea of mist. The overall ambience is created by the billows of mist in the foreground leading to the subtle autumnal colours on the mid-ground hill with the distant hills beyond. Words that sprang to mind when I captured this included “peace”, “tranquility”, “calm”, and “stillness”. Does this impact you, if so how? And what words/emotions come into your mind?
Almost menacing…
“Almost menacing…” is another example where the slightly misty top of the Tor and the lack of detail in the early morning light starts to create this atmosphere. The light dusting of snow, coloured with the mid-blue hue, amplifies the feeling of cold silence, and the bare branches of the foreground trees and overcast sky signals mid-winter. A positive aspect for me, though, are the tiny figures picking their way to the summit: to my mind on some kind of pilgrimage - the human element. However, that last idea is solely created in my imagination - a fantasy if you will. They’re probably locals and tourists just making their way t o th etop for the view! Do you have a different interpretation, and what might it be?
Now for a short exercise. Here are two different images of Stonehenge: one, a silhouette of the stones against a stormy-looking sky. The other, a more conventional composition showing much of the detail of the rocks and their surroundings: you can even make out a rook perched on top of one of the uprights. Now - do you think one has more “atmosphere” than the other - and more importantly - why? Maybe one has no more than the other - they’re just different. Notice that neither has any elements like flowing water, mist, fog, snow, rain, or diffused areas to enhance the atmosphere - just the subject itself.
Holy corner…
Holy corner… is a different composition that caught my eye amongst the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. The soft afternoon light bathes the honey-coloured ancient walls, highlighting the ecclestical shape of the recess. This is contrasted by the sunshine on the grass at the foot of the picture, giving a hint of the modern context of the image. Maybe I’m declaring my biases too much, but I can almost sense the medieval monks wandering through this place chanting canticles and burning incense as they go about their holy business. Are you struck by a different mood, atmosphere or feeling?
Towards infinity…
And finally, without any bias from me, what atmosphere, emotion/s or key words spring to your mind when viewing this image?
So to end, atmosphere - just as beauty - is in the eye of the beholder. We each put our own interpretation on an image depending on our beliefs, attiutudes, values, experiences, memories, associations and a myriad of other conscious and unconscious factors. The humble aim of the photographer is to somehow communicate with the viewer something of his/her experience at the moment of pressing the shutter: the rest is up to the viewer!
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