"High" by Marcus Lynch
Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
When it comes to pictures, the word frame gets a workout. After all, the entirety of the picture is the frame in which the artist chose to present the subject. The angle, distance, how it is cropped, all decisions that go into the frame. Then, of course, sometimes the picture itself is put in a frame, and we spend hours at a frame shop dithering over matte colors, bevels, checking dozens of corner samples.
Sometimes, too, the artist creates a frame within the picture, a frame within a frame.
Frames within the frame of the picture create context and and depth. They create different planes within the photo, a foreground or a background, for example. In "High", the photo by Marcus Lynch, above, you can see how frames creates multiple layers. In the front we have the man framed by the dark walls of the structure, the skyscrapers are framed by the opening in the ceiling and the plane is framed by the buildings. This complex layering creates a starkly powerful picture.
The foreground frame is by far the most common. Trees and the blurred leaves and flowers that artfully frame the subject are ubiquitous. This picture above takes what is a bit of tired cliche and freshens it up. The tree frames the subject, but is in turn framed by shadow and water. The foreground frame is about giving context in terms of size and distance. Our eyes want visual clues to where the subject is, and the foreground frame is the easiest clue. It gives us perspective, something pictures need.
Eight more fantastic frame-within-frame photos follow below!
