SubscribeThe Dipthyc Effect (Photography)
Posted in Visual, Photography on July 20th, 2007. By Ona Vinyamata.
[Detail of “Looking Out”, from Ana Santos]
The creation of an image is always about picturing a concept, even if that was not our intention (interpretation is in the eye of the beholder).
Perceiving is looking at one single scene at a time, but the combination of viewing and thinking generates multiple points of view inside that same still image. What in cinema we would shoot as a general view is not quite what we would experience in the real set: being in a concrete distance forces our eyes to stay in a “general view”, but we do “zoom” in some way to concrete parts of the scene.
Closer to real perception, then, are those scenes that capture several points of view or several parts of the scene in the same frame. We’ve seen this in the store sequence of Jackie Brown or in the starting titles of Stranger Than Fiction. We believe that more than three screens or windows in one frame is too distracting. We vote for diptychs instead.
Photography is a good medium to analyze this tendency. With some pictures of various photographers, we can make a first description of what diptychs are being used for:
1. Flashbacks or different possibilities inside the story: those diptychs that show the same situation in each side, but with different actions. See and example by Tyler E. Nixon: Untitled.
2. Progressive scenes: this kind of diptychs are very powerful when used in photography, and less in cinema where scenes tend to be short enough to show the story chronologically. See and example by Kathya J. Ethington: “A very simple pleasure”.
3. Different points of view within one: with just a general view it’s hard to focus in the details (“#1″ by Mami Koni), we want to center our attention on something without loosing the global point of view, just as we do in real life (“I feel like telling the truth” by Salbjörg Rita Jónsdóttir), or slightly move our head to grasp some more visual information. (Untitled by Emdot)
4. Metaphors and concepts: those images that need to be side by side to generate a third concept, a global one. This has a lot to do with The Kuleshov Effect and is used in abstract metaphors (“X-Ray” by Solecism) or for narrative needs (“Help me awaken” by Melissa).
5. Continuity: when two images perceptively create only one, keeping the two worlds or concepts (“Oat, cinnamon & one kiss” by Erika Lujano).
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You forgot this - although it could fit in your #4 I believe it deserves its own heading. The contrast.
For instance, a picture of a luxurious mansion next to one of a shack, or of a playing child contrasted with a stern man in a business suit. I can’t think of examples, but to me it is a very effective use of the diptych.
Otherwise, your essay is quite concise and well-written.
Comment by Juliette on July 25, 2007
Thank you Juliette! There could definitely be one more category for contrasting or complimentary diptychs. It seems like an obvious use, but after browsing The Diptychs group in Flickr I can say examples are hard to find.
* Contrasting example (I’d like to find a better example): http://www.flickr.com/photos/panaromico/875013511/in/pool-dyptichs/
* Complimentary example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jorgemiente/872516724/in/pool-dyptichs/
Comment by Ona Vinyamata on July 25, 2007
[…] love putting images together, and I’ve been experimenting with that lately. Check out these words on diptychs from […]
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