The Musical Octave

I’d like to explain my photographs using the musical Octave.

Musical Octave.jpg

Think of the higher photographic values as the notes, F, G and A. The darker values on the photograph correspond to A, B and C. while the middle tonalities would correspond to D and E. I often think of Chopin’s Nocturnes, as using mostly High Key light sounding notes, compared to Beethoven’s 5th symphony, which starts out with very heavy low notes.

Alfred Stieglitz understood he connection between music and photography with his photographs he titled ‘Song of the Sky.’

My high key images show how subject matter is only the original inspiration. The final image is my interpretation through the medium of photography. Knowing how to control the tonal values is akin to writing notes on a musical score.