Qualitative data analysis
After completing the analysis on the quantitative data, I then want to look at the qualitative data as I believe that this would give me better insight of what people actually think creates atmosphere or an atmospheric over the statistical analysis.
Just to recap in the questionnaire I asked 5 qualitative questions the first was to identify the image they ranked as most atmospheric and describe the qualities of that image that contributed to that. The second was to identify the least atmospheric image and identify the qualities of that image that detracted from the atmosphere. The final three questions asked what contributed to an atmospheric image in the realms of composition, about emotions, and technical.
The data was imported into Excel where compiled the data in order to identify themes across each of these five questions. In the case where the respondent listed qualities, I took them at face value and created a node for that quality. In other cases where I was given description I interpreted the description and attempted to fit in into one or more of the nodes. Some of the qualities were combined as they were so similar as to be counted as the same think for example: colour balance/colour temperature/ colour cast.
Each time a respondent listed one of the qualities I checked it against its corresponding node and at the end of the process I then totalled the number of instances that that node was mentioned. Each respondent could only reference a node once even if they repeated themselves in the feedback. but they were able to reference as many nodes as they liked. In some cases respondents made a reference one node and others as many as 6. Not all the respondents answered all the qualitative questions.
The nodes will then ranked in terms of number of times they were mentioned by respondents the data is as follows:
Features of the highest ranked image that contributed to it being atmospheric
Of the 125 respondents 117 responses were submitted. Evoked emotion was referenced 31.6% of the time. Visualised as a word cloud where the more quality was referenced the larger the text would appear
Interestingly in comparison two the quantitative data we now see subjective qualities of the images coming through which could not be measured in the objective quantitative data. Also that the subject to qualities rank much higher than the objective qualities. This would lead me to think that the perception and meaning that is creating when consuming the image is far more important than any inherent features of the image itself.
Features that detracted from image being atmospheric in the lowest ranked image
Similarly, an objective feature ranked as the biggest detractor of atmosphere, followed by the absence of subjective features. According to the responders the act of pointing a camera at a subject and taking a photo of it is not enough to make it atmospheric. The argument here is that for an image to be atmospheric it must not just show things as they are but contain “a form of subjective expression” (Bull 2010). Does this imply that reportage and documentary photography cannot be atmospheric? How does photojournalism fit in? For example war photography can be argued as ‘record shots’, conveying to the public the ravages of conflicts, their intent is to convey very strong emotions (Washington Post 2018). We have seen evoking emotions appear to be central to creating an atmospheric image and would be hesitant preclude this genre based on whether the photographer had an artistic input.
Don McCullin, The Battle for the City of Hue, South Vietnam, US Marine Inside Civilian House 1968 (Tate 2019)
Interestingly the work of Don McCullin employs atmospheric techniques discussed in this analysis: high contrast with deep blacks obscuring detail. Partial face also shrouded in darkness looking out of the frame asking the viewer to speculate (mystery) what is beyond the window that requires the use of the rife in the soldier’s hand. The overall darkness of the solider in comparison the much of the rest of the scene mirrors his expression, fear of the unknown and unclear resolution of the current situation. The only significant area of shadow surrounds the portrait, imply the mystery surrounding the fate of the former occupants of this dwelling. Compositionally the placement of the portrait below the viewers eyeline tell a story of a more unfortunate fate.
Perhaps a lack of artistic input differentiates atmospheric images from snapshots. Snapshots in the photographic community is looked down upon as not special due to the ubiquity (both in subject matter and quantity), perceived lack for intentionality and by inference at lack of perceived effort in its creation (Bull 2010). The lack of perceived effort also extends to postproduction, snap shots receiving little in this regard. However, I would be hesitant in claiming that images are snapshots because they do not receive any postproduction. Returning to photojournalism, but this time sports photography, the pace of production in photographing a football match is so great that there is simply no time to post process images before they are sent to publishers (Crease 2019). Due to the expensive specialist equipment this genre does not fall into the realm of ubiquity.
Uniqueness, an antonym of ubiquity, derives interest to what is rare. Does the snapshot on the surface evokes apathy to what is commonplace especially out of context? The images presented in this study had no context and were required to be judged solely as an image itself. Returning the football analogy, a picture celebratory goal scored may evoke apathy of the ubiquity of sports imagery showcasing victorious moments without the context of the decisive moment in a world cup final.
A mention of mystery has now come up twice and rates quite highly in the responses. Mystery in photography is associated with using low key, areas of blacks, shadows, shallow depth of field to remove and obfuscate detail (Sawalich 2017, Tucker 2018, Wilkerson 2011). This is also reflected in language, synonyms of mystery include: unknown, obscure, novel, fog, curiosity, intrigue, fascination (OneLook, ND). This reflects the other comments of technical aspects of images in both in the elements of creation and the absence of those elements in the detractors. In these synonyms we can see how this can drive engagement with the image, asking the viewer to explore the narrative in an attempt to uncover the mysterious aspect.
With the next 3 questions I wanted to breakdown as much as possible what the contributing factors to making an atmospheric image.
Composition
With the results that I got from this I felt that some of the answers would be better suited under technical, such a monochrome, and soft-focus, but this is how the responders have decided to interpret the question I have decided to leave them in. Subsequently I found that these terms have been repeated in the technical. At the top we have visible atmosphere, this is to be expected, especially based on the prior research conducted on the origin of the word and its relation to weather. However, these results do not match quantitative data as I was unable to get a significant relationship between images that depicted physical atmosphere and atmospheric. My assumption therefore must be that the responders are now thinking of the most atmospheric images in the picture part of the survey and making references to that (image 13). Following that line of thought image 13 contains the next five factors on the list; it has leading lines, is simple, effectively a blue and black image with a tiny hint of yellow, in snow fall, with a large amount of negative space around the subject.
With that in mind
Light: light creates the mood of an image through colour, directionality and intensity (Boddinott and Bauer 2014). The quality of light is an amplifier of the photographer’s vison, for example directional contrasting light conveying harshness, softer light that of tranquillity (duChemin 2009). In the case of low key or mostly dark images with few highlights (a factor that the quantitative data suggested contributed to atmospherics) convey mood, such as threaten and mysterious, as seen before this can be used as a narrative element (Freeman 2008).
Depiction of weather: literal definition of ‘atmosphere’ in that weather is part of the gaseous mixture that surrounds earth referred to as the atmosphere.
Colour: they have an emotional impact on the viewer and set the subtext of how the image is to be read. Postprocessing these allow colours to be altered, creating colour harmony or contrast in the overall image. Individual colours themselves have meaning, for example red with danger or excitement in combination with the subject reveals their narrative (Boddinott and Bauer 2014).
Leading lines: Guiding the viewer through the narrative of the image, this creates interest by the viewers eye moving along and discovering focal point (Farrell 2011).
I would like to draw attention to “evoked emotion’ and “none”. Firstly, I took notice of those who actively wrote none, meaning that composition does not matter in the creation of an atmospheric image. This does not mean that it should not be taken into consideration, as it is crucial in conveying the story to the audience. I was tempted to combine this with ‘evoked emotion’ as this implies that the emotions are more important than the composition and should be secondary to it. If I were to combine these two elements then this would then rank second on the list after visible atmosphere, and I find that interesting. But with consideration with the other technical elements their purpose is to support the indented emptions that the photographer wants to convey.
Also worth noting is the comment ‘there is a relationship between subject and other objects’ as this echoes the writings of Peter Zumthor (2020) where he described atmosphere being comprised by a synergy between all the objects and their settings. The more the component parts of the imagery are in harmony with each other then the more they tell one story. Having a unified message makes it easier for the viewer to ‘read’ it.
Evoked Emotion
As discussed earlier the significance of mystery in creating interest in an image and hence why it is the most significant factor from this question. Almost as prominent is the sentiment that any emotion evoked would contribute to atmospherics. The images chosen are not arbitrary, both in my selection and in the authors taking. For the photographer they represent their vision, story, a translation of internal emotional state that compelled them release the shutter in that instant (Barthes 2000, duChemin 2009). It is in the presentation of that image where the photographer is charged with the transmission that story and by inference its attached emotions successfully to the viewer. This is not to say that every spectator will come away with the same experience as the spectacle of the image and other framed objects will have different cultural and experiential significance (Barthes 2000). This may explain the subsequent list of emotions in the results, they were for the most part expressed in single words, relatable cross culturally without the need of contextual situational knowledge.
Unlike photography the contents of a painting are not arbitrary as each element has to be deliberately added. Photographers on the other hand may painstakingly, by composition or postproduction, omit elements that do not contribute to its intent. The viewer however, does not know what elements of the photograph are significant and what are arbitrary or incidental, especially with the ubiquity of the snapshot (Bull2010). Returning to painting and the example of The Death of Socrates by Jacques-louis David (1787) (The Met ND)
Painted in the tumultuous time preceding the French revolution the neo-classical style would have had cultural significance to people at the time. Socrates is representing stoic strength over passion a symbol (depicted with a muscular physique despite being over 70 at the time) for France where the monarchy was in decline where reformers wanted to install a democracy much like in the time of Socrates (Puschack 2015). Consequently, the evoked emotions to 18th century Parisians (possibly: hope, aspiration, anticipation) is different to how it is interpreted today.
Looking at the compositional elements, to understand this image one must first know of the circumstances of Socrates’ death. The viewer would then understand that the cup is filled with the poison hemlock who has been condemned to death for corrupting the youth of Athens. Patio depicted on the left looking away, was not present for Socrates’ death and was a young man at the time but the scene is described in the Phaedo of Plato (Baetjer 2017). The images is filled with filled with compositional clues driving the narrative and interpretation, without which one is limited to appreciation of the aesthetics and craftsmanship of the work. Again, the story of Socrates would need to be a part of the shared cultural vocabulary and understanding of the intended viewership, inviting the 18th viewer to revisit this story, latch on to the visual narrative elements that this image brings to life and the emotions of this novel perspective. A detractor to this would be having to consult supplementary materials removing all mystery and self-discovery.
Technical
This section has an overlap with the compositional, with the key elements already covered in detail in the preceding section. The one thing to note is the range of answers in this section almost encompassing all technical aspects in photography. I think the key from this and the preceding analysis is whatever technical process is employed that it works in synergy with the intent of the narrative.
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