Photographs
Each one is a working demonstration of the brightness/weight illusion resolved before the shutter — the structural principle at the heart of every session.
All photographs by Paul Fremes
The woman's white dress holds the center; the shadow cast on the upper right anchors the frame against the larger, brighter area to the left.
The small dark shadow on the left balances the combined large, bright area consisting of the lampshade and the protruding wall section on the right.
The two figures form a mass partially left-centre balanced by the dark mass at top right and shadow at bottom right.
The small, dark figures on the right are balanced by the large, brighter area on the left.
The dark figure adds nearly equal weight to the left and right side of this image. Therefore, the small, dark wall on the right balances the predominantly large, bright area on the left.
The relatively small, dark tree branches on the right balance the large, bright area on the left. Because the small, dark area on the left carried too much weight within this framing, the tree trunk was placed to the left of center to compensate.
Each of those captions describes a decision made in real time — before the shutter. The workshop teaches you to make the same decisions yourself.