Jump to content

W/NW- Contre-jour II


tom h.

Recommended Posts

The tem "contre-jour" is a specific phrase, used usually by

painters and artists(not just French ones

), to describe a viewpoint into the light source. I learned the term

in art college and used it here in the interest of descriptiveness,

not pomposity.

 

 

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry if I insulted anybody with my own attempts at levity. Yes, it's a common term in the art community. To anyone outside of that sub culture it's a pair of French words whose combined meaning translates poorly into what John Campbell used to refer to as Standard North American Anglic. I can be as obtuse or pompous as the next guy, but considering that this forum is read and contributed by people from all over the planet, whose native languages span a wide variety of dialects and regional variants, perhaps we should all attempt to write in such a manner that we can all understand one another.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Contre-jour is shooting "into the light." Backlit is backlit, or, silhouetted against the light. Not really the same at all. AFAIK, the U.S. is the only part of the English-speaking world where "contre-jour" shots don't commonly have a specific name - contre-jour - and instead are called, "shot into the light," if they're called anything at all - probably because we're afraid of sounding "pompous" - or because we're afraid to pronounce "contre-jour."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...