Elements of Art -- Using TEXTURE in Photography

TRANSCRIPT:
Texture describes either the way a three-dimensional artwork actually feels when touched or the visual "feel" of a two-dimensional work. Texture highlights the surface quality of artwork, whether it is actual or simulated. It can refer to the smoothness of a matte metal building or to the brushwork used by a painter to replicate the veins in a leaf.

Texture can be found in abundance in nature and the environment. Think of the roughness of tree bark or a dog’s shaggy fur. Texture can also be found in artificial objects like a pokey wire fence or a wall full of sticky gum. There are even electronic designers who create haptic textures, such as vibrations or other tactile sensations, that can felt through touch screens.

In art, sculptures, collages, and impasto paintings have actual texture (also known as real or tactile texture) that can be felt by the viewer, as seen in the marks of hair on Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss.
Texture can be an inherent part of the material itself or can be added during the art-making process, such as when casting, carving, weaving, glazing, or assembling the material.

Simulated texture (also known as visual or implied texture) occurs when smooth surfaces appear to be textured. Simulated texture is an illusion produced by the artist. Photographers can create textured images through manipulation when taking a photo or can apply textured filters to an image using editing software, creating an illusion of texture that wasn’t there in the original image.

Photographers can convey mood through texture. It can make the viewer feel comforted or campy.
It can convey a sense of awe or a sense of oh.

Texture can tantalize our tastebuds, giving us sensations of sweet, or salty, or savory.

Textures can draw us into a work of art, inviting us to explore more by making us curious to know what something would feel like in real life.

So pay attention to various types of texture and how they make you feel as you photograph the world around you.