Compelling Photos

How to create a compelling experience using photography? That is the topic of my course this week. Let me show you two pictures and see what you think. The first picture is a bar table with its surroundings and the second one is the bar table with two glasses of wine on it. Which picture would you feel is more compelling or gives you more room for imagination?

The bar-table-only picture seems pretty but it is no more than a piece of furniture. When people see this picture, people may feel it is nicely decorated and well lit but probably rarely think about anything else. The bar-table-with-glasses picture may convey something quite different. It's telling stories and meaning a lot of things. It may trigger some thought among the people who see the picture -- who are the guests? The glasses could be for old friends who haven’t met for a long time, for a couple who wants some casual drinking before dinner, or for two people who are to meet for the first time.

I think a good picture should be able to create a feel of "social presence," which means the feeling of the virtual existence of other intelligence in your imagination. For example, when people see a picture of the Eiffel Tower in France or Great Wall in China, they are often amazed by the creativity or ambition of the designers and builders of these great works. That is, we often think about people behind these pictured things. With this idea in mind I have created this set of pictures. In the process, I have pounded on the concepts of creativity and compelling experience and realized that creativity should be not only original but also imaginative, inspiring and thrilling.

Actually, I took two dozens of pictures from which the two used were chosen. I used one glass at the beginning but felt it was a bit lonely implying one person drinking alone. So I added another glass for a couple, which made I feel happier. I only thought about setting the glasses ready for two people to start, so I made sure the levels of wine were even. When my classmate suggested if the levels of wine were uneven, that would suggest a different story. That made me think. I did not come to think one glass had more than the other but upon reading your comment, I realize that it could suggest a different story. Implications of the detail of a photo could tell so much. It is really amazing!