Left Brain Guy Little
Right Brain
Photography

The fact that no two photographers approach a subject in the same way, even given the same conditions and equipment, raises some interesting questions. Guy Little explores one of the possible theories for this.

One of the reasons is in the different ways that different photographer's minds perceive things. "Left brain right brain" photography is one approach that sheds some light on this fascinating subject.

My own personal interest in left brain, right brain originally stems from my father. He is an architect who in 1991 was granted a sabbatical to study for four months at the California University's Centre for Brain Research Institute, under researcher and author, Betty Edwards.

As a preface I would like to point out that left brain right brain relies heavily on circumstantial evidence and is difficult to prove conclusively. It is intended as only a guide and as part of a series of useful techniques to help see things from differing perspectives. It becomes a useful approach to visual problem solving. A bit like the technology of computers, we don't fully understand it but is very useful to us.

Originally developed with regards to drawing by Betty Edwards its been used by employers and personnel management firms along with Myers Briggs type psychological tests to aid in selection criteria of employees. Stephen R.Covey in his book (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) also discusses the subject. "Manage from the left and lead with the right", is his theory for success in personal life and business leadership. I have personally done a number of these tests and am quite balanced with a slight bias towards left brain perception. I believe that the techniques apply very readily to photography and the whole notion of perception and composition theory. Besides the camera is faster than the hand holding a pencil.

I should also point out that everybody is different and that there is no right and wrong. Creativity can be harnessed from both brain hemispheres. It is also another of the many theories regarding composition. For example "Previsualization and Postvisualization" or "cosmic and parochial".

Previsualization identifies with Gestalt theory (psychology - identification with patterns of behavior) with the brains need to select and arrange. The photographer orders the elements in the image. Based on classical principles of composition.

Postvisualization can be characterised by blurring, tilted planes and an almost accidental approach in an attempt to sum up a subject accurately. Order is apparent in the natural world and the photographer selects an approach which best sums up how they feel about a subject.

Parochial and cosmic composition theory by Rudolph Arnheim argues our sense of the world is based on the above two spatial systems. Cosmic is where the photographer sums up inherent order in nature and parochial is where the photographer imposes order on what they see. A more geometric approach to organization.

Here then is an outline of the apparently different ways the human brain perceives things: the right brain is primarily concerned with intuition, imaginative impulses and timeless, holistic and divergent abstractions.

This is similar to the Post-visualization approach. Blackstar photojournalist Michael Coyne's photograph of a bullfighter in Mexico city is an excellent example, an intuitive, feeling response to what was going on around him. Right brain orientated photographs are as a result of the photographer's willingness to let go and suspend themselves with the moment. They don't hesitate or question when the moment to press the shutter presents itself.

The left brain is concerned with deduction and logic. It is rationally directed and tends to be more concrete and analytically explicit.Left-brain orientated photography is characterized by objectivity and sequential strengths, and an intellectual sense of convergence. These people are able to immediately size up situations and sights as well as determining the specific angle that provides the most effective overview. A photographer with a left bias knows how and why a story must be told in order to communicate with greatest clarity. These people are goal orientated. It lines up with Pre-visualization techniques like the golden mean, Fibonacci number series in mathematics and the rule of thirds in composition theory. My shot of the Melbourne Imax building is a good example of this approach being a very carefully constructed composition.

Kathryn Marx in her book "Right Brain, Left Brain Photography" wrote:
" I realized that photographing is a more direct expression of an impulse than drawing is. The reason is simple: in photography, the eye's response need not pass down to the hand and pause there in order for the photographer to register an image on paper. Instead, the impulse passes from the eye to the fingertip on the shutter - release button while the eye remains fixed on the subject."

Fundamentally, left brain right brain looks at techniques for making thoughts visible. Essentially it is about boring the left brain to death and then you start seeing with the right brain. As things get difficult visually you can switch the brain in the way it sees things. Here are some of the techniques:

• Contour drawing aids the brain in switching off. Concentrate on the lines in a composition.
• Drawing as another way of seeing. Try to draw a picture with no lines, no contours, or only draw the space in-between things.
• Looking as another way of seeing. Look at something upside down. Using a view camera is a perfect example. This technique is also used when assessing prints. Turned upside down, it is easier to divorce yourself from any emotional connection with the image and just concentrate on density, tone, colour etc.
• Positive and negative space (the Japanese have a word ma, which means the space between.). Try photographing things in such a way as to emphasize the spaces and not subjects.
• The use of visual analogues. A somatic haptic approach (somatic meaning bodily sensation and haptic meaning a sense of touch). Photographing using the whole body. You sense your environment around you.

Another technique is to try and combine intuition and intellect. The integration of the left brain and the right brain. This often occurs when you manipulate photography with other mediums. Digital images are examples of a mix between left and right brain. Photojournalism is also a very good example of utilizing both hemispheres. Planning and organization is important but the photographer must also be open to intuition and to capturing the decisive moment.

People apparently only use 10% of their brains. "Hal" in Kubrick's (left brain approach) '2001' when asked to define the meaning of existence, said: "to put ourselves to the fullest possible use". As a challenge, use every photograph you take as an opportunity to put this into practice. Put your perception to the fullest possible use.

§ Edwards, Betty Drawing on the right side of the brain.
§ Edwards, Betty Drawing on the artist within.
§ Marx, Kathryn Right Brain Left Brain Photography : The Art and Technique of 70 Modern Masters. Amphoto, New York

If you would like to have a chat to Guy about any matters he would love to hear from you. He can be contacted by phone on 03 9419 4341 or via
e-mail: guylittlephotog@bigpond.com.au

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