Controlled Mess
Controlled Mess
One of the final layers of an image is adding a little mess and knowing when to add lots, a little or none at all. Rustic scenes, sharing scenes, ingredient shots or the making of, all call for some appropriate mess.
A little spillage or crumbs or some residue on a chopping knife make a scene look real. Perfectly clean knifes or surfaces can make an image look sterile. The scatter on the surfaces can also help connect the elements visually and help the eye flow through the image seamlessly.
I, as I’m sure you can tell, love mess but it’s still thought about and planned. I will remove scatter or mess if it’s too much. There definitely has to be context and purpose and it has to add to the image, not detract or just simply look messy.
There is of course times where mess of pretty much any kind is not appropriate. The images I take for restaurants, with pristine white tablecloths and precise plating would not be right to have a sudden scatter of herbs or drips of oil all over that perfectly clean tablecloth!
Like with everything I’ve been trying to teach throughout this course, I want there to be thought behind the image and for elements in the scene to feed back into your story. So ‘Rustic’ does not fit into an articulate, precise and intricate chefs table. This type of chef does not want mess as part of his story or food!
