5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

E R I C K I M

Street
Photography
Composition
Lesson #2:
Figure-to-
ground

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

(http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2013/10/07/street-photography-composition-
lesson-2- gure-to-ground)
© Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photos / FRANCE. Hauts-de-Seine. Parc de Sceaux. 1987.

All photos in this article are copyrighted by their respective photographers.

To continue my street photography composition lessons, I want to now move onto the
topic of “ gure-to-ground”.

What I learned from Adam Marelli (http://www.adammarelliphoto.com/) is that one

of the most important things in a photo is if it “reads” well. Meaning– if you look at a
photo, can you tell what is going on– and see all the subjects clearly?

One of the most important principles is if a photo has strong “ gure to ground
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure%E2%80%93ground_(perception)).” Pretty much
what gure-to-ground is having strong contrast between your subject and the

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

background. For example, having a light subject against a dark subject, or a dark
subject against a light background.

Figure 1: Notice how easy it is to see the black dot against the
white background.

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Figure 2: Notice how the white dot stands out from the black
background.

So if you look at those two gures above, you can see how easy it is to see the black dot
against the white background, and the white dot against the black background. They
have strong “ gure to ground” – as the gure (the dot) is easy to see against the ground
(background).

However I have qualms with the phrase “ gure to ground” as honestly — it is a pretty
technical term and di cult to remember the exact phrasing for. So to keep things
simple, you can just refer to it as “contrast.” I am sure the de nition doesn’t translate
100% well — but I think it is good enough in our application in street photography.

So let us see how this is important in street photography. I will give some examples of
photos that have strong gure-to-ground– in which the subject pops out well from
the background.

Henri Cartier-Bresson / SPAIN. Valencia.

1933

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos / SPAIN. Valencia. 1933.

This is one HCB photo that has embedded itself into my mind. First of all, it is a very
surreal photograph in the sense that when you look at it– you are rst not 100% sure
what is going on. There is this sinister-looking black paint (all scattered and rugged)
with this little boy wearing all white, who is touching the wall with his le t hand- and
looking up.

When I interpret this photo – it almost looks like the kid was shot with a gun, with the
blood splattering behind him.

So in terms of content (what is happening in the shot) the photo is very stirring — it
makes you feel uncomfortable and makes you think deeper about what is
perhaps really going on.

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

In terms of gure-to-ground, the shot works really well. You have the boy in all white
against a really dark and black background. He pops out from the background —
there is separation between the boy and the background.

Let us imagine how di cult it would be to “read” (see) the photo if the boy was
wearing a darker color.

Imagine if the kid had a black shirt on. Note how di cult it is to separate him from the background.

So in the photo above, I burned in his shirt (imagine if he had a darker colored shirt
on). Now you cannot really make out the boy. There is not a strong contrast between
him and the background. He gets lost in the background- and you can’t see him. He

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

becomes more of like a chameleon (which is a bad thing in photos- if you want your
subjects to be easily visible).

Josef Koudelka / FRANCE. Hauts-de-

Seine. Parc de Sceaux. 1987

© Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photos / FRANCE. Hauts-de-Seine. Parc de Sceaux. 1987.

One of my favorite photos by Koudelka. In this shot, you have a very bleak and cold
looking background (you see the snow and dreary sky). And in the middle of the shot,
you see this dog looking at you– but with its jet-black silhouette and pointy ears– it

almost looks like a demon-dog from the depths of hell. The fact that the pointy ears
are mirrored in the little triangles in the background creates an interesting repetition
of shapes.

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

What works well in this shot is the fact that in terms of gure-to-ground— it has a
very dark gure against a white background. The dog pops out and has strong
contrast against the white background, and you can easily see the dog.

You can see how clearly the dark outline of the dog shows against the white background.

Now imagine the opposite: if you had a white dog against a white background. This is
not so farfetched– because there are lots of arctic wolves that are naturally white for
this purpose (white wolves can camou lage with the background, making it invisible
to its prey).

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

I photoshopped the dog to make it whiter. You can still see the outline of the dog – but it is much harder to see against
the background now.

So now you can see the photoshopped version above. Note how you can still see the
dog- but it is not easy to see as the case when it is dark. So when you have a light
subject against a light background, it has “poor” gure-to-ground.

Let us bring some more examples forward.

Christopher Anderson / VENEZUELA.

Caracas. 2006

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

© Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos / VENEZUELA. Caracas. 2006.

This is another example of great gure-to-ground. You have a dark subject (the man
with the devil horns) against the white background. You also have the silhouette of a
dark cross against a white background- which also works well.

To see how incredibly important timing is when it comes to street photography —

imagine how the photo would “read” (how it would be seen) if he took the shot half a
second later.

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

A photoshopped version of the original image – imagining if Anderson took the shot a second later, with the man a
little more to the le t. Note how di cult it is to make out his gure now – and you lose the silhouette of his le t horn

So you can see in the second shot, the shot has “poor” gure to ground because there is
not a clear outline of the white background against the dark gure of the man with
the horns. You also miss out on one of his le t horns as well.

Having white-space is crucial if you have a dark subject– especially in this photo by
Anderson.

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Note the white-space around the dark gure.

So in this gure, I took the original photograph and just drew a red outline around it.
Notice how the black gure of the man has some white around him – with no black
overlaps.

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Now with the cross outlined.

The second (and equally important) subject in this shot is the cross. The importance of
the symbolism of this shot is the juxtaposition (http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/juxtaposition) between the devil- gure and the cross on the
right (evil vs good).

And you also see with the cross there is white space around the dark silhouette of the
cross- or the shot wouldn’t work.

Now imagine the shot if anderson shot it a bit too early – with the cross a little more to
the right (not le t):

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Imagine if the cross was a little more in the dark. Note how the silhouette is killed- you can’t see the full outline of the
cross.

So in this above fake version (assuming Anderson shot the shot with the cross a bit
more to the right) – you couldn’t even see the outline of the cross as well. So having
the white-space around the dark gure is extremely important for visibility.

Nikos Economopoulos : TURKEY. Central

Anatolia. 1988

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

© Nikos Economopoulos / Magnum Photos : TURKEY. Central Anatolia. 1988.

This is another great example of how important it is to have strong gure-to-ground

with your subject in background.

I am not 100% sure of how Nikos took the shot – but I assume he made a conscious
e fort to get the little girl with her white dress agaisnt the dark silhouetted
background.

Imagine how it would be di ferent if the girl was standing more to the right:

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

If the girl was a little more to the right- notice how hard it is to see her- the “poor” gure to ground in the shot.

So if the girl was standing a bit more to the right – her white dress would camo lague
too much with the grey background of the house. You couldn’t see her- she would be
too invisible to you as a viewer.

The key to having the shot work so well is there is that black outline against the little
girl’s white silhouette:

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Note the black-space around the girl in the white – how it separates her from the background.

So you can see in this case- having black-space around a white subject is absolutely
crucial when achieving proper “ gure-to-ground.”

So how to apply gure-to-ground in the

streets?
Of course every theory and concept is only as practical as how you can apply it to the
streets. So let me share some thoughts how you can better incorporate this into street
photography:

1. Look for the background before looking

at your subject

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Eric Kim. Seoul, 2009

I think o ten when we are shooting on the streets– we look for an interesting subject
and then take the photo, and just hope the background works. The problem with this
approach is generally the backgrounds tend to be ugly and camou lage too much with
your subject.

A better strategy can be looking for a dark background, and waiting for a light- gured
person to step into the shot.

For example, this photo I took in Korea – I waited for the right person to step into the
dark scene (which was a woman wearing all white) and thus she pops out from the
background and has strong gure-to-ground.

2. Use a ash

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Eric Kim, Downtown LA, 2011

Using a lash is also a great way to make stronger gure-to-ground when on the
streets. For example, this shot I took of this woman’s ngernails in Downtown LA, I
used a lash which made the background pitch black – and only illuminated her
hands. You can achieve creating a black background by shooting with a fast shutter
sync-speed.

3. Look for the light

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Eric Kim. Tokyo, 2011

O ten if you have your subjects step into a sha t of light (or happen to be in a sha t of
light) you can create stronger gure-to-ground.

For example in this shot I took in Tokyo a few years ago, I saw this man doing this
interesting hand-gesture in the subway, with a stream of light coming from
somewhere. The stream of light helped illuminate him, and help him pop out from
the background – giving him a stronger “ gure to ground.”

4. Dodge & burn

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Eric Kim. Tokyo, 2011

By dodging & burning, you can create more contrast between your subject and the
background. For example in this shot, I purposefully burned (made darker) the suit of
the man- and his face to create a sense of anonymity.

5. Ask your subject to move

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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Eric Kim. Lansing, Michigan. 2013

In this shot I took of a boxing promoter in Lansing Michigan, I asked him to move
against a white background- which gave him a strong gure-to-ground.

So if you are shooting a subject who is white (or has lighter clothes on) it might be
better to get them against a darker background. If you are shooting someone who is
dark (or has darker clothes on) – it might be better to get them to move against a

lighter background.

Conclusion
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5/8/2018 Street Photography Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground

Visibility and contrast in a photograph are extremely important to have your viewer
easily see your subject. If you have photos with ugly overlaps of your subjects and their
backgrounds- it makes it harder to make your subject visible.

Therefore remember to move your feet (when trying to get a better angle of your
subject), remember to time your photos correctly (that there is no overlaps of dark
gures against dark backgrounds, or white gures against white backgrounds), and if
you are asking for permission on the streets- you can always ask your subject to move
against a background which gives your subject more contrast.

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