>>3069295If you’ve ever taken a photography class in your life, you’ve likely heard the phrase “don’t center your subject”. If this is such an important rule of photography, why has there been a rise of deadpan photographs over the past decade?
First, let’s speak about what exactly a ‘deadpan’ photograph is. While there are a handful of different definitions, the most popular is that a deadpan photograph is devoid of emotion. It simply exists as a subject and photograph, yet it seems to be empty. There is no joy or sorrow, although some can argue that the deadpan itself is a mood of its own. Famous photographers who use this aesthetic seem to be completely detached from the subject that they are photographing, and the word ‘indifference’ seems to describe the photograph perfectly.
There are a handful of aesthetics that you should be aware of when determining whether or not a photograph is considered deadpan, or if you are planning on creating your own series of deadpan photographs. Most commonly, the subject is in the center of the image, and the photographer is looking at the subject straight-on. The photographer is not laying on the ground, or standing on a ladder to distort the subject any which way, it is simply pictured exactly as you’d see it if you walked right up to it in real life.
The deadpan photograph simply says “this is how things are”. Deadpan portraits show people in their natural state, typically not showing any sort of emotion. These subjects are not posed, are not dressed up for the occasion, and seem completely honest.
So what purpose does this type of photography have? Why would photographers want to show these people or landscapes in such a mundane light? Many famous deadpan photographers choose this aesthetic to capture changes in the world around them, to generate questions that the viewer keeps in mind, or to provide an image that allows a non-biased relationship between the viewer and the subject matter.
