14. Blur and the Passage of Time

Most portrait course instructors will tell you that the eyes need to be tack sharp. Yet, every rule can be broken in order to create a different effect. In this case, the lack of focus and muted tones create a thoughtful mood and ambiguity that isn’t resolved. The piercing yet blurry eye contact invites the viewer to think.

Canon 5DMii, 85mm lens, f/2.2

WE TAKE PICTURES to slow life down. We want to add permanence, perspective, and purpose to our lives. Pictures can etch our memories and experiences in stone so that the weather cannot wash them away. We create these photographs to bring clarity to what feels like an otherwise indescribable and fleeting time on this earth.

To intensify our story, we usually seek to create tack-sharp photographs. This is something that photography has been chasing since the 1930s when Group f/64 set out to promote an aesthetic of critical sharpness throughout the frame. The group, which included Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, used the term f/64 from the small aperture stop found on a large-format camera. This f-stop provided greater depth of field and rendered a photo sharper in the foreground and the background. Since that time and in the popular photographic forum for some, blur has become bad.

Blur to the Rescue

But ultrasharp and perfect pictures can fall short. They tell only one side of the story. The other side is imperfection and the passage of time. Blur comes to the rescue; it is the perfect tool to artistically convey that we don’t always have everything figured out. Blur helps us to tell those often-overlooked aspects of life. For when we are confused, we don’t see clearly. When tears stream, our vision is blurred. As we grow old, our eyes weaken. There is so much of life that passes by at motion-picture speed.

RIGHT In any portrait, we first look for the person in the frame. After discovering the person is out of focus in this shot, the eye travels down the tracks and then returns back. This can make for a more dynamic, thought provoking, and engaging frame.

Hasselblad 503CW, 80mm lens, Tri-X Black and White Film

LEFT An out of focus blur looks more cohesive and smooth with film. The lack of focus creates a nostalgic and dreamlike effect of this newly married couple’s connection and love.

Hasselblad 503CW, 80mm lens, f/5.6, Fujichrome Provia Film

Exercise: Blur Experiment

Whether for landscapes or people photographs, Ansel Adam’s voice looms large. He said, “There is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a fuzzy idea.” What if for the sake of creative growth you ignored his advice? That’s exactly what I want you to do. The results may or may not be satisfying, but the process will change how you work when photographing people. Here’s the goal—set out to capture a fuzzy, uncertain, or soft-focused frame that is full of depth and story.

Step 1 Preparation and Planning

Arrange to photograph a subject for a creative and artistic photo shoot. Explain that your goal is to capture a bit of story using shallow depth of field, blur, and even some out-of-focus frames.

Before the shoot spend some time doing reading, writing, and research. Search online for blurry and out-of-focus photographs and you will discover that most feel like an overused cliché. Keep searching until you find a few that you like. Then do an online search for poetry and the passage of time. Read a few poems. Think about your own life and take a stab at writing about what you might like to represent in your photographs from your life.

Step 2 From Focused to Not

When you meet your subject, remind her of the goal of the photo shoot. Turn off autofocus and while in manual focus start by seeking to capture that which is sharp, clear, and concise. Get all the obvious or typical photographs out of your system for the first 5 minutes. Then progressively experiment with more focus variations. Try using different areas of focus, depths of field, frame orientation, and camera position. Experiment and play with whether the subject is in the foreground or background. Think of this as a chance to photographically study what type of blur looks best.

Step 3 Print and Title Your Images

After the shoot is over, review your photographs and print out the images that you feel worked best. Give your photographs creative and thought-provoking titles. Try using descriptive and interesting words that express emotion and thought, for example “Forgotten Memories,” “Distant Melody,” or “Dreamscape.” Really work at the titles and see what you can come up with.

Step 4 Review Your Work

Write down what types of focus tended to work best: Was it complete lack of focus and abstract backgrounds? Did you like focusing on color, shape, or form? What was the mood of the best images that brought you the most joy? Which pictures are poetic? Which pictures have soul?

ABOVE More extreme blur gives this artist’s portrait an apparitional feel. Blur is often used to conceal—the less we know the more imagination takes effect.

Canon 5DMii, 50mm lens, f/1.2

Step 5 Reshoot

Many of us haven’t been to photography school. We don’t have the luxury of full-time study. Instead, we are self-taught and quick at learning and trying new things. One advantage that all photography school students have is the refined skill that comes from being required by a teacher to reshoot an assignment. The students who take the reshoot seriously develop tenacity, drive, and discipline. They excel far beyond the rest.

Here is your chance to try this entire exercise again. Start with Step 1 but dig deeper this time. Move to Step 2 and Step 3 with a more focused intent. Build off of the mistakes and success of the previous shoot.

OPPOSITE Keith Carter introduced me to the sculptor David Cargill. In this picture, David stands in front of a whimsical piece in his backyard. Using a shallow depth of field causes the viewer to look back and forth between the two subjects in the frame, which creates a strong connection between this artist and his art.

Hasselblad 503CW, 80mm lens, f/5.6, Tri-X Black and White Film

“I’m happiest when I’m making photographs.”

—Keith Carter