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Visual Acoustics: Rhythm in Form
theresa soares
May 22, 2021
Composition in visual art contains mathematical components, as does music.
The first time I heard the term Visual Acoustics, I was immediately intrigued.

Julias Schulman, a modernist architectural photographer from the late 20th century coined the term. His architectural photographs featured very apparent rhythmic symmetry which honored the attention to detail and intentions of builders and designers. In this way the subject was not only authentically captured, but the creator-- also remembered.

When performing music, a musician's eye scans a sheet of music searching for notes to play or sing, while conversely, a viewer's eye scans a photograph for visual information while perceiving and interpreting visual information. Ansel Adams who was also a trained pianist said,"The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance."

Similarly, a few years ago my curiosity was sparked after hearing of the famous Walter Pater quote, " All art continually aspires toward the condition of music."

Obviously there's more to unpack here.

Theresa Soares

Theresa Soares Photojournalist
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