Soft light
Soft light can be flat
Richard Misrach p. 49
A house burns in the distance while a fireman seems more concerned with choosing the right pumpkin than putting out the flames. In this photograph by Joel Sternfeld, what should be a dramatic scene instead has an intriguing sense of the everyday about it.
It’s the soft or ‘flat light’ of an overcast day that helps remove any trace of drama here. This type of light is very low in contrast. It casts little or no shadow and makes everything in an image seem flatter. What we’re left with here is a very matter-of-fact photograph, which draws us in through unanswered questions rather than instant gratification.
The blanket evenness of soft or flat light means that there are no dramatic shadows and highlights to create depth and draw the eye.
This evenness means your composition alone has to guide the viewer around your image. Here Sternfeld has used some classic compositional techniques to control the movement of our eye. I can spot three. If you need a clue, turn back to pages 10, 16 and 22.