Theme Of Distortion In Photography

In order to answer the title of this essay question I will be undertaking research into the main theme of distortion within photography. On top of this I will be incorporating the background information and series of work from two photographers who also base their work around the theme of diction however they achieve this by using two very different methods. Distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristics) of something such as an object, image, sound or waveform. Distortion is usually unwanted and seen as a photographic mistake and therefore people strive to eliminate distortion or minimize it. However in photography, distortion, as long as it works effectively, is welcomed more than eliminated. There are two main types of distortion when it comes to photography; these are known as optical distortion and perspective distortion. Optical distortion occurs as a result of optical design, when special lens elements are used to reduce spherical and other aberrations. In short, to create a distortion commonly described as optical this is a
These include barrel distortion, pincushion distortion and mustache/moustache distortion. In barrel distortion, the image magnification shows a negative correlation with distance from the optical axis and decreases. The deceptive effect is that of an image which has been photographed around a sphere (or barrel). In pincushion distortion, image magnification had a positive correlation with the distance from the optical axis and increases. The visible effect is that lines that do not go through the middle of the image are curved inwards, towards the centre of the image, like a pincushion. Finally mustache starts out as barrel distortion close to the image centre and progressively turns into pincushion distortion towards the image edge, allowing horizontal lines in the upper half of the frame look like a handlebar