Sequence viewing > Aesthetics Index - Resource - © Lloyd Godman

The use of Texture in a photograph

Texture in an image is something we associate with the scene of touch. It has a tactility that relates not only to the surface of the object but also a set of emotional values. For instance, the fur of a cat is - warm and soft, a sheet of polished stainless steel mirror - smooth, stone rough, hard and cold.

Texture in an image relates to the imagined depth that material assumes on a particular surface. For instance the bark of a tree might be rough and deeply textured while the surface of a stone sculpture might be finely worked and smooth.

In this image of the bronze sculpture we sense the texture of the creeper in the background is different to the smooth surface of the sculpture.

With the sculpture, the angle of light reveals its form through high lights and shadow - but because the surface is smooth very little texture is revealed - in fact the reflection from the ball suggests a very smooth surface.

 
The nature and the direction of the light the falls on the subject reveals texture - the more oblique the light falls across a subject the more the texture of a subject is revealed -we can see this on the top part of this stone work where the light falls off into the shadow the texture becomes more pronounced. Where the light is more direct - on the left the texture is less apparent.

Although the colour is similar, look how texture plays a part in distinguishing the rock from the sand

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