I am intrigued by paper. A love that started with drawing. When you draw you start with a blank sheet of paper and add marks. Unlike photography, where you start with a full world of information and possibilities and have to subtract to get to the photograph.

You would choose your paper before starting. Photographers often choose the paper they are printing on as an after thought. Though, traditional photographers, sometimes choose the printing method, and paper, before taking the photograph. Traditional printers would expose their negatives in response to the subject, and would then choose their exposure based on the printing method, and hence the paper.

Food for thought.

This week I want us to explore the pure white of the paper with intention. Using the paper (read whites) as a important component of the composition and the final image.

Before you take a photography, actively choose the paper the photograph will be printed on, and include it in the photograph.

A different way of thinking about this, is to include and compose large compositional elements within your work that are pure white.

Many photographic judges pan photographs that have too much white. I was asked to submit a portfolio to the Royal Photographic Society in the UK, a portfolio that challenged the judges on this very topic. Calling the portfolio, something along the lines of ‘In praise of the white paper’.

So this week I want you to take up this, and stop to think about the whites in your photographs. I want you to push the boundaries of white. Include lots. The secret to this is to compose the whites. They need to be resolved components of your photographs.

To do this, you can over expose your photographs at the time of taking, so you can clearly see the whites, either in the viewfinder, if you are using mirrorless, or at the moment you review your photograph on the screen on the back. I turn off the blinkies so they don’t mess with your composition and your head.

Following on from previous exercises on negative space, and high key, for this week, I ask you to include large areas of composed white in your photographs, by intentionally over exposing and blowing out the highlights to expose the white paper.

The second phase, if you are willing to go there, is to choose the paper you will print on before hand, and include this in your thought processes. Take that last step and have your photograph printed on to this paper of choice. Whether it be glossy, matte, watercolour, or traditional photographic paper.

Go on, take that last step, and make your work into a real photograph by printing it.

As I already said, the secret is to compose the whites as an important element in your work.

Post at least three photographs that include large sections of white, and if you got that extra step, include a photograph of your photographic print.

Despite my examples being in Monochrome, this equally applies to colour photographs, and obviously you are encouraged to create work in your own chosen medium and subjects.

Text and Photographs copyright © Len Metcalf 2019