Photography is an art ea popular now, that the following able little paper on The Art of Grouping" by Mr. F. J. Rentzsch will be read with interest. It was read at the second general meeting of the Foochow Camera Club on the 18th of May last, and was printed in the Foochowo Echo of the lst of Muy Mr, Chairman and Gentlemen, Ina place like Foochow, where we have 40 few Amateur Photographers, it is some-whut difficult t" find a subject' which shall be interesting to all the members of the Club.
In hunting round to tind something suitable, Mr. Meneatini and myself thought that' perhaps a few words on the posing of groups might be interesting, for although it is tv be regretted there are so few actual amateur photographers in the plice, still we all ut times find ourselves members ind of professional help as regard there is none, Thi Jap is silent in his one language, and it is difficult to see unless he lifted the members of a group ubout, like alor of tailor's dummies, how he possibly could pose it, and as for the Chinese photographers, all art instinct is usually absent from the Chinese character, 80 there being no professional help for us, the best thing we can do is to endeavour to help ourselves and try and fix in our minds, the few fundamental rules by no means difficult, to remember, as to how a group should be arranged.
After a few wards on this subject, I wil, with your permission, arrange you as a group'as badly as possible, and afterwards correctly, as well as I can, and Mr. Men-caring will take a flash-light picture of both, which he will procved to develop,, with the very last of seven-syllubled developers.
'Phe first' thing to consider is the background; trees as far as possible should be avoided, the light falling on the leaves causes white spots in the picture, producing a very disagreeable effect; a light-coloured wall is as good us anything, or better still the front of a house, only then the group should be placed well in front of it, s" that the building may be slightly out of focus and not by its detail detract from the portraits, j figures, which be it remembered should be
The members of the group should be cautioned on no account to look higher than the top of the camers and thos o the right and left should look at it not the eyes only, but by slightly turning the! head: ithe As far as it possibly can be avoided, do not have two heads next to one another on the same level, and do not have two ladies i red dresses one beside the clothes. other 5 sepa them by some one in dark Arrange the group so that tall persons are in the middle and short persons at each end, and in case of Indies wearing white dresses or colours which are white to the photographie eye, place them in the front row.
'The professional photographer frequently says, "please put on the beginning of smile," but as this usually results in a complete' grin, and in some cases even grimace, it seems to me far better to tell ople to lightly cluse the lips, for nothin; riks worse than to see x lot of people with their mouths half open in a semi-slobbering condition, It is impossible in'x short paper like this to enter into the deeper portion of the subject regarding the balance of the picture and so on, but if the foregoing rules are rem-inhered, there may be some hope that the average group taken in Fochow will be sumeivhat improved The pr Jes nay be summaried as follows No trees in the background.
No looking higher than the top of the camera.
No two adjoining heads on the same level.
And no mouths open.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.