ExpertPhotography is supported by readers. Product links on ExpertPhotography are referral links. If you use one of these and buy something, we make a little money. Need more info? See how it all works here.
This article looks at how to understand and use symbolism in photography… Symbolism depicts more than meets the eye. And our associations with symbols shape the way we perceive visual experiences. This makes symbolism a powerful tool for photographers.
Exploring Symbolism in Photography
Because of its many uses in literature and art, the term symbolism can have all sorts of meanings. In basic terms, symbolism refers to using visual cues to express a concept. For example, we associate a heart symbol with love. But a crow is often a symbol of death.
Symbolism developed alongside the origins of visual arts itself. So the first step to understanding symbolism in photography? We need to investigate the history and origins of symbols in fine art.
Ancient Symbolism in Works of Art
An early concept is that a marking expresses many possible meanings. We see this in art dating back millennia.
The Mayans adopted the jaguar as a symbol of ferocity, strength, courage, and foresight. They carved the likenesses of the big cat into temple walls and stelae.
The Death of the Grave Digger, Carlos Schwabe. (Wikimedia Commons)
Symbolism emerged as an art movement during the late 19th century. Several details featured heavily in symbolist artworks. The artwork had exaggerated gesticulations, muted colors, dark angels, and grotesque figures.
Symbolism in Other Modern Art Movements
Modern art movements such as Dadaism, Cubism, and Surrealism embraced symbology.
Woman with Buckets, Tadeusz Makowski. (Wikimedia Commons)
Salvador Dali cultivated narratives that appealed to visual cues established in art history. He also invented new symbols like the melting clock in The Persistence of Memory. Frida Kahlo incorporated symbols into her artworks to describe larger ideas and experiences. And Pablo Picasso used symbolism to stress the dimensionality of his cubist subjects.
Symbolism and the History of Photos
Early photographers weren’t blind to the historical impact of symbolism in visual arts. Symbols conveyed through traditional methods were soon translated into photographic images. So many early portraits depicted subjects with books to signify intelligence.
Abraham Lincoln (Wikimedia Commons)
As photography developed, many photographs also became symbols in themselves. Migrant Mother, Dorothea Lange. (Wikimedia Commons) Dorothea Lange’sMigrant Mother symbolized the great depression of the 1930s. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s photo of in Times Square is an iconic symbol. It’s an American sailor kissing a woman. And it represented the V-day celebration at the end of World War II.
And the 1989 photo of a lone Chinese protester in Tiananmen Square is famous. The person stepping in front of the People’s Liberation Army tank became a symbol. It depicted defiance in the face of oppression.
Symbolism in Contemporary Photos
Photography and symbolism have evolved together over time. That’s because the ways of viewing and generating imagery have changed.
Consider photographers like Annie Leibovitz, Gregory Crewdson, and Steve McCurry. They have created unique approaches to photos. These resonate as symbolic of a period in visual history.
The use of symbology within contemporary photos is pronounced too. Both old and new symbols continue to expand our visual culture.
Fruit and vegetables are other visual cues. Artists have used them throughout art history. Like flowers, still lifes made up of fruits or vegetables signal the passage of time.
We have been animals in ancient cave paintings and Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Lady with an Ermine. They have had a continuous presence in symbology and visual art.
