Selecting images for Iris Arts often comes down to minor distinctions between them—like the degree of cropping. We sweat the details in choosing art for healthcare, but are these distinctions without a difference?
In late fall, the coastal rivers of Oregon are alive with color. Bigleaf maple leaves turn yellow in October. Late that month, the trees have lost half their canopy, and a yellow carpet covers the ferns and rocks bordering the waterways. Vine maples, growing in the same area, contribute smaller pink and red leaves to the ground cover.
A found scene along a coastal river in fall. This is the closer of the two images. Of the two, we chose the latter for Iris Arts. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes.
Nancy and I were scouting the coast for photographs and came upon this scene on the side of a trial about 40 feet above a salmon spawning stream. Green ferns provided a gentle cushion for the fallen maple leaves, which varied in age and color. Golden bigleaf maple leaves co-mingled with the pale pink undersides of vine maple leaves. Older, rust-colored leaves had fallen earlier and are lower in the pile. Saturated greens of underlying ferns poke through the ground cover.
The scene was photographed as found. The question was, how to frame it? What to include, what to eliminate? Eventually, two photographs were made—the first a closer composition, the second a bit further away.
The same scene from a little further away. More to examine? A little less "abstract?" Does it matter? Photo: © Donald J. Rommes.
We liked them both. Back in the studio though, examining the images on the computer, we thought the closer photograph was a bit too close. Why?
The "evidence" in "evidence-based photography" suggests that abstraction is one characteristic of art that does not rank highly in surveys of patients and staff. We assume that's because people who are stressed and preoccupied have less of the mental reserve needed to easily decipher an abstract image.
The closer photograph is not really abstract, but it offers slightly fewer clues to what and where it is compared to the image taken from further away. If only one image is to be selected among them, we prefer the latter for our particular audience (patients and staff in healthcare). It is just as easy to enjoy and requires minimal mental energy to appreciate.
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