I looked up previsualized in the dictionary and could not find a definition for it. Did find one for visualized which is to form a mental image or vision.
I looked up previsualized in the dictionary and could not find a definition for it. Did find one for visualized which is to form a mental image or vision.
Richard T Ritter
www.lg4mat.net
The "pre" sounds like an oxymoron since visualization would seem to be adequate for describing what photographers do. But I'm no linguistic guru.
Nate Potter, PEI, Canada
'Visualize' means imagining in the mind's eye what something will look like after it is shot. Pre-visualization means imagining the act of visualizing before you actually do it. So for instance, sitting here at my desk, I can imagine that I will be able to imagine what my final image looks like before I actually get out somewhere and set up my tripod.
It's a meta thing.
Pre-pre-visualization is the act of imagining that you will imagine the act of visualization before actually doing it. Ad infinitum.
"Previsualization"
Something you do before you "visualize"????
(I usually have a cup of coffee, then empty my bladder).
My first exposure to 'pre-visualizing' was in sports. We were taught to 'pre-visualize' the actions we were to perform before we acted.
It makes sense that it may have started as a sports concept, in a world where you can give 110% effort. Where '95% of all fly balls are hit into the air' and where 'You can observe a lot just by watching.'
It seems the 'previsualization' in this context is an idea of Edward Weston's, where he sees the final image in his mind's eye before tripping the shutter. Other people took this idea and ran with it, most notably Ansel Adams and Minor White. So a close reading of those three's writing should give the most useful pointers toward understanding the concept. I think Weston was the only one who could achieve this on a regular basis, but that's another story.
From my long ago readings of Adam's book series, it seems his previsualization was practiced through a combination of thorough competency with film/chemicals/paper characteristics/process and a being able to visualize the composition he saw as the final product. Certainly harder to do with black and white than modern color digital, where we shoot first, and adjust later.
As far as Clay's definition, I really don't know what might be more right, but I don't think too deeply about what I hope to have for a composition before I go out photographing outdoors. It's a nice motivation to get out and hope to get something like I'm thinking about, but nature doesn't revolve around me and my imagination. (I'm speaking with an interest in straight photography, not photoshop wonderpieces) I am usually more productive to go out properly prepared and with a mind open to a variety of photographic possibilities, rather than a one-track mind seeking primarily what I imagined. Weston could get around this very well by sitting himself indoors with a few monochromatic peppers to photograph and lots of time, or a single model in a simple scene.
I think Richard's point, if it follows mine, is that "previsualization" isn't a word, and makes no sense. What comes before visualizing?
The masters of old, while fabulous photographers, might just have barbarized our language.
How 'bout let's "visualize," not "previsualize."
Bruce Barlow
author of "Finely Focused" and "Exercises in Photographic Composition"
www.brucewbarlow.com
Previsualization is, as others have said, the act of imagining the finished picture before you shoot it. But it's way more than just imagining the scene before tripping the shutter. Imagining the scene is easy, after all, it's right there on your groundglass.
it's about imagining the scene with film processing and printing in mind, and how variations in film development will affect the end product. It's all about seeing (for example) a normal scene, and through previsualization, you realize that it will be better if you underexpose it to darken the shadows, and give it some extra development to increase the contrast and bring out highlight details in such a way that the picture will be more dramatic. It's about knowing what you want and what you will have to do to achieve your vision before you even shoot the picture.
Peter
I prefer postvisualizing.
Of course, I sort of wish I had preposted before posting this because I don't think most people will understand what I mean.
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