Curriculum Materials: Amazing Animals in
Art
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Jane Tuckerman Essays: Questions: |
Style
While the camera is a valuable tool that records the objective world, the photographer's choices determine the effectiveness of an image. Besides such technical considerations as the type of film, exposure, and equipment, an artist decides what to include within the frame of the camera's lens at a given moment. In this instance, Tuckerman made certain choices regarding framing and COMPOSITION to create this intriguing photograph. Her decision to use a bird's-eye view contributes to its dramatic impact. While it is not known exactly where Tuckerman was situated when she took this photograph, it is evident that she was high up--at the same level as the birds in flight. The scene's spacious quality is emphasized by the bands of sky, water, and earth, which meet at the horizon and appear to stretch infinitely into the distance beyond the photograph's frame. The diagonal thrust of these elements charges the composition with energy.
Unlike the 18th-century artist Maria Sibylla Merian, who was interested in presenting a closeup view in order to show the precise details of moths and plants, Tuckerman uses forms that are distant and abstracted. Yet, at the same time, her aerial view shows us more than we could see from the ground. It reveals the vast stretches of terrain, sea, and sky, as well as nature's soft, curving forms, intricate textures and patterns, and orderly arrangement.
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