Texture in Photography

The origin of the word "texture" comes from Old and Middle English and means interwoven or interweaving. Texture, in photography, lends an image excitement and contrast. It invokes the tactile quality of the world and helps engage our body and senses.

The challenge is that photography is two-dimensional and so when observing the world within a frame we must look for those objects that provoke our interest and ideally showcase more than one texture.

We may walk in nature and select a scene with different foliage, needles and leaves, smooth bark and rough bark, knobby or slashed. Water may be ruffled by the wind to the right and smooth like glass to the left. Reflections on water may be rough in one spot and smooth in another. The opportunities are endless if we keep our eye open to all possibilities.

Add texture to portraits through background, clothing, light. Imagine a baby’s smooth skin against a woolen blanket. An intermingling of smooth, soft, hard, rough, creamy, becomes a delight to the eye, mind and heart of the photographe, and provides a joyous meeting place for all who look at it.

captured in the smooth glass of a lake

pebbly mountains jut into blue azure sky

and rough boulders mark passage for the eye