“Depth of field” or “negative forms”: space/syntax from HDR digital photography to hypermedia navigation

• Main Author: Marie-Madeleine Martinet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" 2016-12-01
• Series: Sillages Critiques
• Subjects: depth of field; negative form; focusing; figure/ground; shadows; photography
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4683

The article explores the notions related to the perception of the figure/ground contrast in the visual arts. Starting from the history of the words “negative” and “depth of field” in 19th-century photography, it studies solutions such as the possible combinations of main object and background from overexposed and underexposed photos. It then looks at the broader chronological context of the interplay of distance and foreground, such as framing structures and brushwork texture in classical landscapes, the role of shadows in painting from Leonardo to Enlightenment theories on perception, the exploration of atmospheric effects and of lighting by Victorian artists and scientists ranging from stage sets to physicists’ experiments. And it concludes on present-day versions of such questions with lighting or blur effects in 3D modelling programmes or exchanges between foreground and backgound in interactive media.