In art and photography, the term negative space is often defined as the empty space around the primary subject in the frame or around the canvas. This space provides a few different things to a composition. It provides breathing room and a sense of rhythm. It can also provide pressure, counterbalance, and relationship with the occupied sections of the frame. We often sense its influence intuitively, even when we struggle to articulate the role it plays in a composition. We should also ask if the inclusion of negative space benefits the overall composition.
Walk into most modern art museums and generally art is hung on white walls, with space in between them. Sculptures are also given space around them so that the work can be appreciated from all sides. As people move from one work to another, each piece can be appreciated on its own merit without competing with the artwork beside it. This is one function of negative space, to give each artwork its time to shine.
I had quite a different experience a number of years ago. I had the privilege to travel to Russia. While I was there I visited the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Hermitage was originally the Winter Palace of Russian royalty and it currently has one of the largest collections of paintings in the world. Stepping into one of the rooms is like an explosion of beauty. The paintings, furniture, light fixtures, all packed into the room and screaming for attention. The details and skill of each piece would easily take hours if not days to fully appreciate. Moving from one opulent room to another I started to feel my stress response beginning. I was being overwhelmed by the beauty before me and the mental toll that this was taking on me. After a few hours of this I left the Hermitage, humbled, fatigued, and empty. It was my first experience of having my senses bludgeoned by art.
I came away with the understanding that when everything is densely packed, no matter how beautiful the objects are, the senses can be dulled to the appreciation of what needs attention.
I have a similar reaction to some of the things in my life that I experience on a daily basis. It’s a frictionless consumption of content that is relentless. I carry this around with me in the form of my phone. I look at photos on many different media platforms. The photos flow one after another until I can’t have a full appreciation of any one photo. This cycle repeats with my laptop and even while watching television. The constant barrage of images, sounds, and light assaults my body and mind. I’m engaged even when nothingness would give me time to relax and process things that I’ve engaged with.
There are many ways in our life that are made to provoke emotional responses. Social media, shopping malls, casinos, and just wandering around town. Sights, sounds, signs, moving displays: everything wanting a piece of your limited attention. Walk into a shopping mall or a casino and the noise hits you like a wall. The blinking lights and marketing are tailored to stun and push you to spend money. Our focus is a finite resource and protecting that can be one of the things that helps us in our creative pursuits. What does this all have to do with photography?
Within each shutter press we have the ability to influence how someone encounters our work. We can have wide vistas of negative space that provide quiet contemplation. We can also have darkness surrounding our subject to provide mystery, a sense of danger, or oppression. Withholding negative space can also be a function of our art. Packing the frame with repetition, colors, and aggressive shapes can be astounding tools to bring about an emotion.
My photo “Hope in Darkness” is using dark to highlight the small flower sitting on the chair. The negative space in the piece is functioning as both an oppressive unknown but it’s also working to direct attention to the composition of the chair and the translucent flower. It can be at once a little bit unsettling, giving someone a little time to explore the vast space that this tiny flower inhabits. We are often told that as photographers we should simplify our compositions and bring more negative space into our work.
What if the elimination of negative space is the entire point of the photo?
In my photograph “Aperiodic,” I’ve deliberately withheld negative space to overwhelm the viewer. The frame is packed with a riot of color and harsh geometric repetition. Each window contains a small piece of someone’s life, but together they become an almost incomprehensible mass. There is beauty in the arrangement, yet the density can also become oppressive. These aren’t simply colorful blocks. They’re places where people live.
“Seascape” is a more gentle use of negative space. The gradient of the blue sky is open and diminishing the building. The large expanse of sand and sky conveys how insignificant this structure is against the larger elements of nature. It is at once a soothing photo and potentially a photo that can create a sense of unease.
In “Frayed,” the buildings frame a narrow opening into the sky. Rather than simply surrounding a subject, the empty space becomes the subject’s defining shape. The buildings create the boundaries, but it’s the space between them that gives the composition its character.
Negative space is a tool that we can use to change the reading of our work. A tightly cropped portrait with no headspace can be a deliberate creative choice. You have the choice to have wide expansive spaces or dark intrusive, foreboding compositions. When it comes to negative space, think of how it contributes to the overall photograph. Here are some questions that you can ask as you’re composing your shot.
- What role is negative space, or its absence, playing in your composition?
- Is the amount of negative space supporting what you want to communicate?
- How is negative space influencing the balance and relationships between elements?
- Can negative space isolate your subject, shape the composition, or guide the viewer’s eye?
- Is the presence or absence of negative space creating the emotional response you intend?
These photographs only begin to scratch the surface of how negative space can be thought of and used in your own work. As you compose your next shot, ask yourself: what does each thing in that frame contribute?
Negative space is a tool. Make it work for you.
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